Itton Court, Itton, Devauden,

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 ...

is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

. The origin of the house was as an outstation for

Chepstow Castle Chepstow Castle () 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 Normans, Norman Lord William ...

. In the 18th century, much of the medieval manor was pulled down and replaced. Further additions and alterations were made in the 19th and 20th centuries, including work by Guy Dawber. From the 18th until the mid-20th century, the court was the home of the Curre family, major landowners, who purchased the estate in 1749. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and its gardens are listed on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

History

The original medieval manor was a fortified outstation for

. The gate house, of a 14th-century date is all that remains of the earlier building. In 1749, the court and estate were purchased by the Curre family. The Curres pulled down the remainder of the house, with the exception of a recently constructed wing in the

William and Mary style What later came to be known as the William and Mary style is a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 in the Netherlands, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, and later in England's American colonies. It was a transi ...

, and built an almost entirely new house in the current Queen Anne style. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Sir Guy Dawber, an architect noted for his

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

work in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

was employed to undertake significant renovations and rebuilding. His work included a "very grand" billiard room and a long gallery. The house remained the home of the Curres until the death of the last Lady Curre in 1956. It was then sold and was subsequently divided into apartments.

Architecture and description

The building history of the house is "extremely complex." The remnants of the medieval gate tower are mixed with late nineteenth century reconstructions. The architectural historian John Newman considers the East front to be "one of the most distinguished in the county." The house is broadly rectangular, with two storeys and seven bays. The interiors are almost unchanged from their late 19th century designs. The house is a

, recognising its important historical development and its "fine interiors." The park and gardens surrounding the house are registered at Grade II on the

as important survivals with landscaping features from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

Notes

References

* {{Cite book , last=Newman, first=John , author-link= John Newman (architectural historian) , series=The Buildings of Wales , title=Gwent/Monmouthshire , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales%3A+Gwent%2FMonmouthshire&pg=PA2 , year=2000 , publisher=Penguin , location=London , isbn=0140710531 Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Country houses in Monmouthshire Registered historic parks and gardens in Monmouthshire