Hidden well out of sight behind the race course is one of Chepstow’s little known treasures, Piercefield House. Or rather, what remains of it. A forest track through canopies of beech and oak grove opens into a broad meadow half a mile or more across, once Piercefield Park. Here in the 1750s, Valentine Morris laid out one of the early impressive examples of the “sublime landscape” that became the hallmark of 18th-century landscape architecture. Sheep by the hundreds graze in the undulating field, marked out with the jumps of a point-to-point course. The serpentine driveway leading toward the house is used now only by the shepherd.

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Across the park lies the crumbling facade of Piercefield House. The original Tudor mansion was rebuilt by Sir John Soane in the 1780s. In its heyday, Piercefield was a “must-see” visit on the Wye tour, but like so many great English houses in the 20th century, it was abandoned because of the huge expense of maintenance and the confiscatory death duties imposed by successive Labour governments.

Now, the skeleton of the derelict house sits vine-covered and crumbling. Unoccupied since 1923, the house’s floors and roof are largely gone. Floor beams lie askew. The outbuildings are falling apart. The once vibrant and tended gardens have faded as well, choked with vines and shrub brush. Nature takes back her own. In this case, nature got a little help; American troops stationed nearby in World War II used the structure for target practice.

In many ways, Chepstow today is a typical market town. Come nightfall, the town center is quiet. Much of the old downtown looks like it has seen better days. Merchants complain that the super­markets have driven trade off the High Street, and there are too many shop-fronts for lease. For serious shopping, folks travel to Newport, Bristol or Gloucester.

Within the old town wall, however, Beaufort Square has been rebuilt and revitalized. The Chepstow High Street area was regenerated in 2005, and it features ornately decorated curved stone walls engraved with relief sculpture and shards of Welsh poetry. There is no lack of old pubs with friendly regulars, and a range of restaurants abounds for visitors and locals alike.

An elegant townhouse that was the local hospital, from its use as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers during World War I until 1976, houses the Chepstow Museum, which unfolds the drama of local history in a charming, small-town way. The parish church of St. Mary is just around the corner. It, too, had its beginnings with William FitzOsbern and still stands to fulfill its mission after 900 years.

A few miles up the Wye Valley is the imposing ruin of Tintern Abbey, once among the richest foundations in Britain and now one of the most popular historic sites in Wales. It is too bad that so many people cross the Severn and pass by Chepstow to see the old abbey without taking a day or two to visit the walled border town.

For more information, visit www.chepstow.co.uk

This article was written by Dana Huntley and originally appeared in the May 2007 issue of British Heritage. For more great articles, subscribe to British Heritage magazine today!

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