Lydart is a dispersed

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

within the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Mitchel Troy Mitchel Troy (, that is "church of St Michael on the River Trothy") is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, in the United Kingdom. It is located 3 miles south west of the county town of Monmouth, just off the A40 road leadi ...

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 ...

, Wales. It is located about south-west of

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

, north of

Trellech Trellech (occasionally spelt Trelech, Treleck or Trelleck; ) is a village and parish in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales. Located south of Monmouth and north-north-west of Tintern, Trellech lies on a plateau above the Wye Valley on the souther ...

, and south-east of Mitchel Troy village, on the top of an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

which slopes steeply down to the valley of the

River Trothy The River Trothy () is a river which flows through north Monmouthshire, in rural south east Wales. It is a tributary of the River Wye. The river rises on Campston Hill, northeast of Abergavenny. It flows southwards until Llanvapley, where it ...

. The B4293 road passes through the area.

Lydart House and Estate

Lydart House is described as a "handsomely proportioned" eighteenth-century house, of six bays and two storeys. The

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

(RCAHMW) noted the dramatic

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

. The nearby Lydart Farmhouse is a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

largely constructed in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, though parts of the house date to the twelfth century. The house underwent further expansion in the late eighteenth century, after the Lydart estate saw a significant influx of wealth from the wars with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The RCAHMW suggests that

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

indicates a construction date of the early 1700s. The house's chapel is designated as a site of historical interest by

CADW (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

due to its rare fleur-de-lys decorative plasterwork and hidden staircase, which may indicate early ecclesiastical use. Both Lydart House and Lydart Farm are

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, H ...

A country inn - now sadly closed - geograph

Caer Llan

Caer Llan, to the south of Lydart House, is a former

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 ...

, thought to have been built about 1800 but much extended in various stages since that time. After being used briefly as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

, it began to be used as a field studies centre in 1971. It is now also used as a conference centre and events venue, and provides some accommodation.

Ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

to the south east of the centre is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI).

Ty Mawr

Ty Mawr is a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

run by the Society of the Sacred Cross in a secluded location at Lydart. The community was established at Ty Mawr in 1923, and today consists of about ten professed sisters, with several

oblate In Christianity (specifically the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person associated with a Benedictine monastery or convent who is specifically dedicated to God and service. Oblates are i ...

s and associates.

Other buildings and structures

The Gockett Inn was a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

located on the B4293 road. It is known to have operated since at least the 17th century and to have been used by drovers, but closed down around 2003 and is now a private house. A boundary stone at Five Trees marks the point at which the boundaries of the ancient

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es of

Cwmcarvan Cwmcarvan () is a small rural village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 4 miles south west of Monmouth and about 4 miles east of Raglan, off the old A40 road two miles NW of Trellech. History and amenities Church of St. Catwg ...

, Mitchel Troy,

Penallt Penallt (also spelled Penalt) is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated high on a hill south of Monmouth. In the centre of the village, by the village green, stands the 17th-century village pub, the Bush Inn. Description Nearby, ''Penallt ...

and Trellech meet. Four trees were planted to mark the junction before 1800, and a fifth was placed in the middle as the central point. The site was restored in 1982/83, with the assistance of young persons employed under the

Youth Training Scheme The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the Manpower Services Commission. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980 white paper ''A N ...

High Glanau High Glanau (also known as High Glanau Manor) is a country house and Grade II* listed building within the community of Cwmcarvan, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about south-west of Monmouth, and north of Trellech, adjoining the B4293 road ...

, a house and garden built in 1922/23 for the architectural writer and garden designer

Henry Avray Tipping Henry Avray Tipping (22 August 1855 – 16 November 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, a garden designer, and Architectural Editor of '' Country Life'' magazine for 17 years. Early life Tipping was born in th ...

, is located just south of Lydart, within the community of Cwmcarvan.Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', p.208

References

{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire