The Grange, Monmouth

The Grange consists of three attached, grade II listed buildings in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is in the historic St James Street neighbourhood, within the medieval town walls. The Grange was originally built by Captain Charles Philipps at the site of a former farm house. It was the residence of the Kane family and, later, the Windsor family. The buildings also served as a preparatory school, one of the schools of the Haberdashers' Company, until 2009. In 2011, the buildings were converted into a boarding house for students of Monmouth School, another Haberdashers' Company school.

The Grange, Monmouth
The Grange at 12–16 St James Street
General information
Address12–16 St James Street
Town or cityMonmouth
CountryWales
Coordinates51.8124°N 2.7115°W / 51.8124; -2.7115
DesignationsGrade II Listed

History and design

During the eighteenth century, much of the north side of St James Street in Monmouth was devoted to a farm house, barn, stable, buildings for oxen, and an enclosure for sheep or cattle.[1] The Grange is located at the site of the former farm house, and was constructed by Captain Charles Philipps. After having lived at Monnow Street in the mid nineteenth century, the Kane family lived at The Grange on St James Street for at least fifty years.[2] At the time of the 1861 and 1871 census enumerations, John Joseph Kane, Esquire, a native of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, resided at The Grange with his wife Sarah Ann, adult children, and servants.[3][4] Kane continued to live there in 1875,[1] and died the following year on 1 October 1876.[5] In 1881, his widow Sarah Ann, a native of Monmouth, lived there with her two spinster daughters.[6] Sisters Sarah Ann and Ellen Kane, both born in Monmouth, resided there in 1891, 1901, and 1911. At the time of those census enumerations, the address of The Grange was recorded as 14 St James Street, and in 1911 the main house had sixteen rooms.[7][8][9][10] In 1923 and 1934, Frederick Reuben Windsor, an electrical engineer, resided at The Grange.[11][12][13] A native of Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, Windsor lived there until his death on 25 February 1955.[14][15]

The Grange at 12–16 St James Street now consists of three connected buildings on the northwest side of the street, as well as an extension at the back of the property.[16][17][18] Located within the medieval town walls built around 1300, all three houses are Grade II listed.[16][17][19][20] The three-storey, five-bay main house is currently recorded at 12 St James Street and has railings in front of the street elevation. The listed building has a slate roof and an eighteenth or early nineteenth-century facade with band courses and quoins. The entrance features a pedimented porch with Doric columns and a transom (fanlight).[18][20] The entablature of the pedimented porch has a frieze with a metope in the style of the Brothers Adam.[18] The pediment has a firemark, a plaque noting that the building owner had given financially to the town fire department.[21][22] The red brick building next to The Grange at 10 St James Street was once its stable.[18][23]

The Grange preparatory school

The Grange, the buildings on St James Street, should be distinguished from The Grange, the preparatory school of the Haberdashers' Company, also known as the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. While the buildings on St James Street housed the prep school for boys ages seven to eleven for decades, in February 2009 the school moved across the River Wye into new quarters on Hadnock Road, east of the town centre.[24][25][26] The site chosen for the new preparatory school is in close proximity to Monmouth School's Sports Complex. The new building was designed by the architectural team of Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams. In addition to classroom space, the new Grange includes a garden, kitchen, ICT suite, science laboratory, and art and music facilities.[25] Pupils at The Grange use the Monmouth School's chapel and sports facilities.[27][28] While students and staff had already started using the new school building on Hadnock Road in February 2009, it wasn't officially dedicated until 23 September 2009. On that day, the new building was formally opened as The Grange, Monmouth Preparatory School, retaining the name of the school's former quarters.[25] HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, officiated at the September opening ceremonies. After arriving by helicopter, Prince Edward was greeted by the heads of Monmouth School and The Grange, and introduced to town officials. The ceremony included comments from the prince and Elaine Thomas, Head of The Grange. Prince Edward unveiled the commemorative plaque for the new Grange. His visit that day was his third to the Haberdashers' Monmouth Schools since having become a Haberdasher himself.[25] Before the recent move to Hadnock Road, children from the St James Street school distinguished themselves in chess, winning Britain's 2003 national title as under-11 chess champions.[29]

The Grange boarding house

On 19 August 2010, the Monmouthshire County Council released details of an application to redevelop the former prep school at St James Street as a sixth form boarding facility for older students at Monmouth School. Housing for staff members was planned as well. The application indicated that there were three Grade II listed, connected buildings, as well as an extension that had been added at a later date. The plan was to include a new addition that would be attached to the extant extension at the back of the property.[16][17] On 13 and 14 December 2010, it was announced that permission for the conversion of The Grange from a prep school to a boarding house had been granted.[30][31] The alteration of The Grange is a component of the first phase of The Heart Project, a substantial renovation of Monmouth School which has recently been undertaken. The new boarding house opened in September 2011 for students in their last year, with Kingsley Jones as housemaster of the new boarding accommodation.[32]

See also

References
  1. Monmouth town (1875). Illustrated handbook to Monmouth. pp. 25–26. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  2. Kane, John. "1841 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. Kane, John Joseph. "1861 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. Kane, John J. "1871 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. Kane, John Joseph. "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966". ancestry.com. Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. Kane, Sarah Ann. "1881 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. Kane, Sarah Ann. "1891 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. "Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1901 - Monmouth". freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. hosted by rootsweb. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  9. Kane, Sarah. "1901 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  10. Kane, Sarak (sic) Ann. "1911 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. "U.K., City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s". ancestry.com. Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1923 (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). p. 114. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  12. "Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1934". liber-mortuorum.com. Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1934 (as re-printed on Liber Mortuorum). Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  13. "Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1934" (PDF). liber-mortuorum.com. Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire 1934 (as re-printed on Liber Mortuorum). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  14. Windsor, Frederick. "1911 Wales Census". ancestry.com. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. The National Archives of the UK (as re-printed on Ancestry.com). Missing or empty |url= (help)
  15. Windsor, Frederick Reuben. "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966". ancestry.com. Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  16. "Result 2, Monmouthshire County Council Weekly List of Registered Planning: Listed Building Consent The Grange 12 St James' Street, page 4 of PDF". monmouthshire.gov.uk. Monmouthshire County Council. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  17. "Weekly List of Registered Planning Applications - Page 4". docs.google.com. Monmouthshire County Council. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  18. John Newman (11 March 2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire (illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 408–409. ISBN 9780300096309. Retrieved 25 May 2012. Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  19. "Monnow Bridge". cofiadurcahcymru.org.uk. The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Historic Environment Record. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  20. "Grange The, St James Street". coflein.gov.uk. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  21. "Walking in Monmouth, Monmouthshire and The Wye Valley". monmouth.org.uk. The Monmouth Website. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  22. Cyril M. Harris (1998). American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (illustrated ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 126. ISBN 9780393731033. Retrieved 25 May 2012. firemark in pediment.
  23. "The Grange, St James Street, Monmouth". geograph.org.uk. Geograph. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  24. "Domesday Reloaded - Schools in Monmouth 1". bbc.co.uk. BBC - Domesday Reloaded. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  25. "The official opening of The Grange by HRH The Earl of Wessex". thegrangemonmouth.org. A School of the Haberdashers’ Company. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  26. "Directions". thegrangemonmouth.org. The Grange - A School of the Haberdashers' Company. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  27. "Monmouth School". docs.google.com. Haberdashers' Company. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  28. "The Grange - Overview". thegrangemonmouth.org. The Grange - A School of the Haberdashers' Company. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  29. "UK title for chess pupils". BBC News. 13 September 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2003.
  30. "Result 17, Monmouthshire County Council Weekly List of Determined Planning: preparatory school to sixth form boarding house ... The Grange 12 St James' Street, page 3 of PDF". monmouthshire.gov.uk. Monmouthshire County Council. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  31. "Weekly List of Determined Planning Applications, Page 3". docs.google.com. Monmouthshire County Council. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  32. "The Heart Project". monmouthschool.org. Monmouth School - A School of the Haberdashers' Company. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
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