Castle House, Usk

Castle House, Usk
General information
Status	Private dwelling
Town or city	Usk
Country	Wales
Coordinates	51°42′18″N 2°54′08″W / 51.7050°N 2.9022°WCoordinates: 51°42′18″N 2°54′08″W / 51.7050°N 2.9022°W
Designations	Grade I listed

Castle House in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, originally formed the gatehouse to Usk Castle.^[1] Much altered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,^[2] it is now a private home^[2] and a Grade I listed building.^[3]

The building is of three storeys, in stucco, and with a slate roof.^[2] Its gabled rear range "incorporates the inner half of the late fourteenth century gatehouse" to the castle.^[1] Whilst the castle declined in the later medieval period and was slighted during the English Civil War, Castle House underwent considerable expansion and was described as a "gentrified town house" in the early twentieth century.^[4] In 1925 Castle House, and its grounds including the castle ruins, were purchased for £525 by Rudge Humphreys, whose family still own the estate.^[4] Humphreys undertook major excavation and restoration of the grounds, details of which were recorded in an archive of one hundred and seventy photographs, copies of which are held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.^[5]

The gardens of Castle House, dating from the early twentieth century, include a herb garden with medieval planting and are occasionally open under the National Gardens Scheme.^[6]

Notes

1. The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire, page 592
2. "Castle House, Usk Castle | Site Details". Coflein. 1998-12-17. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
3. Good Stuff IT Services (1953-02-16). "Castle House - Usk - Monmouthshire - Wales". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
4. "Usk Castle". Usk Castle. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
5. "Humphreys Album". Coflein. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
6. "Garden". NGS. Retrieved 2012-02-12.

References

Newman J., The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire (2000) Penguin Books