Raglan Lodge is a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in Beaufort Square,

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

, Monmouthshire, Wales. Though the frontage dates from the early 19th century, parts of the building date from the medieval period and the ground floor vaulted hall was probably the town's 14th century moot hall. The building has been refurbished and is currently used as a backpackers' hostel.

Vaulted room or crypt

The building is located on Chepstow's medieval market square, later reduced in size by infill development and named Beaufort Square around 1850, after the landowners, the

Dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, 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 Duke of S ...

. The large ground floor room has a vaulted stone ceiling with carved

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a p ...

es of floral decorations and of heads, one wearing a

Monmouth cap The Monmouth cap (Welsh: ''Cap Trefynwy'') was an item of woollen headgear fashionable between the 15th and 18th centuries, and associated with the town of Monmouth in South East Wales. The knitted round caps were used by both soldiers and sa ...

. The room was probably the moot hall, or Booth Hall, recorded as existing in the town in the 14th and 15th centuries. It may be the building referred to in 1674 as an "old chapel". It was later referred to as the Crypt Room, and in the 18th and 19th centuries was variously used as a wine store, a

coach house Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * C ...

, an

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and a

milliners Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

' shop. Between 1880 and 1923, it was the site of the town's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, and in 1915 held one of the first automated

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

s in the country.Ivor Waters, ''The Town of Chepstow'', Moss Rose Press, 1972, pp.119-121 Restoration work has revealed a previously-hidden stone cellar.

19th century rebuilding

In the 18th century, the site was the home of the Fydell family. Thomas Fydell (or Fydale) was

sheriff of Monmouthshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Monmouthshire, an office which was created in 1536 but not fully settled until 1540. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the shrievalty of Monmouthshire was abolished, and replace ...

in 1772, and, on occasion,

assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ...

were held in the building. By around 1800 it came into the ownership of John Bowsher, the head of the locally important firm of shipping and timber merchants, Bowsher, Hodges and Watkins. The frontage of the building was rebuilt in

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

style in the early 19th century. It is a relatively narrow frontage, with

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

s on three storeys. There is a metal

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

above the main first floor window, and a top balcony "almost as if it were in Brighton";John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , p.187 there may originally also have been a canopy above the top window. The building has been extended substantially to the rear. A flight of steps leads up to a side entrance.

Later uses

The upper storeys of the building were a residential property until the mid-twentieth century. During the 1930s, the property was owned by Lord and Lady Raglan. In 1952, the building was sold to the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in n ...

, who used it as a

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, crimin ...

. The building overlooks Chepstow's

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

, unveiled in 1922, which the Legion were responsible for maintaining. In 2007, the building was bought by businessman Mike Lewis, who intended to open it as a backpackers' hostel. Refurbishment work started in 2011, and the hostel was opened in April 2016.

Listed building status

The building was first given listed building status on 30 April 1956. It is recognised for its "medieval vaulted hall and Regency frontage, the best of its kind in the town." The adjoining property to the south-west, 14 Beaufort Square is also a Grade II* listed building, and the two buildings are noted for their "group value with other listed buildings in Beaufort Square and the lower part of Bank Street and High Street."

References

{{Reflist, 35em Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire Chepstow