Mathern

Coordinates: 51°37′05″N 2°41′30″W / 51.61818°N 2.6917°W / 51.61818; -2.6917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mathern
Mathern parish church
Mathern is located in Monmouthshire
Mathern
Mathern
Location within Monmouthshire
Population1,056 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceST522912
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHEPSTOW
Postcode districtNP16
Dialling code01291
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Monmouthshire
51°37′05″N 2°41′30″W / 51.61818°N 2.6917°W / 51.61818; -2.6917

Mathern (

Conservation Area.[2]
It is now bisected by the motorway, which passes over the road through the village, with the original village located to the south and the more recent development, known as Newton Green, to the north.

Almost adjoining Mathen, and within the community, is Pwllmeyric.

Origins of the village

An authoritative local history[3] suggests that the settlement originates from a time when the St. Pierre Pill, an inlet off the Severn Estuary, was larger and much more important than now, and met an ancient ridgeway which passed through Shirenewton towards Monmouth. The inlet was originally known as Porthiscoed ("harbour below the woods"), which, as Portskewett, later became the name of a nearby village.

Mathern was originally known as Merthyr-Tewdrig ("burial-place of Tewdrig"), after the martyrdom of St. Tewdrig, king of Gwent and Glywysing. According to the Book of Llandaff, Tewdrig (or Tewdric) was wounded at Tintern around the year 630, after fighting the invading Saxons with his son Meurig ap Tewdrig. His wounds were washed at a spring, where he died. A church was erected on the site of his burial at Mathern, and he was later revered as a martyr and saint.[4][5] In his memory, Meurig gave the surrounding land, extending for several miles, to the Bishops of Llandaff. During the 12th century, the shorter name Mateyrn, meaning "place of a king", came into common use for the village; Meurig's name is perpetuated in the neighbouring village of Pwllmeyric.[3]

Notable buildings

St Tewdric's Church

Main article: St Tewdric's Church
St Tewdric's church

The existing parish

Grade I listed building as of 19 August 1955.[9]

Mathern Palace

Main article: Mathern Palace

The Mathern estate was traditionally given to the Bishops of Llandaff by

Lord Tredegar at the museum at Caerleon, dating from the time of Bishop John de la Zouch who held the See between 1408 and 1423.[10]
Most of the remaining buildings, however, date from the 16th century. The property fell out of use around 1700, became a farm, and was partly demolished around 1770. In 1894 the buildings were sold to architect and garden designer
Grade I listed building since 10 June 1953.[11]

Mathern Palace was sold in August 2014 and is now a private home. In 2019 the palace was again put up for sale for £3 million.[12][13]

Moynes Court

Main article: Moynes Court

Moynes Court is a

Grade II* listed building. An earlier building was rebuilt as a private residence by Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff, in about 1609/10, and much of the building remains from that period. Its grounds contain earthworks thought to be the foundations of an earlier moated manor house
.

Wyelands

Main article: Wyelands

Wyelands is a large neoclassical villa, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village. It was designed by Robert Lugar and was completed around 1830. It is also a Grade II* listed building. The Vaughan-Hughes family, who occupied the house between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, built cottages and almshouses in Mathern for their employees, some dated to 1891.[3][6]

Sport and leisure

Mathern FC currently has three

football
sides playing in Gwent County League Division 2 and East Gwent Senior League Division 1 and Division 2.

In 2005/06 the club - then known as Mathern Wanderers - won the Harry Fishwick Cup defeating Monmouth Town F.C. At the start of the 2012/13 season Mathern Wanderers FC and members of Tintern Abbey FC amalgamated to become Mathern FC. This was a successful season for the new club, with the 1st team winning the East Gwent Division 1 title and the 2nd team winning the Fishwick Cup. Following ground improvements made during the close season, Mathern were promoted to the Gwent County League's Division Three. Mathern's first team won a further promotion - to Division 2 of the Gwent County League after finishing runners-up to Sebastopol FC at the end of the 2013/14 season. In the 2015/16 season, the club made the final of three cup competitions, winning two and losing one.[citation needed]

The Wales Coast Path passes through the village.

References

  1. ^ "Community population 2011". Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  2. ^ Adopted Unitary Development Plan Archived 2010-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b c d E. T. Davies, A history of the Parish of Mathern, 1990
  4. ^ Kelly's Directory for Monmouthshire, 1901
  5. ^ Wales
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-14-071053-1
    .
  7. ^ Hando, F. J., (1958) "Out and About in Monmouthshire", R. H. Johns, Newport.
  8. ^ Spirit Of The Community (from Monmouthshire County Life)[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Church of St Tewdric, Mathern, Monmouthshire".
  10. ^ Morgan, Octavius (1882), "Goldcliff and the Ancient Roman Inscribed Stone Found There 1878", Monmouthshire & Caerleon Antiquarian Association
  11. ^ "Mathern Palace, Mathern, Monmouthshire".
  12. ^ Boucher, Brooke (13 August 2019). "Mathern Palace, one of Gwent's most striking buildings, is up for sale". South Wales Argus.
  13. ^ Ridout, Joanne (20 August 2019). "The £3m Welsh medieval palace that's the same price as an English terrace". WalesOnline.

External links

Other sources

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