Castle Terrace, originally known as Castle Parade, is an unbroken row of fourteen three-storied Georgian dwellings in

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 wester ...

, Monmouthshire,

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 ...

. The backs of the houses face

Chepstow Castle Chepstow Castle ( cy, Castell Cas-gwent) at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. Located above cliffs on the River Wye, construction began in 1067 under the instruction of the Norman ...

. The whole terrace, numbers 33A–47 Bridge Street, is a

Grade II* listed building 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 Ire ...

History and architecture

The houses were constructed on mostly open land opposite the southern walls of the castle, between 1805 and 1822, by an unknown builder or builders probably in two stages. In 1816, the row, not yet completed, was named as Castle Parade, and the street which had previously been known as St Anne's Street was renamed Bridge Street to mark the opening of the new Wye bridge at the foot of the hill. The terrace was built at a time when Chepstow was a prosperous and developing port, particularly for the export of timber and bark (for

tanning Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin ** Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun ** Sunless tanning, application of a stain or d ...

), used by the

British navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. At one time there was a local tradition that every bow-windowed house in the terrace was occupied by a

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

.Ivor Waters, ''The Town of Chepstow'', Moss Rose Press, 1972, p.66 The houses each have a single front

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

, with rendered walls and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofs. Architectural historian John Newman describes the terrace as "a charming row of three-storey cottages...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

climbs the hill... These create quite a ripple, as each two-bay cottage has a bow - a few are missing at the upper end."John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , pp.185-186 The terrace was given Grade II* listed building status on 14 March 1955, as "a virtually complete and picturesque Georgian terrace".

References

{{coord, 51.6438, -2.6736, type:landmark_region:GB, format=dms, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Chepstow