Troy House, a seventeenth-century building (nprn 20938), is situated a short distance south-east of Monmouth, on low-lying ground just to the south of the river Trothy. It is notable for the historic interest of its associated grounds (266097) including the survival of the walls and doorway of an early seventeenth-century walled garden (23109). The house and grounds formerly lay in parkland.

The former park lies to the south and south-east of the house, where the ground slopes steeply up to a 200m high ridge. Most of this land is now open pasture with deciduous woodland near the top of the ridge (Troy Orles, Troy Park Wood). This area was known in 1804 as the Park, when Heath called it the ‘Back grounds’ and said that Troy had ‘very fine demesnes’. The 1880s Ordnance Survey map shows this area much the same as it is now with large areas of orchard to the north, south and east of the house. A map of 1706 also shows these areas as orchard and shows ground to the east as ‘Old Parke.’

At some time before 1706 the park was laid out with an avenue from the north front of the house to the confluence of the river Wye and river Monnow to the north; a short stretch of it survived until at least 1880. Within the area of the park, about 350m east of the house, in woodland next to the river Trothy, is a nineteenth-century ice-house. It is set into the steep hillside above the river. A small, square, stone building, thought to be a seventeenth-century game larder, lies in open ground to the south (23108). 

The original extent of the park is still unclear despite the survival of historic records. Originally parkland would have radiated outwards from the House to the south and south-east to include woodland bounded by a wall on the east, uphill, side. A map of 1706 describes this area as ‘Old Parke’ but the land between house/gardens and woodland is now enclosed farmland with little, if anything, of parkland character about it; even early OS maps portray few open-grown trees there.

To the south-west the place-name ‘Lydart’ (= llidiart = gate) suggests the park may once have extended as far as there. It seems that the park went out of use centuries ago and lower-lying parkland and boundary have been lost to farming.

Sources:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, 155-156 (ref: PGW (Gt)16(MON)).
Ordnance Survey first-edition six-inch map, sheet: Monmouthshire XIV (1886, surveyed 1880).
Additional notes: D.K.Leighton.

RCAHMW, 22 July 2022