Clodock
Named for St. Clydog, who, according to the 'Book of Llandaff', was a just and wise King of Ewyas in the 5th or early 6th centuries. The daughter of a nobleman fell in love with him resulting in her admirer killing the king, although he was his friend. When the yoke snapped, the oxen pulling his funeral cart refused to go further so the king was buried here. The disbursed settlement was originally called Merthyr Clydog, meaning the burial place of a martyr. See: Zaluckyj pages 262–264.
St. Clydog's / Clydawg's Well
The holy well was on the opposite side of the River Monnow and is a true spring and may have been an original site of pagan worship. (Monnow means Little Wye and is an old British river name.)
Church: St. Clodock / Clydawg / Clydog
- The present church is Norman, with a very wide nave, wall paintings and box pews.
- Behind the pulpit is a tiny 9th century grave-marker, whose Latin inscription translates as: 'This tomb holds the remains of the faithful and dear wife of Guinndas, who was herself a native of this place.' I wonder what her name was? Thin pottery tiles, probably recycled Roman tiles, are built into the porch.
- A paralysed man, Ithael of Ewyas, was healed at the tomb here after he made restitution of a meadow back to the church.
- A pair of dog tongs from Clodock Church was exhibited in the temporary museum at Abergavenny in 1876. In earlier centuries when dogs often accompanied their owners to church the tongs were used by the churchwarden to separate warring canines and evict them from the building.
Cornewall Arms
- The 18th century building forms part of the boundary of the churchyard.
- It was part of the Moccas Park Estate ‐ owned by the Cornewall family (see earlier).
- Later in 1893, Elizabeth Parry ran it, first with her husband William Hyde, then with her second husband, David Parry.
- By the 1901 census, she was resident there with her son Harry Hyde, his wife, a daughter & five grandchildren.
- From 1940 it was in the hands of the Prosser family.
Walterstone
Named after Walter de Lacy who held the manor after the Norman Conquest of 1066. His son Roger inherited his extensive lands and these are described in the 1085 Domesday Book.
Church: St. Mary
There are superb views towards the Skirrid (in Welsh: Y Sgyryd Fawr), also known as the Holy Mountain. If you look along the ridge it seems to be a pregnant lady lying down...
- The Church site is older than the present building. The font is c.13th century.
- It is likely that the later walls of the Church, dating from restorations in the 16th to the 19th centuries, stand on the original foundations. However, the earliest visible parts of the Church to survive are the chancel windows of c.1500, and the medieval base and shaft of the churchyard cross.
- The Church was the mausoleum, or preferred burial place, of the Cecil (in Welsh: Sitsilt) family who lived at nearby Allt–yr–Ynys. They were the ancestors of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Lord Treasurer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. They also had close connections with Dore Abbey and with the family of Blanche Parry (see Bacton Church).
- Lord Burghley did not know the area as his father left for Lincolnshire before his birth. However, he described himself as Blanche's cousin. Olive (grand–daughter of Blanche's great–uncle) married Lord Burghley's cousin William Cecil, who continued to live in the Cecil family home of Allt–yr–Ynys in Queen Elizabeth's reign. The close family relationship of Blanche and Burghley would be a focal point of Queen Elizabeth's Court.
- Lord Burghley paid for William Cecil's funeral at Walterstone Church on 6th March 1598. This was a grand ceremony, with the Church and churchyard overflowing with mourners. An account of this is given in a letter, No.49, among the Salisbury Manuscripts, vol.VIII, page 83. Reproduced: here.
- The Cecil Window is early 17th century stained‐glass depicting the quartered arms of the family of Cecil and was brought here from Alt–yr–Ynys (Welsh: slope of the river meadow).
- Later monuments include a 1775 Price tablet of slate signed by Aeron Brute, a notable sculptural mason of the 18th century. The Price family included vicars of Walterstone and early pioneers of the Church Missionary Society.
Walterstone motte‐and‐bailey
- the Norman castle is adjacent.
- (motte = man-made mound for a tower : bailey = a defended area for stores, horses, and people to live).
