{{Short description|Village in Herefordshire, England}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name = Llanrothal |coordinates = {{coord|51.862599|-2.763799|display=inline,title}} |civil_parish = |population = |population_ref = |unitary_england = Herefordshire |region = West Midlands |lieutenancy_england = Herefordshire |constituency_westminster = Hereford and South Herefordshire |post_town = Monmouth |postcode_area = NP |postcode_district = NP25 |dial_code = |os_grid_reference = |london_distance = |static_image = Llanrothal Church - geograph.org.uk - 49085.jpg |static_image_width = 260px |static_image_caption = View of the remote church of<br>St John the Baptist's }}
'''Llanrothal''' is a small village and historical parish in Herefordshire, England in the Monnow Valley, on the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. The River Monnow flows near here along the border.<ref name="EnglandJack1903">{{cite book|last=Jack|first=G. H.|title=Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYcPAAAAYAAJ|year=1903|publisher=Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Hereford, England}}</ref> The village is located {{convert|5|mi|0}} by road northwest of Monmouth.<ref name="GM">{{cite map|title= Maps|publisher=Google Maps}}</ref> It contains a 12th-century church, St John the Baptist's which stands in a remote position close to the England–Wales border overlooking the river.<ref name=cct>{{Citation | url = http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Church-of-St-John-the-Baptist-Llanrothal-Herefordshire/| title = Church of St John the Baptist, Llanrothal, Herefordshire| accessdate =29 March 2011| publisher = Churches Conservation Trust}}</ref>
Llanrothal Court, in the village, is an early 14th-century hall house,<ref name="harvnb|Pevsner|p=240">{{harvnb|Pevsner|p=240}}</ref> with cross-wings added in the 15th or 16th century and further additions from the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="NHLE1">{{NHLE|num=1301988|desc=Llanrothal Court|grade=II|access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref> It is a Grade II listed building.<ref name="NHLE1"/>
Another historically important building in the village is The Cwm.<ref name="Morgannwg">{{cite book|title=Morgannwg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RF1nAAAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Glamorgan History Society.|page=16}}</ref> Originally a shooting box, and subsequently a farmhouse, it is also Grade II listed, together with the terrace in front of the house, and the retaining wall to the side, which contains rare bee boles.<ref name="NHLE2">{{NHLE|num=1301984|desc=The Cwm, Front Terrace and Retaining Wall to South-West|grade=II|access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref> The present building, dating from about the 1830s, is on the site and incorporates part of a demolished 17th-century house that was a Jesuit province and college.<ref name="NHLE2"/>
The name Llanrothal may possibly derive from the Welsh "Ridol's church", perhaps after Saint Ruald/Roald or the personal name Hrodwald.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Herefordshire/Llanrothal|title=Key to English Place-names|website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref>
==History== During the 17th century religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Wales, Llanrothal was a secret stronghold of outlawed Jesuits and Recusant Welsh gentry such as Henry Milbourne, who resided in the village and whose family worshipped at The Cwm in the 17th century.<ref name="Britain)1982">{{cite book|author=Catholic Record Society (Great Britain)|title=Recusant history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=24cjAQAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Catholic Record Society.|page=81}}</ref> In the early 17th century the house became the headquarters of the Jesuit mission in South Wales and remained an important Catholic centre until its discovery and sacking by the Bishop of Hereford in 1678,<ref name="harvnb|Pevsner|p=240"/> in the anti-Catholic backlash following the Popish Plot.<ref name="NHLE2"/> William Vychan, or William the Younger, also lived at Llanrothal,<ref name="Burke1863">{{cite book|last=Burke|first=Sir Bernard|title=A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ni4BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1571|year=1863|publisher=Harrison|page=1571}}</ref> although he is also associated with Penrhyn, in Caernarfonshire.<ref name="Association1849">{{cite book|author=Cambrian Archaeological Association|title=Archaeologia cambrensis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbQVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA102|year=1849|publisher=W. Pickering|page=102}}</ref>
Throughout its history, the village has been associated with nearby Welsh Newton,<ref name="Cape1930">{{cite book|last=Cape|first=Frank|title=Two Historic Parishes: Welsh Newton and Llanrothal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7olPAAACAAJ|year=1930|publisher=Author}}</ref> and today they together form the Welsh Newton Llanrothal Group Parish Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://welshnewtonllanrothalgroup-pc.gov.uk/|title=Welsh Newton and Llanrothal Group Parish Council|publisher=Welsh Newton and Llanrothal Parish Council|access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{Cite book |last=Pevsner|first=Nikolaus|author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Herefordshire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SoNAQAAIAAJ&q=Pevsner+Herefordshire&dq=Pevsner+Herefordshire |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn= 0-300-09609-7 |ref={{harvid|Pevsner}} }}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Llanrothal}} *[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/HEF/Llanrothal/Gaz1868.html "Llanrothal" at genuki.org]
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Category:Villages in Herefordshire