Mathern (Welsh: Merthyr Tewdrig or Mateyrn) is a historic village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about 5 km south west of the town of Chepstow, close to the Severn estuary, the Bristol Channel and the M48 motorway.
Origins of the village
An authoritative local history suggests that the settlement originates from a time when the St. Pierre Pill, an inlet of the Severn, was larger and much more important than now, and met an ancient ridgeway which passed through Shirenewton towards Monmouth. The inlet was originally known as Porthiscoed ("harbour below the woods"), which, as Portskewett, later became the name of a nearby village.
Mathern was originally known as Merthyr-Tewdrig ("burial-place of Tewdrig"), after the martyrdom of St Tewdrig, king of Glywysing (Glamorgan). According to the Book of Llandaff, Tewdrig (or Tewdric) was wounded at Tintern around the year 630, after fighting the invading Saxons with his son Meurig ap Tewdrig. His wounds were washed at a spring, where he died. A church was erected on the site of his burial at Mathern, and he was later revered as a martyr and saint. In his memory, Meurig gave the surrounding land, extending for several miles, to the Bishops of Llandaff. During the 12th century, the shorter name Mateyrn, meaning "place of a king", came into common use for the village; Meurig's name is perpetuated in the neighbouring village of Pwllmeyric.
St. Tewdric's Church
The existing parish church of St. Tewdric largely dates from the late 15th century, when it was rebuilt on an earlier foundation by John Marshall, Bishop of Llandaff, in the Perpendicular architectural style. However, parts dating from the 12th and 13th centuries are still visible. The church is the supposed resting place of St Tewdric; on the north wall of the chancel is a tablet put up in the 17th century by Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff 1601-17, who claimed to have found the saint's stone coffin while repairing the church. The church also possesses several monuments to Bishops of Llandaff, up to the end of the 17th century. The building was heavily restored in the 1880s. The medieval font was recovered from beneath the porch in 1943. Close to the church is the ancient St Tewdric's Well, mentioned by the historian Nennius in the 8th or 9th century.
Mathern Palace
The Mathern estate was traditionally given to the Bishops of Llandaff by King Meurig. It is known that, by 1333, Mathern was one of three medieval palaces belonging to Llandaff; and, after Owain Glyndwr's rebellion in the early 15th century, it was the only one kept habitable. Part of the existing building is dated to 1419, but most of the remaining buildings date from the 16th century. It fell out of use around 1700, became a farm, and was partly demolished around 1770. In 1894 the buildings were sold to architect and garden designer Henry Avray Tipping (1855-1933), who restored some of the buildings and developed a new garden in the Arts and Crafts style. |
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