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St Pierre

St Pierre is a former parish and hamlet in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of Chepstow and adjacent to the Severn Estuary. It is now the site of a large golf and country club, the Marriott St Pierre Hotel & Country Club, which was previously a large manor house and deer park belonging to the Lewis family.

 

The manor of St Pierre was originally part of the parish of Runston, now a deserted village whose only standing remains are Runston Chapel, and was later amalgamated for civil purposes with the neighbouring parish of Mathern. It is uncertain whether the name originates from a Welsh family, Pŷr, or is of Norman origin.

 

Around 1380, St Pierre was owned by Sir David ap Philip, who served under King Henry V in France, and the name of his son, Lewis, was later adopted by his family and descendants as their surname. The estate continued in the ownership of the Lewis family until 1924, although they had moved out of the mansion to the neighbouring Moynes Court in the late 19th century. The last member of the family to own the estate was Air Commodore Freke William Wiseman-Clark, who died without issue in 1908. Thomas Lewis, Esq., married the daughter of Sir Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London, and other Lewis family members also made propitious marriages. Several members of the family became High Sheriffs of Monmouthshire. Others became Members of Parliament, including Thomas Lewis who was MP for Monmouth, Newport and Usk between 1713 and 1752. His family took over and developed the "New Passage" ferry service across the Severn from Black Rock, in competition with the "Old Passage" service run from Beachley by the Duke of Beaufort. In 1925, the mansion and deer park were sold to Daniel Lysaght.

 

The former manor house includes an important 16th-century gatehouse which is a Grade II* listed building, but the remainder of the building was largely built in the 19th century. Major extensions have been added since the house became a hotel in the 1960s. It was bought by Tintern Abbey Hotels in 1961, and a golf course (now "the Old Course") was opened in 1962 with a second course in 1975.

 

Text curtesy of Wikipedia.

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Uploaded on October 20, 2025
Taken on October 18, 2025