It is impossible to look at the history of Llanthony Secunda Manor, without taking into account the histories of both Llanthony Prima, in Monmouthshire, and Llanthony Secunda Abbey, in Gloucester.

We need to go back to the 12th century and the reign of King Henry I to start our story, to a time when a man named William De Lacy decided to live his life as a hermit, after seeing a beautiful spot in the Black Mountains, near the Brecon Beacons. He lived his life there in the worship of God, and was in a few years, joined by the Chaplain to Queen Maud, wife of King Henry I. The two brothers decided to build a monastery, and so Llanthony Prima was formed. The monastery prospered until the death of King Henry I. 

It was during the reigns of King Stephen and Queen Matilda that troubles began. In fact, it was during this time, that there was trouble throughout England and Wales, a time known as ‘The Anarchy’, when it was said that ‘Christ and his Saints slept.’ There were approximately 40 canon monks living at Llanthony Prima, and although their Augustinian rule was to live in peace, troubles landed at their door. We know that the monks of Llanthony had various problems with their Welsh neighbours. It may have been that the Welsh resented their presence, as the monastery would have been seen as Norman, run by Normans, and it was in Wales, which had not been conquered as yet. We don’t know exactly what happened but we do, amazingly enough, have an accounting from the Monk of Llanthony, writing in the 12th century, to help us work it out. He tells us of the Welshmen fighting with each other, and how Llanthony became involved.

“A Welshman, a neighbour of theirs, when he and his family were terrified on all hands by the enemy’s threats and weapons, and had no way to escape or hide himself, he fled with his whole household to Llanthony, to seek refuge in that consecrated place; but his enemies prosecuted him with inexorable malice, and having way-laid him in the outer courtyard, they vent their poisonous fury on him. He flees with the women of his family into the innermost offices; and the women seize the room where the brethren were accustomed to eat, and were not ashamed to sing, and profane that place with their light and effeminate behaviour. What should the soldiers of Christ do? They are surrounded without by the weapons of their enemies; there are arms without doors, and frights within: they cannot procure sustenance from abroad to satisfy their hunger, nor can they attend divine services with accustomed reverence, by reason of the vain insolence of those ungrateful guests. A great confusion appears in the monastery, lest some of the weaker brethren should be deluded to commit sin. In the multitude of evils which surround them, they know not what to do; they send to the Bishop of Hereford to ask advice in those difficult circumstances, and resolve to observe whatsoever he shall direct.”

In 1136, the monks of Llanthony Prima left the priory, and went to the Bishop of Hereford, as he beseeched them to do. He took them in but was not without his own troubles at the time. It was initially hoped that the troubles would end soon, and they would be able to return to Llanthony Prima, but as time went on, and the situation did not improve, a solution had to be found.

The 12th century monk of Llanthony speaks about the state of the country.

”no hopes of redress of their evils did appear, and that the storm might blow over, and that they might again return in peace to their own home; but rather on the contrary new broils did every day arise in the nation, and the enemies of peace raged with fury: For cruel wars were carried on between King Stephen and his cousin Maud the Empress, and her son Henry, about the title of the crown, which caused bloodshed and destruction in all parts, and no expectation of better days.”

The Bishop of Hereford had previously been the Prior of Llanthony, he knew these monks personally, and must have felt responsible for them. And so it came to pass, that a man named Milo Fitz-Walter, who’s father had previously retired from life to become one of the canon monks of Llanthony, whether by his own free will, or by coercion, gave the monks of Llanthony further lands, mainly in Gloucester, where they could build for themselves a new church. In his charter, dated 1136, Milo gives the monks not only the lands in Gloucester, but many other small parcels of property, rights to tithes and churches. In this charter, the monks are given two parts of the tithes of Caldicot.

The monks of Llanthony had decided and it was agreed, that once the troubles were over, they would be able to return to the Mother house of Llanthony Prima. It was planned that once the new church of Llanthony, which they would call Llanthony Secunda (secunda meaning second in latin) was built, that it would remain a daughter house. Plans however don’t always go smoothly, and it was very unfortunate that it was to become an issue which would split the brethren of Llanthony.

The monk of Llanthony tells us that:

“The church which they had newly built was called Llanthony, by the name of the former church, least posterity should call it into question, whether this new church was a branch of the other, and a tree out of the old root? Or whether a church which had its origin in this manner out not to be esteemed the daughter or cell of the other. it is true the patron did not give the site to the church of St. John in Wales, but he gave it to the monks belonging to that church; and what does a church consist of? Not of the stones, but rather of the faithful professors of Christ: But I will give offence to no man; I stop my mouth, and will not say a word more.”

This was the argument, and it is easy to see how it came about. On the one hand, you have the monks of Llanthony who want to return to the mother house in Wales. It was after all, what had been intended all along. One the other hand, you had the monks who did not, who saw living in Gloucester not only as the easier option, but the better for finance, safety, prosperity and convenience. So, the argument came down to what was planned, those who wanted to return said this was how it was intended, and those who did not said, but the church was given to the monks and not to Llanthony, so we can have this as the main house if we choose.

This wasn’t settled for many years, but it is this argument which lead to the two communities separating in 1205. All these years later, what is great about these dates, is that the manor in Caldicot can prove that it became a working grange between the dates of 1136 and 1205. It does this, because it paid a portion of its income to both houses, after they had split, and only the properties which were jointly owned before 1205 did this. We also know that Llanthony Secunda was confirmed by Papal Bull, in 1146, as a cell of Llanthony Prima, so the monastery was up and running by this time. It is unlikely that the land in Caldicot would not also have been built upon, soon after it was given to the monks, so while we know the manor was a working grange by 1205, a mid 12th century date is more likely.

When the Manor in Caldicot was first built, in the 12th century, it would have been a grange. Only the eastern range was built at this time, and it was probably only of two floors, with a high pitched roof and a central fire on the first floor. Grange buildings were out-posts, or farmsteads, which were owned by a monastery. They were often directly worked from the monastery, although in the later medieval period, they were often rented to tenant farmers. Granges worked in much the same way as demesne lands of a manor. Their income was derived from court fees, forestry, rights of pasture, tanneries, dovecotes, bee-keeping, livestock, wool, and mills. While no grange earned money from all these sources, they were all possible sources of income, from which they might choose to focus.

Rents were an important source of income for all monasteries. *Llanthony Prima received £5-£7 per year from its customary tenants in Caldicot, while Llanthony Secunda Abbey also received between £5-£7 from rents in Caldicot.

It is interesting to note, that in the middle ages, there was something called a ‘right to wreckage’, which means exactly as it sounds, in that a person or property could hold a right to claim anything which washed up on its shores.

”In March of 1334 when the ship Le maroite, sailing from Bordeaux to Bristol with a cargo of wine, was wrecked near Goldcliff. When the cargo was claimed it was found that among others, the prior of Goldcliff, one of the monks, John le White vicar of Nash, a clerk John de Usk, John Vicar of Caldicot, joined by the parson of Portishead had helped themselves to it.”

In the 15th century, an addition was put onto the manor. It was common at this time, for kitchens to be added to houses, having previously been in separate buildings due to the risk of fire. By the 15th century though, fireplaces were common, and often kitchens were added inside buildings, as occurred at Llanthony. Above the kitchen, they added the dormitory rooms for the monks. There were at least 3 rooms added in this block, above the kitchen. Each of these rooms had 4 small windows with prayer seats, a central fire, stair tower and garderobe. This addition is relatively unaltered from its original use, and today it can clearly be seen how it was intended for the monks use. The windows help us to date this extension. By the 15th century glass was available, and windows began to be made smaller so that they could be glazed. The tiny windows in this extension, as well as the kitchen addition, clearly place it in the 15th century.

We know that the manor carried on as a working grange until the dissolution of the monasteries, when Henry VIII took possession. What is less clear, is if it was tenant farmed.

Although slightly misleading as a statement, Henry VIII did own the Manor in Caldicot. He acquired it in 1536, when he also acquired a massive amount of lands, throughout England and Wales, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. Although he probably never visited, what is particularly interesting about his ownership, is that he kept records of all his newly acquired properties.

Henry VIII appointed Clement Dace as his Bailiff, and farmer, of the manor. The details of Dace’s collection, made in 1540, are as follows:

Assize rents, rents of customary tenants payable at the terms of the annunciation of the blessed Mary and St. Michael Archangel equally as by a certain rental mode thereof by Auditor 106.7d

• Farm of the rectory with all houses situated within the site and all manor of tithes, offerings, revenues, and emoluments pertaining to the said rectory. £16.

• Portion of tithe- namely tithe hay in Beesditch, wolpittes, Newmeade, Caerwent’s Mead and the Moors 16.10d

• Perquisites of Court 5. 0.d

• Sum of Total Receipts £22. 8. 11d

• Payments to the church 20s 0d

• Annual Pension paid to the vicar of the parish church of Caldicot in augmentation of his salary 10s 0d

• Fees stipends and expenses of the steward and in fees of the accounter and bailiffs 20s 0d

• Stipend of clerk of auditor 2s 0d Expenses of steward journeying to Caldicot for holding the courts there this year 9s 2d

• Total expenses 31s 2d

In 1557, the manor was sold. Richard Seyborne purchased it for £174.5.6, the value arrived at was the total of the yearly rents and perquisites, at thirty years purchase.

The manor was sold again by Richard Seyborne’s son, John, between 1601 and 1603, to Edward Kemeys. It was the Kemey’s family who did a lot of work to the oldest parts of the building. The current spiral stairs, and many of the fireplaces and doorframes, are thought to date from their ownership. Luckily they do not seem to have touched the 15th century wing, and today it remains much as it would have looked when it was first built.

There has been some confusion over which Nicholas Kemeys came to inherit the manor, and I have not yet sorted out all the Nicholas Kemeys, but I do not believe that it was the same Nicholas which garrisoned Chepstow Castle against Cromwell and his forces.

We do know that Mary Kemeys, was living at what was then known as Priory Manor, in Caldicot, in 1699. She gave the no.5 bell to Caldicot Church. She was also appointed in the will of Catherine Kemeys, to be trustee of a charity which provided schooling for the poor children of Caldicot, so that they could ‘read the bible and write a legible hand.’

The land remained in the Kemeys family, until the end of the 18th century, when it came into the hands of the Wise Family. Henry Wise Esq. purchased Priory Farm in 1793, and he lived in the manor with his wife Sarah for over 50 years. The Wise family were local shipbuilders.

At the time of Henry’s death, he owned over 700 acres of Caldicot. His wife Sarah, died in 1851, aged 81, and Henry passed away 5 years later, aged 82. He left the priory estate to his niece, Mary Ann Bryan, who decided to sell the manor. Henry’s executors arranged for the sale of what was now known as, Church Farm, which was auctioned at Chepstow on 26th of June, 1857, and purchased by the Howard family.

It is sometimes difficult to tell who did what to the manor, but by 1881, the O.S. map tells us that the Manor had the exact same footprint that it has today. At least some of the building work must have been done by Henry Wise, when the L shaped form of the house was enclosed, to add a two-story structure to the existing house.

Edmund Howard, the manors next owner, was born in 1828. The census records of 1881, show him to be widowed and living at the manor with his daughter, Susan, aged 23, and sons Edmund, aged 18 and Bennett, aged 11 years. Sara Richard is also listed as living at the farm, as a servant, aged 18 years. Church Farm then was a total of 76 acres, and employed three men. Edmunds daughter, Susan, emigrated to Australia, but before she left she took a photo of her childhood home to take with her, which can be seen on this page.

The Howard’s sold to William Morgan, in 1941. After the war, the house was divided up into flats, and then William Morgan sold to the Heavens family, who sold the manor in 1970 to developers.

Thinking the manor would be demolished, the Heavens took with them, the house name of Church Farm, and used it for their newly built bungalow. In 1972, this ancient house, with its amazing history, was scheduled for demolition. It lay empty, its windows had been broken, and its floors had rotted away. Local teenagers would meet inside, and light fires in its ancient hearths, while its grounds were used as a builders yard for the surrounding development. The Manor had been left unloved, and uncared for. It was only a hurried listing of the building, which saved it from demolition. Unfortunately, situations like this still exist today, old buildings are still in danger- from development, as much as from the elements. Funds do not exist to save them all, and the costs of doing so increase all the time.

The manor in Caldicot was one of the lucky ones. In 1978, the manor was purchased by Mrs. S.M. McLeod. Although I never had the pleasure to meet this lady, it is clear that she saved the manor. It would not have been long before part of the manor was in danger of collapse, if not for her intervention. Her photo album of the work has come down to me, through past owners of the manor, and it is clear from it just how bad a state of disrepair it was in, and how much work she must have put into it.

She purchased the manor house, that no longer had a name, but she must have done her research as she decided to call it Llanthony Secunda Manor, which would clearly tell people of its associated history. The manor however, either exhausted her, or her resources, as the work was never fully completed. Without her achievements however, the house may not be standing today. If she or her descendants ever read this, I would like them to know how thankful I am for her past ownership, and work she did to save the manor, for all our benefit. A few short periods of ownership followed, with each doing their best to look after the manor, until I came to purchase it in 2005.

Sources:

The Ancient and Present State of Gloucester as my source for the text of the monk of Llanthony which is a 12th century manuscript that is part of the Cotton Library.

Rents taken from Redditum Custum’ten’
Wreckage from Calendar of Paten Rolls 1330-1334 pg. 547