Lower Machen

Lower Machen
St Michael and All Angels' Church
Lower Machen is located in Newport
Lower Machen
Lower Machen
Location within Newport
OS grid referenceST215895
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWPORT
Postcode districtNP10
Dialling code01633
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Newport
51°35′07″N 3°07′02″W / 51.5853°N 3.1173°W / 51.5853; -3.1173

Lower Machen (Welsh: Machen Isaf) is a small hamlet of 19 houses on the A468 road at the very western edge of the city of Newport, South Wales.

Machen itself lies further west in the county borough of Caerphilly, although both lie within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.

Lower Machen holds an annual festival of chamber music concerts in the 12th-century church of St. Michael and All Angels. Ruperra Castle is also located in Lower Machen.[1] Lower Machen was formerly served by Church Road railway station, which closed in 1957. The Conservative politician, Peter Thorneycroft, lived at Machen House in the hamlet, during his time as Member of Parliament for Monmouth from 1945-1966.[2] Plas Machen, to the south-east of the village on the other side of the A468, is an Elizabethan manor house, the ancestral home of the Morgans of Tredegar. It is a Grade II* listed building.[3]

St Michael and All Angels' Church

It is believed that the church (51°35′11″N 3°06′57″W / 51.5863°N 3.1157°W / 51.5863; -3.1157 (St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Lower Machen)) was founded during the Celtic period in the 6th century. The current building dates back to the 12th century. The church has connections with the Morgan family of the nearby Tredegar House in Newport. There are eleven hatchments connected with the family and the Morgan Family Chapel contains monuments to the family. Three of the hatchments appeared in BBC One's Antiques Roadshow broadcast on 23 November 2014 and were valued at around £3,000 each.[4]

The church has eight bells which are rung at festivals and weddings.

References

  1. ^ "Ruperra Castle for sale". Southwalesargus.co.uk. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  2. ^ Ridout, Jane (22 July 2022). "Country estate in need of modernisation". Wales Online. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ Cadw. "Plas Machen (Grade II*) (2905)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ^ "BBC One - Antiques Roadshow, Series 37, Tredegar House 1".

Lower Machen Festival - www.lowermachenfestival.co.uk - an annual chamber music festival founded in 1967