Woolly says – What a busy few weeks it’s been, whilst Jo has been lugging dirty laundry around, making beds morning, noon and night and cleaning everything glamping to within an inch of its life, I’ve been busy getting our travel arrangements completed.
With just over a month to go we have flights, visas and some idea of where we are going sorted, and it won’t be long until the backpacks come out and the travel starts. In the meantime, I had suggested that we have a leisurely day out and had found the perfect place to achieve that.
Tredegar House is a 17th century mansion in Coedkernew, on the southwestern edge of Newport, Wales. For over five hundred years it was home to the Morgan family, later Lords Tredegar, one of the most powerful and influential families in the area. Described as “the grandest and most exuberant country house in Monmouthshire” and one of the “outstanding houses of the Restoration period in the whole of Britain”, the mansion stands in a reduced landscaped garden of 90 acres (0.36 km2). The property became a Grade I listed building on 3 March 1952 and has been under the care of the National Trust since March 2012.
Originally built of stone in the 15th century it had sufficient status to host Charles I on a visit to the area, between 1664 and 1672 William Morgan the then owner decided to rebuild the house on a larger scale from red brick, at that time a rare building material in Wales. The Morgan family resided at the house until 1962 when the 6th Baron Tredegar died, childless and broke.
The House has been used as a filming location on several occasions, including the Antiques Roadshow, Being Human, Da Vinci’s Demons, The Hairy Bikers and lots of Dr Who episodes, as we left the car, I made a note to keep an eye out for Daleks.
Having purchased our tickets, we ambled along the pathway pausing to look at the remains of the vinery and its heating pipes, we admired the natural borders and beds before arriving at a much more formal garden.
A five hundred year old cedar tree provided shade across a large area and gave us our first glimpse of the mansion itself.
A lovely bed of planting with a hedge marked two memorials, one for a family dog and the other for to Sir Briggs. In 1854, Godfrey Morgan fought in, and survived, the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Godfrey was 22 and Captain in the 17th Lancers. His horse, Sir Briggs, also survived and lived at Tredegar House until its death at the age of 28. A fitting stone to mark a brave horse.
Slightly further along was the area where the parterre would have once been, now a work in progress to rebuild as it had once looked it already held some wonderful bright blooms.
It was also home to the former Orangery, constructed in 1710, taking a quick look inside it was sad to see that not an orange survived and that its current use was for storage for large groups visiting the house.
Passing through some impressive gilded gates we were able to take in the original front of the house,
as we got closer the mouldings and detailing on the building became more obvious and we took our time in admiring the finery of the exterior before climbing up the steps and entering the main hall.
A large central fireplace which would provide much needed warmth in the winter months, the room had a huge array of photographs recently reunited with the house to look at.
Following the arrow to the left we arrived in a stunning wood lined room which boasted carvings of all types and sizes within the décor and with Morgan family portraits lining the walls.
The floor was the original oak with its wide pieces and diamond joints it was very impressive. As was the ceiling with its shells, flowers and fruits lying high above my head.
Next door was the Gilt Room, where every wall and ceiling surface was covered in gold. A large oval ceiling painting was beautifully done.
Pictures lined the walls adding extra gilt to the whole room, as did the fireplace which gleamed.
We entered the dining room with its wonderful ceiling rose and further additions at each end and in the corners.
Heading up stairs we spent a while looking at the lovely wooden staircase before noticing a pretty looking stag that was also made of wood.
The corridors were lined with more family portraits as arrived in the Kings Room.
Although known as the Kings Room no king had ever stayed in the bedroom, if he had however, I’m sure he would have been impressed with its canopied bed and the lovely bathroom next to it.
Next came the Red Room which during its history had been called a number of things including the Velvet chamber, the 31 nursery and the young master’s chamber. Given its red tones the Red Room seemed the most apt.
A small drawing room looked out over the grounds and the Masters dressing room was now looking more of a school room rather than somewhere to dress.
The arrows that we were following led us downstairs and into the servant’s area, a stark difference to the rest of the house. An incredibly long line of bells greeted us, goodness knows how noisy that would have been if every room rang for a maid at the same time.
We peered into the Game room housed in the depths of the cellars, before arriving in the kitchen with its high ceilings and walls of brass pots and pans.
A lovely canopy no longer covered a stove unless you counted the small children’s unit beneath it, even better was the brass boiler where water would have been heated to allow the tonnes of washing up to be done.
The scullery was a large room and would have been overseen by the scullery maid at the grand age of 12. Next door was the pastry room set up ready for the next pastries to be prepared.
A long corridor took us to the Still room where the jams, pickles and chutneys would have been produced. Next to it was a huge room where the Housekeeper would have ruled from, it looked very cosy and far grander than I would have expected.
It was also home to the spice cupboard, the most expensive goods kept in the house at the time.
An open courtyard where the servants would have once enjoyed some sunshine took us through the to the servant’s hall with its immensely long original oak table.
Finding ourselves at the end of the house tour we wandered through the grounds towards the lake. Ducks and swans covered the water paddling around and enjoying the weather.
The boat house from the early 20th century looked in need of repair but had a handy bench to sit on to enjoy the view across the man made lake.
Jo and I sat for a while watching the visitors enjoying the surroundings along with their pooches, it made us both a little sad not to have been able to show Alfie the Dog around as he would have loved the grounds. Instead, we left the lakeside and headed for the café and a giant scone each to keep us going until teatime.