Overview

Perched on a hill overlooking the River Trothy in Monmouthshire, Troy House was built in the late seventeenth century as a wedding present for Charles Somerset by his father, Henry Somerset, first Duke of Beaufort. A magnificent house with a neoclassical facade and three striking Jacobean painted ceilings, Troy House remained in the Somerset family until the end of the nineteenth century, when it was auctioned off and eventually turned into a convent school. This richly illustrated book tells the story of the house, its owners, and its architecture, showing how the house and the landscape around it were transformed by the house's owners over the centuries to suit fashion and reflect their influential positions at court.

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9781783169894

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Reviews

'This exhaustive study of Troy House, its historic gardens and estate is a model for scholars of garden history, employing all possible methods of research from unpublished manuscripts to modern archaeological techniques. Generously illustrated and rigorously argued, Benson's book traces the ownership of this seemingly modest Welsh estate from powerful medieval lords, through the Earls of Pembroke and especially the Somerset family (Earls of Worcester and later Dukes of Beaufort) and finally to a small order of French nuns in the twentieth century. Benson's fascinating book teases out the contributions made by them all.' - Dr Paula Henderson, independent architectural and garden historian; 'Troy's past is that of an aristocratic seat but it is rarely discussed in the history of the great country house. In this book, the author examines both house and estate, reveals documentary and visual evidence from across the centuries and assesses Troy's significance for the first time. It is a huge achievement and contribution to the field and, since the house has been under threat for a century or more, future historians will be in Ann Benson's debt for a timely investigation of somewhere so fascinating and yet so fragile.' - Professor Maurice Howard, President of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain; 'Ann Benson draws on a wide range of sources, including Welsh poetry, to reveal the remarkable story of a forgotten Welsh house from its medieval origins through to the present day. I recommend this very impressive, fascinating study to anyone interested in the history of houses and gardens.' - Professor Dafydd Johnston, Director of University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies

Author Information

Dr Ann Benson FSA is a writer and lecturer on Garden and Architectural History, specialising in the history of the Tudor and Stuart periods.

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