Troy House is a Welsh historic house north-east of Mitchel Troy, Monmouthshire. It originally belonged to Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy, who retired there around 1550. Present-day structure overlooking the River Trothy was completed in 1681 for Charles Somerset.[1] 19th century authors attributed design of the house to Inigo Jones.[2] In the 20th century the building housed an approved school and fell into disrepair. As of 2009, the property laid abandoned for years.
Contents |
In 1667 Henry Somerset succeeded his father to the title of Marquess of Worcester. Henry, a staunch supporter of Charles II, restored the family fortunes and built a series of residences to replace the slighted Raglan Castle. He started with the Great Castle House near Raglan (1673), continued with the Badminton House in Gloucestershire, and built the new Troy House as a wedding gift to his son Charles. According to architecte Graham Frecknall, floorplans of Troy House followed those of Badminton House.[1]
In 1682 Charles Somerset married Rebecca Child and acquired the title of Marquess of Worcester. Between 1682 and 1699 he expanded Troy House and rebuit the facade in neoclassical style appropriate for his new title. The house remained the Somerset property until the death of Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort in 1899. By this time the family fortunes were destroyed and the descendants of the 8th Duke auctioned off the 1,670-acre (6.8 km2) Troy estate along with most of their Welsh properties.
In 1904 the Troy House was purchased by the Good Shepherd Sisters and converted to a convent school. The catholic nuns expanded the estate with a chapel, a hostel and service buildings. In 1935 the institution was converted into an approved school with state financing. The building gradually deteriorated, and in the 1980 the school relocated to a more appropriate location. The Unification Church approached the municipality with an offer to buy the abandoned property, but was rejected owing to popular sentiment against the group.[1]
In 2009 businessman Peter Carroll of the London-based Timbershore Ltd. proposed plans to rebuild the property into a 54-flat residential compound. According to the draft by Monmouth architect Graham Frecknall, 23 units would fit into the existing House, and 31 into newly-built wings. Carroll said that any plans to revive Troy House require a new build permit and that present-day conservation status precluded any economical redevelopment. According to Carroll, Troy was in danger of being gutted and destroyed like Piercefield House. Preservationists divided over the proposal: SAVE Britain's Heritage concurred with Carroll's analysis, others expressed fears that Troy will end up "a new Cefn Mably".[3]
In 2011 the Troy house was used as a set for a scene in Doctor Who "Day of The Moon"
In 1857 the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway built a railway station north of Troy House. It was inaugurated as Monmouth Troy House station, but the name was soon reduced to Monmouth Troy. It was closed to passenger traffic in 1959 and completely shut down in 1964. In 1985 the brick station building was carefully disassembled and in 1987-1999 rebuilt on the site of Winchcombe railway station of the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.[4]