Grosmont ( or ) is a village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

near

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, Wales. The population taken at the 2021 census was 869. The wider community (parish) includes the villages of Llangattock Lingoed, Llangua and Llanvetherine.

History

There are circumstantial indications that Grosmont may have originated as an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

camp.

Grosmont Castle

Grosmont Castle Grosmont Castle is a ruined castle in the village of Grosmont, Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the Norman conquest of England, invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to ...

, along with the nearby White Castle and

Skenfrith Castle Skenfrith Castle () is a ruined castle in the village of Skenfrith in Monmouthshire, Wales. The fortification was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066, to protect the route from Wales to Hereford. Possibly ...

, have given rise to the Three Castles Walk which links the castles and along with the

Monnow Valley Walk Monnow Valley Walk is a long-distance footpath in north-east Monmouthshire, South Wales, with short sections in Herefordshire, England and Powys. It links Monmouth and Hay-on-Wye, following the River Monnow and the foot of the Black Mountains, ...

brings visitors to the village. Grosmont is dominated by the nearby

Graig Syfyrddin Graig Syfyrddin or just ''The Graig'', is a 423m high hill near Grosmont, Monmouthshire, Grosmont in north-eastern Monmouthshire, Wales. The summit knoll is known as ''Edmund's Tump''. The hill consists of an isolated mass of the micaceous sands ...

(or Edmunds Tump, possibly after

Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster (16 January 12455 June 1296), also known as Edmund Crouchback, was a member of the royal Plantagenet Dynasty and the founder of the first House of Lancaster. He was Earl of Leicester (1265–1296), Lancaster (1267� ...

). The castle itself was established by the Normans in the wake of the invasion of England in 1066. It was the birthplace of Henry, 1st Duke of Lancaster.

Formation of the borough

Grosmont was once an important

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

township. It was granted a borough charter, possibly in 1219, and by 1250 there may have been as many as 160

burgage Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century. A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...

plots. It retained its

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

status until 1857, at which time it still had a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and an official

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

taster. Grosmont Town Hall replaced a former timber structure and was built in 1832 by the then landowner the 6th Duke of Beaufort, whose descendant offered it to the Grosmont Parish Council in May 1902. The Church of St Nicholas probably has ancient origins but the tower and other parts were built by Prince Edmund (son of

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

and later

) for his mother

Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence ( 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provence, Provençal noblewoman who became List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III of England, Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served ...

(Queen Eleanor). The 14th century church is dedicated to

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

and was restored by J. P. Seddon in 1869. It has an unusual eight-sided tower.

Battle of Grosmont

Grosmont is linked to the Welsh Prince

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...

and during the Glyndwr rebellion it was the site of a battle in 1405. Glyndwr's ally and trusted Captain Rhys Gethin raised a force of maybe 8,000 men that marched on Grosmont burning the town to the ground. At this time Grosmont was a large and important settlement - only

and

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

were larger in the whole of

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Prince Henry, later to become King

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

, dispatched a force comprising men led by

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot, KG (17 July 1453), known as "Old Talbot" and "Terror of the French" was an English nobleman and a noted military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was t ...

, Sir William Newport and Sir John Greynder from

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

to intercept the Welsh force. They fell on them and defeated the Welsh, killing 800 to 1,000 men and capturing Owen ap Gruffydd ap Rhisiant, Glyndwr's Secretary and John Hanmer, Glyndwr's brother in law, who both survived the battle but were imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

Recent history

The Anglican "saint" Lydia Sellon was brought up at Port-y-seal in Grosmont in the 1820s before she went on to found and lead a religious order for women. In the summer of 2006 the pub and village were the location for the film '' The Baker'' released in 2007. The Angel

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in Grosmont was owned and run by a group of villagers until December 2014 when it was taken over by private landlords, Anna and Trevor Woolnough.

Local government

The wider

of Grosmont includes the villages (and Monmouthshire Council wards) of Llangattock Lingoed, Llangua and Llanvetherine. Grosmont community elects a community council of nine members who meet at Grosmont Town Hall.Grosmont Community Council
Grosmont.org. Retrieved 14 March 2016.

Transport

Located near the currently closed Pontrilas railway station in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, on the Welsh Marches Line between

and

References

External links

Grosmont village websitePhotos of Grosmont castle and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire Communities in Monmouthshire