Trewyn House,

Llanvihangel Crucorney Llanvihangel Crucorney ( cy, Llanfihangel Crucornau) is a small village in the community (parish) of Crucorney, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located north of Abergavenny and south-west of Hereford, England on the A465 road. Setting Llanvihan ...

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 ...

, Wales, is a country house dating from 1692. Its origins are older but the present building was constructed by the Delahayes at the very end of the 17th century when the house sat in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. It has since been extended and reconstructed giving an "obscure and complicated" building history. The house is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The parkland has traces of 17th-century terracing and a rare

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

. It is listed Grade II on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government. Th ...

History

The origins of the house are late-

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

, evidenced by the construction of the "extensive, vaulted cellars." The house was purchased by the Delahayes in the late 17th century, who rebuilt the house in 1672. At that point, the house was located in

. In the late 18th century, the house was owned by Jeremiah Rosher, whose family promoted the seaside resort of Rosherville, at

Northfleet Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfl ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. The Roshers owned the house until the late 19th or early 20th century, undertaking significant restorations in the 1870s directed by Isobel Bernadette Rosher, an amateur architect. In the early 20th century, the house was again restored to its 18th-century appearance, with alterations in the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

style. Remaining in private ownership, the house was again restored in 1990–5.

Architecture and description

The house is of two storeys and seven bays, and is constructed of

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

with

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

roof tiles. The house has undergone considerable modification during its history; many of the windows and doors are replacements, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. The interior has also seen much restoration and many of the architectural fittings have either been moved from their original locations within the house or are later additions. Trewyn House is Grade II* listed, its designation describing it as "a manorial house which retains much of its historic character". The terrace and garden walls, steps, gate piers and gates, which give the house the "ceremonious" setting described by the architectural historian John Newman, are of Old Red Sandstone rubble and

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

. All have a Grade II* heritage designation. In the grounds is an early dovecote, dating from either the end of the 17th century or the start of the 18th century. The structure is octagonal, constructed of red brick, with a slate and wooden roof. It reportedly contained seven hundred and sixty-four nesting boxes. Described by Newman as "exceptionally fine", it is a Grade II* listed structure. The park is listed Grade II on the

Notes

References

* {{Cite book , last=Newman, first=John , authorlink=John Newman (architectural historian) , series=The Buildings of Wales , title=Gwent/Monmouthshire , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Gwent%2FMonmouthshire&pg=PA2 , year=2000 , publisher=Penguin , location=London , isbn=0-14-071053-1 Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Registered historic parks and gardens in Monmouthshire Country houses in Wales Dovecotes Grade II* listed houses Houses completed in 1692