Mitchel Troy

(A description written in 1891)

A Village and a Parish bounded on the north by the river Trothy and on the east by the Wye, and on the road from Monmouth to Abergavenny, 2.1/4 miles south-west from Monmouth; in the Southern division of the county, Hundred of Raglan, Petty Sessional division, Union and County Court district of Monmouth, Monmouth & Skenfreth Highway district; eastern division of Usk rural deanery, Monnmouth archdeaconry and Llandaff diocese.

The Great Western line from Monmouth to Pontypool runs through this parish and has a branch to Chepstow.

The church of St. Michael is of stone in the Early English style, built in 1208 and restored in 1876, and consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and embattled western tower with pinnacles containing 3 bells: there are six stained windows, the east being a particularly fine one: there are 200 sittings: there is a stone cross of the 13th Century in the churchyard: at the entrance to the churchyard is an old roofed arch. The register of Baptisms and Marriages dates from the year 1593; Burials, 1590. The living is a rectory, with the Chapelry of Cwmcarvan annexed, yearly tithe rent-charge £384, joint annual value £280, with 99 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Duke of Beaufort, and held since 1886 by the Rev. Henry Marriott Tomson Bidwell, of Chichester College. Parish Clerk: Amos Johnson.

Troy House, about a mile from Monmouth, is one of the seats of the Duke of Beaufort P.C., K.G., the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, who occasionally reside here, and, like the Village, derives its name from its situation on the little river Trothy, near the mouth of which it is situate: the mansion, formerly the seat of the Herberts, possesses no architectural beauty, but has some fine apartments, adorned with family pictures, including a portrait of Lord Herbert of Cherbury when a boy: there is also a curious oak chimney-piece, carved with Scriptural subjects, brought here from Raglan Castle: in the reign of King Charles I, this mansion was in the possession of Sir Charles Somerset, brother of the gallant first Marquess of Worcester, who so bravely defended Raglan Castle for the King.

Lydart House is the residence of Mrs. Oakley.

Post Office: Amos Johnson, receiver. Letters from Monmouth arrive at 7 a.m; dispatched at 5.40 p.m. The nearest money order & telegraph office is at Monmouth.

Schools:

National School, built about 1870, for 67 children; average attendance, 31; Miss Louise Woller, mistress.

The Duke of Beaufort, who is lord of the manor, James Richards Esq., and the Rev. Mr. Power are the principal landowners. The soil is clay; subsoil, marl. The chief crops are wheat, beans and roots. The area is 1,902 acres; rateable value, £2,142.

The population in 1891 was 257.

(extracts from Kelly's 1891 Directory of Monmouthshire, transcribed by J. Doe)