Tredegar House

Newport, South Wales, is where you'll find Tredegar House, a National Trust property that sits in parkland just off the M4 motorway.

Walking through the beautiful stables and outer buildings it's the striking intricate gates that greet you adding to the grand impression of the 17th century red brick house.

It was Sir William Morgan in 1670 who developed this manor house into an extensive mansion and the next generations of the Morgan family extended the estate to include many of the South Wales mines. The mines were leased making vast sums of money over subsequent decades but by the mus 1800s Sir Charles Morgan MP was accused of mistreating his tennants including the miners.

Godfrey Morgan inherited Tredegar House in the 1870s, he was known for giving away mych of the land and reducing rent for his tennants. His great nephew was the last Morgan to own the house. As a result in his extravagant lifestyle and mounting debts the house was sold after his death in 1949.

Tredegar House became a Catholic girls school and was then purchased by Newport Council in the 1970s who since the early 2010s have leased the house to the National Trust whilst keeping the parkland open to the public.

As you wander through the house you pass through various eras and can see evidence of each generations changes. The rooms are magnificent, in particular the ornate wooden panels and high ceilings.

Leaving the opulent upstairs of the house the servants corridor holds a great insight into the past. High on the walls along the length of the corridor are a selection of bells, each with a slightly different sound, each relating to one of the upstsirs room and rung when a servant is required.

The most popular room in the house is not upstairs but downstairs, it's the Housekeepers room. It gives a definite impression of who was in charge abd had a few luxuries.

The final part of the house was quite a surprise, a tudor dining room with beautiful windows looking over the courtyard. This is the oldest part of Tredegar House being part of the original Tudor House.