Penhow ( cy, Pen-hŵ) is a small village and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

(parish) just inside the eastern edge of the boundary of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Newport,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a 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 Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, within the historic county of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

. The name Penhow is believed to be derived from the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

word Pen meaning head or top and How derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

word ''Haugr'' meaning hill or mound. The community includes the estate of Parc Seymour.

History and architecture

Roman remains

Fragments of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

building material have been found in the area.John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', 2000, These include evidence of a Roman building at

Llanvaches Llanvaches or Llanfaches is a village and community parish within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population r ...

, an artefact at Penhow, and a

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

at Parc Seymour.

Penhow Castle

Penhow is best known for Penhow Castle, which has claims to be the oldest inhabited

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It was built by Sir Roger de St Maur, one of the Norman

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

s who served the Norman Lord of

Striguil Striguil or Strigoil is the name that was used from the 11th century until the late 14th century for the port and Norman castle of Chepstow, on the Welsh side of the River Wye which forms the boundary with England. The name was also applied to t ...

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 ...

. He built a tower house, and documentary evidence shows that he was at Penhow by 1129. It is the first known British home of the St Maur ''alias''

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia * Seymour, Victoria, a township * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seymour, Tasmania, a localit ...

family which rose to national prominence in the 16th century in the person of Queen

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

, the third wife of King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, represented today by the

Duke of Somerset Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. Later the Seymour family, which moved to Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset and

Wulfhall Wulfhall or Wolfhall is an early 17th-century manor house in Burbage parish, Wiltshire, England. It is north-east of Burbage village, and about south-east of Marlborough. A previous manor house on the same site, at that time in the parish of ...

in Wiltshire, sold Penhow Castle to the Lewis family of St. Pierre, who converted the castle to a modern residence in 1674. Thomas Lewis' son Thomas was High Sheriff of the county, and married the daughter of Sir

Richard Levett Sir Richard Levett (also spelled Richard Levet) (died 1711), Sheriff, Alderman and Lord Mayor of London, was one of the first directors of the Bank of England, an adventurer with the London East India Company and the proprietor of the trading f ...

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. The Lewis family retained ownership of Penhow Castle for several centuries. The castle, which has a reputation for being

haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

, was open to the public between 1978 and 2002.

Church of St. John the Baptist

The parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

of St. John the Baptist is next to the castle. It has 13th-century origins and was the subject of restoration work in the 19th century.

Village Shop

Following the closure of the privately run shop in 2008, the Penhow Community banded together to finance & re-generate the village shop. Community volunteers re-decorated, re-stocked and re-opened the shop in November 2008. Since re-opening the shop has been managed and operated by the community and, where possible, stock has been sourced locally. Since opening, the team has had to learn how to be retailers and how to manage stock levels, but all the hard work has paid off and the shop continues to serve the local community.

Rock and Fountain

The Rock and Fountain Inn is a 17th-century

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tr ...

on the edge of the village. The historic inn and its five-acre site underwent a £1m renovation and redevelopment during 2010. The inn reopened as a steak and seafood restaurant in November 2010. It was later transformed into an Italian restaurant and closed a few years later. The Rock & Fountain opened again in June 2014 serving 2 courses for £10. In February 2018, the Indian restaurant (located behind the Rock & Fountain) closed and in April, the building was transformed into a Churrascaria.

Penhow History Society

In 2016 a Penhow History Society was set up to examine Penhow's varied history. It was formed to research local history projects around the village and aims to promote a wider interest in its history through the publication of articles and organising public talks.

Temperature record

Penhow also holds the current high record July temperature for Wales of 34.2 °C (93.5 °F), set on 18 July 2006.

Government

Penhow has a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. I ...

comprising eight members. The area is part of the Bishton and Langstone

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

for elections to

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

Notes

References

External links

Geograph photos of Penhow areaPenhow Community Council website Penhow History Group
{{authority control Communities in Newport, Wales Villages in Newport, Wales