Newchurch ( cy, Yr Eglwys Newydd ar y Cefn, meaning "new church on the ridge") is an extensive rural

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, south east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is located 6 miles south east of

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

and 6 miles north west of

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

, between the B4235 and B4293 roads.

History and amenities

Before the Norman conquest of south-east Wales, the area was heavily forested as part of

Wentwood Wentwood ( cy, Coed Gwent), in Monmouthshire, South Wales, is a forested area of hills, rising to above sea level. It is located to the northeast of, and partly within the boundaries of, the city of Newport. Geology Wentwood is underlain b ...

. There is a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

or burial chamber at Gaer-llwyd, 1 mile south west of the village close to the B4235. In the early 12th century the Newchurch area was known as Plataland and was given by the

Marcher lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...

Striguil Striguil or Strigoil is the name that was used from the 11th century until the late 14th century for the port and Norman castle of Chepstow, on the Welsh side of the River Wye which forms the boundary with England. The name was also applied to t ...

, or

, to

Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( cy, Abaty Tyndyrn ) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the bor ...

. The monks cleared much of the land for farming, but in 1302 exchanged it with Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, for land at

Woolaston Woolaston is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire in South West England. It lies on the north side of the Severn Estuary approximately 5 miles (8 kilometres) from the Welsh border at Chepstow and is surro ...

in what is now

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The parish still contains much of Wentwood and also, to the east, Chepstow Park Wood south of

Devauden Devauden ( cy, Y Dyfawden) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is located between Chepstow and Monmouth near the top of the Trellech ridge on the B4293 road. The community covers an area of . The community includes th ...

. Bigod built a church for the tenants of his land, which became known as Newchurch. The parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

is dedicated to

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

. It has some 14th-century features but was largely rebuilt around 1865.John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', 2000, The modern hamlet consists of little more than the church, three houses and a farm.

Cas Troggy

Cas (or Castell) Troggy is a small ruined fortified hunting lodge or manor house built by Roger Bigod around 1303. It is located within Newchurch parish, beside the Troggy (or Castrogi) Brook and the old road between Chepstow and Usk, on the northern slopes of Wentwood at Pen y cae-mawr. It was probably abandoned shortly after Bigod's death in 1306.Castell Troggy at CastleWales
/ref> The 16th century

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...

incorrectly referred to the ruins as

, a mistake repeated on some later maps.

References

External links

Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire from 1901

Geograph photos of the Newchurch area
Villages in Monmouthshire {{Monmouthshire-geo-stub