THE owner of a dilapidated 17-century mansion who wants to convert it into 54 luxury apartments has been given a two-month stay of execution to submit fresh information about his plans.
Otherwise planners will finally reject Peter Carroll’s nine-year-old scheme to develop 330-year-old Troy House on the outskirts of Monmouth, described as “one of the most significant buildings in Monmouthshire.”
Monmouthshire Council’s planning committee, who visited the Wye Valley AONB site on Monday (June 5), yesterday refused the plan for 23 apartments in the four-storey building, plus another 31 in two new wings, unless new details are provided by July 31.
They also passed an urgent works notice ordering the repair of the crumbling roof and propping up of the ornate plaster ceilings of the Grade II-listed building.
Built in the 1680s by the Duke of Beaufort on the site of a Tudor country house reputedly visited by King Henry VII, councillors were told the application had reached “an impasse” despite efforts to reach a compromise.
Businessman owner Mr Carroll had been "unwilling to submit… information" assessing the impact on the site’s architecture, history and archaeology, or addressed concerns over flooding, access, and bat and tree preservation, it was claimed.
Monmouthshire planning officer Craig O’Conner said the recommendation to refuse was “highly regrettable” given the sig-
nificance and current condition of the building, but they had “no other option” given the time that had passed and the lack of information provided.
Praising the “tenacity” of officers’ in trying to secure the future of the building, Cllr Phil Murphy (Con, Caerwent) said: “The building is priceless in terms of the heritage of the county. It’s a crying shame that it’s falling into wrack and ruin.”
Mr O’Conner, in his report said: “Troy House is one of the most significant buildings in Monmouthshire, not only because of its size, but also due to its architectural and historical significance.
“The application fails to preserve the special character of this highly graded listed building.”
The council’s own heritage report said: “The highly graded building, with significant historic fabric is progressively deteriorating which will, if no action is taken, result in the permanent detrimental loss of historic fabric which is irreplaceable.”
But the proposed changes to the current building would involve the “loss of a number of staircases of historical and architectural value, together with the loss of panelling, doors and architraves.”
Earlier this year, a new book by historian Ann Benson - Troy House: A Tudor Estate Across Time – lifted the lid on the historic mansion, which was constructed from 1681 to 1684 as a wedding present for Charles Somerset, the Marquess of Worcester, by his father Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort.
The history of the site stretches back much further, with Henry VII reputedly a visitor to the original building in 1502.