| Troy House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | House |
| Location | Mitchel Troy,Monmouthshire, Wales |
| Coordinates | 51°47′55″N2°42′46″W / 51.7987°N 2.7129°W /51.7987; -2.7129 |
| Built | C17th |
| Governing body | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Troy House |
| Designated | 1 May 1952 |
| Reference no. | 2060 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Walled Garden to west of Troy House |
| Designated | 29 March 1993 |
| Reference no. | 2866 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Troy Cottage |
| Designated | 10 October 1974 |
| Reference no. | 2734 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Gateway and gates to Troy House |
| Designated | 27 November 2001 |
| Reference no. | 25791 |
| Official name | Troy House Park |
| Designated | 1 February 2022 |
| Reference no. | PGW(Gt)16(Mon) |
| Listing | Grade II* |
  Location of Troy House in Monmouthshire | |
Troy House is aWelsh historic house, on a "ducal" scale, north-east ofMitchel Troy,Monmouthshire. The original house belonged toBlanche Herbert, Lady Troy, of the Herbert family ofRaglan Castle, who owned great estates in South Wales as Marquesses of Worcester and laterDukes of Beaufort. The present structure, overlooking theRiver Trothy was constructed from 1681 to 1684 as a wedding present forCharles Somerset by his father,Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort. Troy House is aGrade II* listed building and its gardens and park are listed, also at Grade II*, on theCadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
In 1667Henry Somerset succeeded his father to the title ofMarquess of Worcester. Henry, a staunch supporter ofCharles II, restored the family fortunes and built a series of residences to replace theslightedRaglan Castle. He started withGreat Castle House, inMonmouth in 1673, continued withBadminton House inGloucestershire, and built the new Troy House as a wedding gift to his son Charles.[1] InMonmouth Museum there is a painting byHendrick Danckerts, dated circa 1672, which shows Troy House in a panorama of Monmouth.[2]
In 1682 Charles Somerset married Rebecca Child and acquired the title of Marquess of Worcester. Between 1682 and 1699 he expanded Troy House and rebuilt the facade in neoclassical style. The house remained the property of the Somersets until the death ofHenry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort in 1899. At this time, the family consolidated its estates aroundBadminton House inGloucestershire and the descendants of the 8th Duke auctioned off the 1,670-acre (680 ha) Troy estate along with most of their Welsh properties.[3] In 1872, a gazetteer reported thatthe cradle belonging to Henry V together with the alleged armour Henry V wore atAgincourt were said to be at "the mansion" inMitchel Troy.[a][5]
Troy House was purchased by theGood Shepherd Sisters in 1904 and converted to a convent school. The nuns expanded the estate buildings with a chapel, a hostel and service buildings. In 1935 the institution was converted into anapproved school with state financing. The building gradually deteriorated, and in the 1980s the school moved out and the building was closed. A subsequent plan by theUnification movement to purchase the property did not succeed.[6]
In 2009, proposals were put forward by a property developer to divide the house into residential units. The proposed enabling development would involve the construction of two new wings which were intended to accommodate more units than would be possible in the original house. Conservationists were divided over the proposals:Save Britain's Heritage concurred with the developer's analysis, others, including theGeorgian Group expressed fears that the plans would constitute significant overdevelopment of the house and site.[7] In 2015Monmouthshire County Council funded aprotected species survey required for consideration of the redevelopment proposals.[8] As of 2017, the house remained empty, except for a caretaker.[9] In June 2019, revised plans for the conversion of the house to flats, with two new blocks of flats as enabling development, which had been approved by the County Council in 2018,[10] were rejected by theWelsh Government.[11] The reason given was that the location of the property in a flood zone made it "highly vulnerable".[12]
According to a June 2019 newsreport, the property had been owned by Peter Carroll of Chepstow since the 1970s.[13] In May 2020, the property was put up for auction, with a guide price between £200,000 and £250,000 but was described as "an almost total wreck" byCountry Life magazine, confirmed by photographs of the interior.[14][15][16] Despite its condition, Troy House sold for just over £1.35m.[17]
The house is very large, "three bays deep but no less than thirteen bays wide",[1] in a style that was very modern for the date of design, "ahipped roof over a regularly fenestrated block."[1] The architectural historianJohn Newman notes its "ducal scale".[1] Some 19th-century authors wrongly attributed the design of the house toInigo Jones.[18] However the Monmouth antiquarianCharles Heath doubted the attribution in 1804, writing, "The house is said to have been built by Inigo Jones but I do not think the report well founded".[19] The historianWilliam Coxe, writing in hisAn Historical Tour In Monmouthshire in 1801, was also sceptical; "It does not reflect much credit on the taste of that eminent architect, having a long, straggling front, and being built in so low a situation as to exclude all prospect from the habitable apartments."[20]
Local historianKeith Kissack described the house as "not very impressive externally"[21] but the interior contains "three good-quality, typicallyJacobean decorated ceilings."[1] John V. Hiling, in his studyThe Architecture of Wales: From the first to the twenty-first century, describes Troy as "austere and bleak".[22] The building once contained much wood panelling fromRaglan Castle but this was subsequently removed to Badminton House.[21][23] Troy is aGrade II* listed building.[24] The walled garden has a separate Grade II* listing.[25] A barn in the adjacent courtyard,[26] and thelodge[27] and gates at the head of the drive all have their own Grade II designations.[28] The gardens and grounds have their own Grade II* listing on theCadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[29]
In 1857 theColeford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway built a railway station north of Troy House. It was inaugurated asMonmouth Troy House station, but the name was soon reduced toMonmouth Troy. It was closed to passenger traffic in 1959 and completely shut down in 1964. In 1985 the brick station building was carefully disassembled and in 1987-1999 rebuilt on the site ofWinchcombe railway station of the heritageGloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.[30]
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