George Smith – (Central block) / Colonel Mark Wood – (Pavilions)
Architect
Sir John Soane (Pevsner) or George Vaughan Maddox (Cadw) – (Central block) / Joseph Bonomi the Elder – (Pavilions)
Architectural style(s)
Neoclassical
Governing body
Privately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name
Ruins of Piercefield House (Central Block)
Designated
14 February 2001
Reference no.
2013
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name
Ruins of Piercefield House, Left Hand or West Pavilion
Designated
14 February 2001
Reference no.
24754
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name
Ruins of Piercefield House, Right Hand or East Pavilion
Designated
14 February 2001
Reference no.
24755
Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales
Official name
Piercefield and the Wyndcliff
Designated
1 February 2022
Reference no.
PGW(Gt)40(Mon)
Listing
Grade I
Location of Piercefield House in Monmouthshire
Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of, Sir John Soane. It is flanked by two pavilions, of slightly later date, by Joseph Bonomi the Elder. The house sits within Piercefield Park, a Grade I listed historic landscape, that was created in the 18th century as a notable Picturesque estate.
The estate has links to colonialism and slavery. After long ownership by the Walter family, in 1740 it was bought by Valentine Morris, a slaver and planter from Antigua. His son, also Valentine, developed the park and grounds into one of the 18th century’s most famous Picturesque landscapes. His prodigality ruined him, and the estate was sold to a banker, George Smith, who began the present house. He was in turn bankrupted and Piercefield was bought by Sir Mark Wood, a nabob who had made his fortune in Bengal. In 1802, the estate was bought by Nathaniel Wells, son of William Wells, a slaver from Saint Kitts, and Juggy, later Joardine Wells, his enslaved house servant. Nathaniel and his mother both received their freedom and he inherited the bulk of his father’s wealth. Establishing himself at Piercefield, Nathaniel Wells became, in turn, a Justice of the Peace, a Lieutenant in the Chepstow Yeomanry, and Deputy lieutenant and High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, a notable series of firsts, or near firsts, for a black man in Georgian England.
The house is now a shell, along with its extensive stable block, but its status as a Grade II* listed building reflects its importance. It is currently owned by the Reuben brothers, London-based property developers. A campaign to save and restore the building was launched by SAVE Britain's Heritage in 2013. The house has been repeatedly marketed for sale since the early 2000s but no sale has been concluded. Despite emergency stabilising work in 2008/9, the condition of the house continues to deteriorate.
PiercefieldHouse is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the centre of...
Ireland PiercefieldHouse, a largely ruined neo-classical country house located near Chepstow in Monmouthshire, south–east Wales Piercefield, New York...
he bought PiercefieldHouse, Chepstow from Colonel Mark Wood, after agreeing to buy it for £90,000 over dinner. Wells added to Piercefield until it reached...
demolition in 1955 Ryston Hall, remodelled 1786 Cricket St. Thomas House, 1786 PiercefieldHouse, 1788–93 Bentley Priory, 1788–1801, shown c.1800; it was later...
grounds of PiercefieldHouse, 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre on the road towards Tintern. PiercefieldHouse itself, a mansion house rebuilt in...
Llanwenarth House Mounton House Mathern Palace Newton Court Penhein Pen-y-Clawdd Court PiercefieldHouse Shirenewton Hall St. Pierre Park Treowen Troy House Wonastow...
downstream to those of Chepstow Castle, in a sonnet written at nearby PiercefieldHouse. Edward Jerningham's short lyric, "Tintern Abbey", written in 1796...
rustication to the more formal swags and arched windows. A house of considerable importance was Piercefield between Chepstow and St Arvans. Originally known for...
18th century brought the county's finest Picturesque landscape at PiercefieldHouse, and the 19th its best Gothic Revival work at Clytha Park. In the...
he was freed and inherited a fortune. He moved to Monmouthshire's PiercefieldHouse and became Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1818. One of the leaders in...
Monmouthshire, and Lord Queenborough; formed a company to purchase PiercefieldHouse, and lay out a new racecourse in its estate. Despite struggling to...
located two miles north west of Chepstow, close to Chepstow Racecourse, PiercefieldHouse and the Wye Valley AONB. It is connected by a segregated bicycle path...
PiercefieldHouse near Chepstow. On his father's death, the younger Valentine Morris, who was then attending school in London, inherited Piercefield....
of John, second Earl of Buckinghamshire. Saloon and staircase at PiercefieldHouse, Monmouthshire. Remodelling of Stansted Park, Sussex (with James Wyatt)...
Colonel Sir Mark Wood, the owner of PiercefieldHouse near Chepstow, who converted some of the buildings into a domestic house and shooting box. He then sold...
of nearby PiercefieldHouse. In the 19th century the court was owned by the Fluyders, but let to tenant farmers. It remains a private house and working...
of the United Kingdom Prehistoric Britain Roman Britain Timeline of architectural styles List of country houses in the United Kingdom Nikolaus Pevsner...
"Wye" and "cliff". Wyndcliff is listed, jointly with the park at PiercefieldHouse, at Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special...
Templeoran (Irish: Teampall Odhráin, meaning 'Oran's church') also known as Piercefield or Templeoran is a townland in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located...
Clay (1825–1921), who owned PiercefieldHouse overlooking the Wye valley. In 1910, Charles Leigh Clay commissioned a house on the high ground to the north...
Richard Leyborn of The Firs, Malpas 1895: Henry Hastings Clay, of PiercefieldHouse, Chepstow 1896: Col. Robert Henry Mansel, of Maindiff Court, Abergavenny...
PiercefieldHouse, near Chepstow, working to designs by Sir John Soane. Given the date of Maddox's birth, and the construction period for Piercefield...
"Picturesque Piercefield" (PDF). Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty Partnership. 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2014. Cadw SAM: MM285 The Alcove, Piercefield. coflein...
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