About Treowen
Treowen is an early 17th-century house in Monmouthshire, Wales, regarded as "the most important gentry house in the county". It is located in open countryside within the parish of Wonastow, about ½ mile north-east of the village of Dingestow, and south-west of Monmouth. It is a Grade I listed building, and, after being used as a farmhouse for three centuries, is now a conference and functions venue. Treowen is home to the annual Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival. HistoryThe house was built in about 1623–27 for William Jones, on the site of a 15th-century building. Jones was briefly Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire in 1614, and was High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1615. He later inherited a fortune from his uncle, a trader in London. The Jones family moved out of the house in the 1670s, and let it out as a farmhouse. The building itself remained largely unchanged except for the removal of the top storey of the front half of the building in the 18th century. The house was sold to the sitting tenants in 1945, and continued to be used as a farmhouse until 1993. In 1960, Mark Girouard wrote in Country Life: There is something very moving about the distant view of Treowen, rising suddenly, high and lonely, out of the fields. It has no park, for it has been a farm since the 17th century, but the lack of elaborate setting suits its character. It is not a sophisticated building but strong, massive and generous. The depredations of time and fallen fortune have removed a good deal, but nothing has been added: everything that is there is genuine, unaltered work of its age.
Treowen Description
Treowen is an early 17th-century house in Monmouthshire, Wales, regarded as "the most important gentry house in the county". It is located in open countryside within the parish of Wonastow, about ½ mile north-east of the village of Dingestow, and south-west of Monmouth. It is a Grade I listed building, and, after being used as a farmhouse for three centuries, is now a conference and functions venue. Treowen is home to the annual Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival. HistoryThe house was built in about 1623–27 for William Jones, on the site of a 15th-century building. Jones was briefly Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire in 1614, and was High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1615. He later inherited a fortune from his uncle, a trader in London. The Jones family moved out of the house in the 1670s, and let it out as a farmhouse. The building itself remained largely unchanged except for the removal of the top storey of the front half of the building in the 18th century. The house was sold to the sitting tenants in 1945, and continued to be used as a farmhouse until 1993. In 1960, Mark Girouard wrote in Country Life: There is something very moving about the distant view of Treowen, rising suddenly, high and lonely, out of the fields. It has no park, for it has been a farm since the 17th century, but the lack of elaborate setting suits its character. It is not a sophisticated building but strong, massive and generous. The depredations of time and fallen fortune have removed a good deal, but nothing has been added: everything that is there is genuine, unaltered work of its age.