COURTYARD HOUSE

Moynes Court, Mathern, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, NP16 6HZ

Courtyard House, Moynes Court is a luxury Grade II* listed building....one of the top 5% in the country. Moynes Court has been fully refurbished (in 2008) and provides all the modern conveniences alongside period features.

LOUNGE - ground floor	KITCHEN	BATHROOM - ground floor
MAIN HALL - ground floor	SECOND BEDROOM
HALL/SITTING ROOM 2nd floor	HALL/SITTING ROOM 2nd floor	GALLERY
GALLERY	GALLERY	VIEW FROM GALLERY WINDOW

Moynes Court

History &Architecture

The Manor and Mansion of Moynes Court, first appears in the historical records as belonging to Bogo de Knovil who was a Sheriff of the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. He held the manor from the Lords of Striguil (Chepstow) and attended parliament in 1270. Another Bogo rose against Edward II in 1321 and was pardoned, though he never attended parliament again. The last Bogo left a son, John, whose widow, Margery de Knovil married a Thomas de Moigne. Hence the name Moynes Court.

Because of its important position near the crossings of Severn, and because it was sandwiched between powerful neighbours (to one side the Bishops of Llandaff, at Mathern Palace, to the other the Lords of Striguil at Chepstow castle), Moynes Court was often a pawn between such powerful magnates and changed hands many times. At one time some of the land was even "confiscated" by William the Marshal, (the most powerful magnate in Britain during the reigns of Henry II, and King John). Thus a pattern was set, in which the manor changed hands frequently, owned variously by Hughes's, Mauduits, Morgans, the Lewis's of St Pierre, and others. A Newspaper article of 1911 describes the house as possessing a portrait of one of the two brothers who fought on opposing sides during the Civil War. They are reputed to have "changed ends" when Chepstow Castle fell to Cromwell's army!

There was possibly a castle on the embanked mound in the field to the southwest, though the odd fact of its ditch having a bank on the outside makes the mound itself possibly much older. Moynes Court certainly existed before the present building and probably stood on the site of the present mansion. Over the years fragments of medieval encaustic tiles, similar to those found at Tintern Abbey, have been unearthed which point to there being a substantial building in line with the Gatehouse rather than on the castle mound.

The Mansion is described a "perfect" and "beautifully proportioned" example of a late Elizabethan manor house. It is constructed mainly local sandstone with some Cotswold stone with a roof of Westmoreland slates. It is of five bays, with mullioned and transomed windows (ground floor) and a three storey porch. The relieving arches above the windows point to the fact that the building would originally have been rendered. Things to look out for include the front door, stud-dated 1610 with original strap hinges and ironwork; the incised decoration of the door surrounds, a plaque above the door with the coat of arms of the Bishops of Llandaff and the date 1609; the ten massive chimneys, the windows with their ovolo mullions, transoms and original glazing, the Elizabethan gables, the later ashlar end-gable which is a Victorian addition, with its fine wooden windows.

Many histories and architectural books state that the house was built by Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff though the facts would seem to contradict this. Godwin's coat of arms certainly sits above the front door, however, the style and construction of the building all point to it being created by an earlier hand: possibly Bishop Kitchen whom Godwin castigated for wasting the bishopric's money. What is certain is that the house was re-built by an early classicist. The new Jacobean gables, the balanced proportions of the facade, the courtyard, and the four roman plaques that were inserted in the walls (three are now to be found in the Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon) - all point to the classical sensibility of an Elizabethan "gentleman builder". The mansion was divided during the 1950s into Knovil House and Courtyard House.