The Mount School
The Mount, Chepstow: A brief history
Watching over the ancient walled town of Chepstow from its lofty vantage point high over the River Wye is The Mount, a grand old Merchant’s House built well over 200 years ago; a monument to a period of prosperity for the bustling market town and busy port.
Some claim that the mount on which the old House stands – and from which it takes its name – may well have been the site of a Roman watching tower, guarding the crossing of the Wye and the road to Caerwent.
What is certain is that the settlement of Chepstow, standing at the lowest bridging point of the River Wye and located on the border between England and Wales, has been of great strategic significance throughout the centuries.
Peace and prosperity
The great Norman castle, built to control the Southern end of the Welsh Marches, fell victim to two sieges during the Civil War and slowly fell into decay following the Restoration period. It became – and has remained - a popular visitor attraction from around the late eighteenth century, which was a time of peace, prosperity and expansion for the region.
It was against this background of commercial growth, in around 1786, that John Baldwyn, a wealthy timber and bark merchant whose fortune had been made as the timber trade in Chepstow flourished, commissioned his fine mansion. A reflection of his standing and success, it was built on the rise outside Chepstow, overlooking the town, and was known as The Mount.
The Estate passed to his son and subsequently his grandson, remaining in the Baldwyn family until 1833. Leased out to various tenants during the early years of the nineteenth century, The Mount must have received many visitors during that time, including one Lucy Wright, who describes the house in her unpublished diary of 1806, ‘A Tour of England and Wales’,* as a “Place outside just out of Chepstow called The Mount house, commanding a most extensive and romantick view of the Wye, with the rocks, Chepstow bridge and castle, & to the right, the Severn.â€
For sale by Auction
The next known owners were the Dorin family; one Joseph Alexander Dorin, an East India Company servant, listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, who purchased The Mount by Auction in 1842. Various lease and sales details can still be viewed at Chepstow Museum,, one of which appeared in the Monmouthshire Merlin, 4th May 1833, and describes, the house as “Modern, and well built with Freestone, presenting a pleasing elevation fronted with a veranda, the internal arrangements are well suited and adapted for domestic comfortâ€.
At that time, the house included a handsome Dining room and a Drawing room as well as two Entrance Halls on the ground floor, together with Kitchen, Butler’s pantry, Housekeeper’s room, Principal and Back staircases. Also listed is a Back kitchen, Laundry, Dairy and other Offices separated by a paved yard. Above, on two further storeys, were nine good Bedrooms with a Dressing room on each floor and two large Garrets at the top. A basement comprised “four capital, dry arched Cellars, conveniently adapted for Beer, Wine, Spirits and Cider.â€
After Anna Dorin, known as the ‘Lonely woman of The Mount’ died in 1863, The Mount was sold once again. This time to Henry Clay Jnr, the son of a banker and brewer from Burton-on-Trent, who had bought the neighbouring Piercefield Estate in 1861. Henry Clay Jnr, lived happily at The Mount with his wife Mary Louisa and their three children for several years, until the death of Mary in 1872 and that of his father in 1874, at which point Henry Jnr sold the house, having inherited Piercefield, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Families of wealth & standing
The Mount was subsequently acquired by a respected local businessman and employer, Herbert Alex Smith, the Chairman of the Chepstow Local Board and a wine merchant of Newport. Although he died in 1893, his widow Caroline continued to live at the house with their five children until 1900, when The Mount was sold once again. Briefly, the house was owned by Mrs. Melville Smith who also owned the small parish of St Kingsmark, just north of Chepstow. Shortly afterwards, another wealthy merchant, William Pegler and his wife Mary made it their private residence.
William Pegler was a provisions merchant, who owned a chain of grocery shops across South Wales. At the peak of his prosperity, he owned 64 stores with a head office in Newport, and built a Lodge at The Mount bearing the family coat of arms, although this is no longer part of the Estate.
According to a plaque on the wall, the wood panelling in the room to the south of the entrance hall came from Steam Ships Alaska and Servia, known as the ‘Greyhounds of the Atlantic’, which were both decommissioned and scrapped in 1902. It is assumed, given the dates, that the Pegler family was responsible for installing this strikingly unusual conversation piece at The Mount.
Wartime duty
Unfortunately, for Mrs. Pegler, The Mount was requisitioned by the army in 1941. It is listed as a base camp in the English Heritage list of Prisoner of War camps, although local people* recall that the troops from the London Scottish Regiment were billeted there during the early part of the war, followed by American soldiers and then the British once again – Officers were apparently based at The Mount, whilst troops were sent to St Maurs House, which is also on Welsh Street.
The Mount School
Several years after the end of the war, The Mount found itself providing accommodation of a different kind. Following a Public Enquiry in 1948, a compulsory purchase order was made for the Monmouthshire Education Committee, resulting in the establishment of a school within the old house in 1950. The head teacher was a Mr.Woodley, who moved with his wife to Chepstow in order to run the school. Mrs.Woodley, despite her lack of training, was to be the school’s Matron. The couple occupied the top flat at The Mount and brought up their family there.
An elderly Mrs.Woodley recalled in 2006 that the 36 pupils attending the school at that time were boys aged between 10-14 years old, who lived in with them at The Mount during term time. Their lessons took place in three classrooms and workshops, where the boys learned carpentry, metalwork and car repairs - apparently Mr. Woodley and his students even built their own swimming pool! The Woodleys retired in 1976 and The Mount School closed in 1981.
Halcyon days
Since that time, this wonderful old building has been sadly neglected. Most recently adapted to provide office accommodation, The Mount has stood empty over the last few years, waiting to be brought back into useful life and hopeful of regaining the simple elegance and prestige of its halcyon days.
The Mount has now been acquired by private developers Bovale, whose commitment, with expert input from a distinguished team of architects and contractors, is to restore the historical integrity and fine underlying architecture of the house, using correct materials and proper detailing. Imaginatively converted into stunning apartments of unique character, the reinstated main house will be complemented by the creation of a sympathetically designed courtyard of new mews houses.
Set in mature, private grounds with breathtaking views across the lovely Wye valley, The Mount truly combines contemporary living with an awe-inspiring environment, looking out over the vibrant market town of Chepstow and a landscape that dates back a thousand years.
