Glen Usk, Llanhennock

The Mackworth family's place on the lowest rung of the aristocratic ladder was secured by Sir Digby's father, Sir Herbert Mackworth, 1st Baronet, a lawyer and landowner from Glamorganshire, who was created a baronet in 1776.[1] Inheriting the title in 1795, on the death of his brother, Sir Digby began the building of Glen Usk circa. 1820. His architect is unknown.[2]

The house was remodelled in the 1840s, when the adjacent structure in the style of a Greek temple was added as a picture gallery. The architectural historian John Newman notes its "uncomfortably stout" fluted columns.[3] The temple was converted to a billiard room and library in about 1900.[4] Apart from some alterations to the surrounding landscape in the early 20th century,[5] the house is largely unaltered since this time. It remains a private residence, and was recently restored.[6] As of February 2022, Glen Usk is for sale.[7]

Newman describes Glen Usk as "an exquisite, white-rendered Neoclassical villa".[3] Of three storeys, with three bays, the house is faced with rendered stucco and has replacement slate roofs.[2] Writing of the house in the early 1950s, Tyerman and Warner described it as a "big, yellow stucco house, with a splendid terrace".[8] It is a Grade II* listed building, its listing record noting the "high level of original or early detail, including good interiors".[2] The surrounding landscape was remodelled in the 1920s.[5] The temple,[4] stable court,[9] pergola,[10] gate piers,[11] and garden terraces have their own Grade II listings.[12] The gardens themselves are listed at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[13]

• Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.
• Tyerman, Hugo; Warner, Sydney (1951). Arthur Mee (ed.). Monmouthshire. The King's England. London: Hodder & Stoughton. OCLC 764861.