Mitchel Troy (, that is "church of

St Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

on 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 ...

") is a village and

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 ...

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 ...

, south east Wales, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is located 3 miles south west of the

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

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 ...

, just off the

A40 road The A40 is a trunk road which runs between London and Goodwick (Fishguard), Wales, and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road (A40) in all legal documents and Acts. Much of its length within England has been superseded by motorw ...

leading towards Raglan. Settlements within the community include Tregare,

Dingestow Dingestow (pronounced , ) is a small village in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located south-west of Monmouth and approximately the same distance north-east of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in rural Monmouthshire. The River Trothy passes through ...

, Cwmcarvan and

Wonastow Wonastow () is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located south west of Monmouth. History and amenities Wonastow has a twelfth-century church dedicated to St. Wonnow or Saint Winwaloe, believed to have been built on a seven ...

History and amenities

The English name of the parish derives from the name of the river, the Welsh ''Troddi'' becoming Trothy and then Troy. The addition "Mitchel" is thought not to derive from the church's dedication to St Michael, but rather as a variant of the word "much" or "mickle", as also found at

Mitcheldean Mitcheldean is a market town in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. History Mitcheldean was a thriving community for many centuries due to the town's proximity to iron ore deposits. During the 19th century, the town grew due to rev ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and used to differentiate the village from the nearby manor of Troy Parva.Sir Joseph Bradney, ''A History of Monmouthshire, vol.2 part 2'', 1913

John de Troye John de Troye (died 1371) was a Welsh-born Crown official and judge in fourteenth century Ireland, who held the offices of Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and Lord Treasurer of Ireland.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 ...

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

(died 1371), was born here early in the fourteenth century. Nathaniel Armstrong Wells, author, eldest son of the first black High Sheriff of Monmouthshire

Nathaniel Wells Nathaniel Wells (10 September 1779 – 13 May 1852) was a British planter and politician of Afro-Caribbean descent. Born on a slave plantation in Saint Kitts, he was sent to Britain to complete his education, eventually serving as a magistrate ...

, was christened here on 24 March 1806.

Church of St Michael and All Angels

The church of St Michael and All Angels dates back to the 13th century though the church was thoroughly restored in the 1870s in the Decorated style. The cleric and writer

Adam of Usk Adam of Usk (, c. 1352–1430) was a Welsh priest, canonist, and late medieval historian and chronicler. His writings were hostile to King Richard II of England. Patronage Born at Usk in what is now Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy), south-east Wales, ...

was the rector in 1382–85;John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', 2000, and the final resident incumbent of Mitchel Troy with Cwmcarvan, Arthur Walter Sneyd (1900-1980), who retired in 1971, is of note because he succeeded in taking both his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degrees at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

within two years of retiring. Following Sneyd's departure, the parish became served from Overmonnow and more recently it has been incorporated into the

group of parishes.

Troy House

Troy House, about 1½ miles north east of the church, was largely rebuilt after about 1680, on the site of an earlier building, for the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd D ...

, after the family seat at

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle () is a Late Middle Ages, late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th cent ...

had fallen into ruin. The house remained in the Somerset family until it was sold in 1901, after which it became 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 ...

school and later, from 1935, an

approved school An approved school was a type of residential institution in the United Kingdom to which young people could be sent by a court, usually for committing offences but sometimes because they were deemed to be beyond parental control. They were model ...

. In 2008, proposals have been made for its conversion into residential apartments.

Governance

Mitchel Troy is also the name of the

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

, coterminous with the community. The division elects a county councillor to

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) () is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 and covers the eastern ...

References

External links

Mitchel Troy United Community Council Website

Geograph photos of Mitchel Troy
* {{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire Monmouthshire electoral wards Communities in Monmouthshire