Church Farmhouse, Caldicot, Monmouthshire is a substantial grange building which was a working farmhouse before 1205. It is connected to both Llanthony Prima in Monmouthshire and Llanthony Secunda in Gloucester. It was established as a grange farm for Llanthony Secunda Priory in the 12th century with the lands in Caldicot being given to the monastery in 1137. It is a Grade II* listed building. The adjacent barn has its own Grade II listing.
History and description
The establishment of Church Farmhouse is traditionally suggested to have been a grange to Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucestershire.[1] The architectural historian John Newman, writing in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of the Buildings of Wales series, notes that the priory acquired land in Caldicot in the 12th century.[a][2] The subsequent, extensive, rebuilding, in particular, a major expansion around 1600, has created a "rather confusing" building history.[1]Cadw suggests that, if it was a monastic grange, it would have been dissolved in either 1536 or 1539.[1] A second tradition regarding the house is that it came into the personal possession of Henry VIII at this time.[3] The house was extended around 1600, when Cadw indicates it may have become a rectory. Aside from a small Victorian extension, reroofing of the tower in the 1940s, and the removal of cement render from the walls in the 1970s, the house remains largely unaltered,[1] although Newman notes that the farmhouse's setting has been "drastically compromised by late 20th century housing".[2]
The house is constructed of local limestone and is to an L-plan, of three storeys to the east range and four to the south. The south-west range contains a set of medieval rooms, which Newman describes as "on an oddly miniature scale".[2] Cadw suggests that these were "monastic dormitories (each) with its own secure closet and garderobe" and notes "it is very remarkable that such an arrangement should have survived so completely".[1]
The house, which is currently for sale, remains privately owned.[4] Its Cadw listing record describes Church Farmhouse as "an exceptionally rare and interesting monastic building".[1] The adjacent barn, which dates from the 18th century, has its own Grade II listing.[5]