Wales Monmouth - Geoffrey of Monmouth and the birthplace of Henry V

Monmouth is a border town that grew up at the junction of the rivers Monnow and Wye. The Romans had a garrison here. The Normans built a castle here in 1067 to control the river crossing and the surrounding area. A Benedictine priory was founded here in 1075, and may have been where Geoffrey of Monmouth was based. The priory church became the parish church in the C12th. The priory was dissolved in 1536 and only the Prior’s Lodgings survived. This became a school and later a youth hostel. It has since been restored as a wedding and community venue.

The town was granted its first royal charter in 1256 and became important as the market for a rich agricultural region. Monmouth and the surrounding area had a high reputation for the quality of its livestock.

Town walls were built around 1300 and Monnow Bridge was fortified. It is the only one of its type remaining in Britain. It later became a toll collection point, jail and later a private home.

Henry V was born in the castle in 1386.

Monnow Street with its burgage plots linked the bridge and the castle.

The C16th Robin Hood Inn is one of the oldest buildings in the town. In the C18th, the upper room was used by Catholics to celebrate mass, until the Penal Laws against Catholics were relaxed in 1778, and they were able to build their own church.

Cornwall House dating from the C17th is the last remaining privately occupied house on Monnow Street.

By 1600 Monmouth was a wealthy, bustling town, with potters, tanners, nail makers and cappers boosting the local economy. It had iron and tinplate works, as well as paper and corn mills and was an important river port with warehouses and wharves along the Wye. William Jones, a prominent merchant founded a school here in 1614. (The present building dates from 1865.)

The castle changed hands several times during the Civil War and the Parliamentarians demolished most of it to stop it being used again. Great Castle House was built on the site in 1673 for Henry Somerset, the 3rd Marquis of Worcester. He was Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches and wanted a house befitting to his status. It served as the Assize Court until Shire Hall was built.

Shire Hall built in 1724,was formerly the centre for the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. In 1839/40, the court was the location of the trial of the Chartist leader John Frost and others for high treason for their part in the Newport Rising. It now houses the offices of Monmouth Town Council as well as the Tourist Information Centre and a museum celebrating the history & heritage of Monmouth and the Wye Valley. The courtroom and holding cells have been restored to their 1840s appearance.

This is the heart of the old town with Agincourt Square and surrounded by C16th coaching inns and other splendid buildings.

Nelson visited the town in 1802 as the area was an important source of timber for the British Navy and shipbuilding.

The Market Hall on Priory Street was built in 1837-9 as part of the redevelopment of Monmouth Town Centre. This housed The Nelson Museum and Local History Centre, which will be moved into the refurbished museum in Shire Hall.

By the end of the C18th, Monmouth had become a popular centre for visitors to the area with its close proximity to the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley.

In the Late C19th /early C20th Monmouth had close links with the Rolls Family (of Rolls-Royce fame) who were substantial landowners and there is a statue of Charles Rolls in front of Shire Hall.

Today Monmouth is now primarily a centre for service industries and tourism. Its good road links have also made it popular as a commuting centre for South Wales and Bristol.

There are information boards around the town with details of a Blue Plaque Trail .

There is also a Geoffrey of Monmouth trail.

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[Eleanor]

Monmouth Castle

The ruins of Monmouth Castle aren’t easy to find as they are tucked away down Castle Hill off Agincourt Square. Once an important castle strategically located at crossings of the River Wye and River Monnow, now only a few fragments remain.

William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford, a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror, was one of the great magnates of early Norman England. He was responsible for building many castles between 1067-9, including ones at Chepstow, Berkeley and Wigmore as well as Monmouth. This would originally have been a simple earth and timber motte and bailey castle overlooking the River Monnow. The town and priory grew up inside the stone built curtain wall, under the protection of the castle.

The stone built great tower was added in the early C12th with an entrance at first floor level, accessed by a wooden stair.

In 1230 a large cylindrical tower was added to the north side of the great tower. The great hall was added in the late C13th, when the castle was granted to the Earl of Lancaster by his father Henry III. The castle was the birthplace of Henry V in 1386.

Around 1440, the entrance to the castle from the south-east was reinforced with two flanking towers.

In the C17th, the castle was a garrison for Royalist forces and changed hands several times before finally falling to the Parliamentarian army. It was then demolished beginning with the round tower, to stop it being used again in warfare.

Now all that remains is the great tower along with part of the wall of the great hall.

Great Castle House was built in 1673, on the site of the old round tower which had been deliberately damaged after the Civil War to prevent its further use. Henry Somerset, the 3rd Marquis of Worcester, who later became the 1st Duke of Beaufort, was Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches and wanted a house befitting to his status. The side wings were added later.

This later became the Assize Court, until it moved to Shire Hall in 1724. From the mid C19th, the house was the Headquarters of Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia. The building is still used by the senior Army Reserve regiment today, making it one of the few British castles in continuous military occupancy. It also houses the Regimental Museum.

In front of the museum is a Russian Fortress gun which was given to the town in gratitude for service in the Crimea War.

Next to it is a Fox Scout Car which was a light reconnaisance vehicle from 1973. It could be carried in a C-30 transport plane and dropped on a special palate by parachute. It was capable of climbing a 50% gradient and was also amphibious.

There is also part of a Bailey Bridge, which was a temporary solutions that could be built quickly when needed. On it is a Combat Engineer Tractor which was able to clear obstacles, dig pits and build barriers as well as rescue vehicles from a battle zone.

There are display panels around the site with information about the history of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia.

Tucked away behind the castle through a set of iron gates is the Memorial Garden, with commemorative plates, including the Royal Marines Reserve Cardiff Detachment, Military Intelligence Company, University of Wales Officer Training Corps. Welsh Transport Regiment, Parachute Medical Squadron and many more.

The town war memorial is against the car park wall.

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[Eleanor]

St. Mary's Priory Church

The tall spire of St Mary’s Priory Church dominates the top of the town

A priory was founded near the castle by Gwethenoc, Lord of Monmouth, in 1075 on the site of an C8th Celtic church. It was consecrated in 1101. The priory church was enlarged in the C12th and the nave served as the parish church, with the monks using the choir. The tower was added in the C14th.

After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, the building continued to be used as the parish church but, by 1730 was in very poor condition and falling down. The nave had to be rebuilt. A spire was added to the C14th square tower in 1743.

The church was substantially rebuilt again in the late C19th in the Gothic style, by GE Street to accommodate 1000 worshippers. His original intention was to demolish and completely rebuild the church, however the estimated cost of £22,000 couldn’t be met. The final cost was £6120, with the tower and spire of the original church being kept. The Lady Chapel and Memorial Chapel were added later.

It is a large church with an offset tower. Entry is into a small porch with steps leading up to a gallery. At the back of the church is an old piscina on a modern wooden stand.

Also at the back of the nave is one of the church bells. In 1921 this was used as a fire bell and rung by a wire hanging down the outside if the church.

Part of the elaborately carved C19th rood screen has been moved to the back of the nave to form a narthex, seaparating the navew from the porch area.

A few remains of the earlier church can be seen at the west end - maybe a reflection of lack of money to completely finish the job?

The carved late C19th font stands in front of the chancel.

The reredos painting above the altar dates from 1888 and depicts The Adoration of the Magi, although it is now very dark and difficult to make out the detail.

The east window, along with the other stained glass windows in the church is by CE Kempe.

The Rood Cross with the Virgin Mary and St John, dates from the late C19th restoration. This was originally plain wood but was painted in the 1970s.

At the end of the north aisle is the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, which is now the memorial chapel with memorials to the men killed in WW1. The font stands in front of it.

The Lady Chapel is at the end of the south aisle.

This is a large and impressive church and well worth a visit.

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[Eleanor]

St Thomas the Martyr, Overmonnow

This is across the River Wye, near the Monnow Bridge. It was built around 1180 as a Chapel of Ease to St Mary’s Church.

The church and bridge were damaged by fire in the Battle of Monmouth in 1233 and over a dozen oaks were brought from the Forest of Dean for the repairs.

In 1479, the Bishop of Hereford granted indulgences for those giving money for the repair of the church.

In 1830, St Thomas’s became a parish church and there was a major restoration with new pews and a gallery. There was a further restoration in 1887/9 when the vestries were added, the west front was replaced and the small bell turret added. There was another extensive restoration in 1989/91.

It is a small simple church and still retains its lovely carved Norman doorway as well as the Norman Chancel Arch and round Norman windows. There is also an early doorway in the north wall of chancel.

The lovely stained glass east window dates from 1957. In the centre is Christ the King with a Nativity scene at the base. On his left is Thomas a Becket with scene of his murder at the bottom. On the right is St Nicholas, the patron Saint of children. At the top is his emblem of three purses. According to the story he heard a very poor family was about to sell their children into slavery and he secretly threw three purses of gold into their house.

The church retains the early C19th gallery round the nave walls.

The church is unusual as it has two fonts. At the back is a most unusual font with a depiction of the Garden of Eden on the bowl with faces of a man and woman along with a serpent. The age is uncertain and it may date back to the C12th. The pillar is thought to be a different date and newer. The wooden cover dates from the 1830s restoration of the church.

The second font has a plain octagonal stone bowl and is thought to have come from a nearby derelict church .

This is an attractive small church and always open. It gets a steady stream of visitors who have walked across Monnow Bridge.

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