1–6 Priory Street, Monmouth

November 2019 1–6 Priory Street 1-6 Priory Street Monmouth.jpg 1–6 Priory Street, from No.6 Shops / Houses Wales Monmouthshire yes 51.8127 -2.7153 inline,title Monmouth, Monmouthshire 1837 George Vaughan Maddox Neoclassical Privately owned Grade II* listed building 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Priory Street 10 August 2005 2320, 85057, 85096, 85123, 85135 & 85148 Wales 1–6 Priory Street in Monmouth, Wales, is a row of six shop houses designed by the architect George Vaughan Maddox and constructed 1837. They form part of Maddox's redevelopment of the centre of Monmouth and stand opposite his Market Hall. The architectural historian John Newman has written that Maddox's work "gives Monmouth its particular architectural flavour," and considers Priory Street to be "his greatest work." History In the early 19th century, the main thoroughfare out of Monmouth towards London was Church Street,Heath 1804 unnumbered a relatively narrow street now pedestrianised. Increasing traffic on the street led to a number of accidents and demands for the construction of a new road.Kissack 1975 298–299 At the same time, developments at the Shire Hall in Agincourt Square meant that the market, previously located there, required new accommodation.Kissack 1975 298–299 In 1834, the Town Council offered a prize for a redevelopment scheme, which was won by George Vaughan Maddox.Kissack 1975 298–299 Maddox, the son of another Monmouthshire architect, John Maddox, had already established a reputation within the town.Kissack 2003 35 Maddox's proposals envisaged a new road, described by John Newman as "a remarkably early inner bypass",Newman 2000 394 that would run north of Church Street along the west bank of the River Monnow. Above the embankment side would stand slaughterhouses, supporting the new Market Hall, and facing the Hall, a row of grand residential houses, backing on to Swan Court.Kissack 1975 298–299 The road was called Priory Street, as its course ran next to Monmouth Priory on the route from the centre of the town. Architecture and description Numbers 1–6 Priory Street form a curved, symmetrical frontage at the beginning of Priory Street as it runs north-east from Agincourt Square. The whole block is of three storeys and nineteen bays.Newman 2000 406 The frontage is stuccoed, and decorated with pilasters,Newman 2000 406 typical of Maddox's "good facades."Kissack 2003 35 The roofline has a central attic, under a pediment and lit by a shallow window.Newman 2000 406 The architectural historian John Newman, in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of Pevsners Buildings of Wales, notes that Maddox's work gives the town of Monmouth its "particular architectural flavour" and considers Priory Street "his finest work".Newman 2000 394 The composite grouping has been designated a Grade II* listed building for "its exceptional architectural interest as part of an important piece of early 19th century town planning."Nos. 1-6 Priory Street 2320 II* 14 February 2021 Notes Sources Heath Charles Charles Heath (Monmouth) 1804 Historical and descriptive accounts of the ancient and present state of the town of Monmouth https://books.google.com/books?id=ghswAAAAYAAJ Charles Heath Monmouth 18491234 Kissack Keith Keith Kissack Monmouth: The Making Of A County Town https://books.google.com/books?id=tRYjAAAAMAAJ&q=Monmouth-the+making+of+a+county+town&dq=Monmouth-the+making+of+a+county+town 1975 Phillimore Chichester 0-85033-209-5 Kissack Keith Keith Kissack Monmouth and its Buildings 2003 Logaston Press Woonton Almeley 1-904396-01-1 55143853 Newman John John Newman (architectural historian) The Buildings of Wales Gwent/Monmouthshire https://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&pg=PA2&dq=The+Buildings+of+Wales:+Gwent/Monmouthshire#q=The%20Buildings%20of%20Wales%3A%20Gwent%2FMonmouthshire 2000 Penguin London 0-14-071053-1 Category:History of Monmouth, Wales Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouth