Malpas Court is a small manor house built in 1834 - 1838 for Thomas Prothero of Newport, by the architect T H Wyatt, perhaps inspired by the nearby Llantarnam Abbey. This house replaced the previous manor house which was nearer to the main road. The historian Sir Joseph Bradney married Florence Prothero of Malpas Court in 1927.

A 19th century country house built in the early Tudor style of brown, rock-faced stone, with stone chimneys and mullion and transom windows. It is two storeys plus attics, and comprises a main block facing north-east with a recessed service wing to the north-west, forming an L-shape plan.

The north-east elevation has a central, gabled, entrance block, flanked by octagonal buttresses with pinnacles, with a further pinnacle in the gable, which is surmounted by bird, and with an heraldic shield in the gable. The main entrance doorway is formed with a Tudor arch head, over which is a hoodmould, and has a panelled door. Above the doorway, on the first floor, is an oriel window with stone mullions. To the left of the entrance gable, in the angle with the main range, is a polygonal, formerly castellated tower with slit windows, which is surmounted by a turret-like, polygonal chimney. To the right of the entrance block there is two-storey, gabled, bay which has a canted, bay window on the ground floor, with a three-light window above on the first floor. Both of these also have stone mullions. On both floors these large windows are flanked by narrow windows with stone surrounds.

At the right end of the main range is the two storey service wing, set back from the main front elevation. This wing has two gablets and four windows with stone surrounds.

The south-east elevation of the main range has two pinnacled gables. In the centre of the ground floor is a semi-octagonal porch with elliptical arches, the spandrels of which sport carved foliage surrounding the initials 'C' and 'P'. Over the doorway is an overlight and a carved hoodmould, while to either side is a four light mullion and transom window. Over the porch, on the first floor, is another doorway which is flanked by stone, three-light windows.

On the south-west side the main range is of three bays, the two end bays being advanced and gabled ended. The central bay has a canted bay window on the ground floor, over which is a three-light window, again all stone. To the left of the main range is the south-east elevation of the service wing, which mirrors the front elevation with two gablets.

The interior is largely gutted, with no remaining fittings other than the intergrated structural features. The main entrance leads to a ground floor hall which has the remnants of a coffered ceiling, supported by arch braces, the spandrels of which are infilled with timber tracery. At the base of each arch is a corbel in the shape of a head, these are set into the line of the moulded picture rail. Immediately below the picture rail is a narrow plaster freize running round the whole room, agaan with foliate decoration. At the far end of the hall three Tudor arches lead to a rear hall (the left and centre arch) and to the stairwell (the right arch). The rear hall is decorated with plain timber panelling. A large Tudor arch in turn leads to a small rear room, dominated by the large bay window of the south-west elevation, the lights of which have lozenge timber tracery, and with central French winows.

The main hall is flanked to either side by a large room running the full depth of the range, the windows of which retain their full height panelled shutters. In the room to the south-east is a stone fireplace with a Tudor arch head, and a brick fireback with herring-bone patterning.

The open well, stone staircase leads to a first floor hall, which has a canted ceiling. The angled sides of the ceiling are panelled, while at each corner, three moulded timber ribs culminated in an elaborately carved boss. In the centre of the ceiling is a large 12-pane skylight which would have lit the hall. The first floor arrangement mirrors that of the ground floor, with a large room running the depth of the main range either side of the hall, and a small room over the ground floor porch. The small turret is accessed off this room, although the newel staircase which originally gave access to the top of the turret has disappeared. The openings of these first floor rooms retain their paneled reveals.

The rooms on both the ground and first floor of the service wing are similarly gutted with features such as fireplaces having been removed they are architectually plainer in nature and retain no architectural features of note.
(Source; Site visit by SF 06/02/2006, Cadw listing database) S Fielding RCAHMW 113/10/2006