‘I won’t move again’: Richard Hammond calls Welsh market town his forever home

Nation Cymru staff

Richard Hammond has shared how his priorities have shifted since moving to a Georgian manor house on the outskirts of one of Wales’ most desirable locations, saying ‘he won’t move again’.

In a new interview with the Telegraph, Hammond praised the new location with the ‘Brecon Beacons’ the other side of his fence, and his realisation that ‘time’ is the biggest value he has in life.

Back in March, former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond moved into a £2 million mansion complete with tennis courts and an orangery on the outskirts of Abergavenny.

Following a split from wife Mindy, Hammond left the couple’s Bollitree Castle in Herefordshire last year and had been renting a property nearby – regularly being spotted shopping in nearby Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

According to a report in the Sun, he is now settling in to a stunning six-bedroom Georgian manor house in Llanwenarth, on the edge of the historic market town.

The house, which was a cash sale, comes complete with “enormous” bathrooms and bedrooms, a tennis court, wine cellar, orangery, its own lake and a series of modern and historic outbuildings.

Hammond separated from wife Mindy in January last year, after 28 years of marriage. She is thought to have kept their 18th-century mock-Gothic castle.

According to the property listing, the property, which can be viewed from the Brecon Road enjoys a “sublime parkland setting and views across the Blorenge”.

The Telegraph’s Guy Kelly writes: “Hammond’s accommodation was never going to remain hamster-sized. A year ago he bought the £2m The Pentre, a 19th-century Georgian manor house on 21 acres in Llanwenarth on the outskirts of Abergavenny. “One of the first times I went to see it, I just thought, ‘Yeah, that’s me, that’ll do. I won’t move again.”

No? “No, that’s me done. I love it,” he says. “The Brecon Beacons National Park is the other side of my right-hand fence. I can walk up the Sugar Loaf [mountain] in an hour and 20 minutes, or I could be getting measured for a new suit or buying a coffee in 20 minutes.”

Kelly adds: “He’s now doing the place up, adding car garages, guest accommodation… Another resto-mod. Recently he made headlines when the discovery of eight protected species of bats forced a pause on building work. “Oh, that’s fine,” he says, waving it off. “I just have to work with the bats. I like bats. You don’t move to where I’ve moved and try to stamp all the nature out.”

According to Kelly, Hammond has joined the local running club in Abergavenny, and brought his 5k time down to under 25 minutes.

A week after the two met was the Abergavenny Food Festival which clashes with the Goodwood Revival Festival, which Hammond has never missed.

He told the publication, proudly: “And I’m going to the food festival.

“We’re hoping to do a guided foraging walk, then we’re going to listen to a talk about cheese, and another about whisky. It’s going to be great.”

Living in Wales has also shifted Hammond’s focus in life, with him concluding: “Work is fun again, however life is the priority. “I’m 56, I’ve suddenly realised my 60s are coming at me. And I don’t want to be caught up with work.

“I’d rather be fit and healthy, balanced and happy than unbelievably wealthy. I’ve done better than I ever thought I’d do. The bigger value now is time, and what you do with it.”

Y Fenni

Abergavenny was named the ‘best place to live in Wales’ in the annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide in 2024

The Sunday Times’ expert judges visited locations across the UK, assessing factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street – with the Welsh winner announced as Abergavenny.

Judges said: “Few locations in the UK are as friendly, practical and picturesque as this friendly market town on the edge of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

“There has been a market here since the 13th century and food remains a strong point, with the Abergavenny Food Festival celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

“Community spirit is off the charts and there’s a strong and varied sporting scene.”

Called Gobannium by the Romans and Y Fenni by natives (after one of the rivers running through the town), the market town in Monmouthshire is the perfect base for exploring Bannau Brycheiniog National Park and the Blaenavon World Heritage Site.

The town is surrounded by seven mountains in total, the most famous being Pen y Fal (the Sugarloaf), The Blorenge and Ysgyryd Fawr.

Abergavenny’s status as a foodie Mecca is well established, with the annual Abergavenny Food Festival – a staple on the culinary calendar.

It is also famed for its regular food & craft markets featuring some of the best artisan producers from across the region.

Tim Palmer from the Sunday Times said: “What really stands out, though, is the powerful community spirit that everyone buys into.

“The Abergavenny Voice Facebook group has almost three times as many members as the town’s population of about 13,000, while another online collective, the Abergavenny women’s network, has 600-plus members with an impressive capacity to get things done, from organising litter picks to finding a home for unwanted goods.”

“Commanding”

Estate agents, Savills, share: “The Pentre is a commanding example of Georgian architecture that offers a striking profile in luminous white painted faced stone.

“The three-storey manor has the classically designed central double depth entrance and is handsomely flanked by banks of original sash windows.

“There were later graceful Victorian additions of a domed cast iron orangery and a second veranda, with their impressive curved glass structures hugging the sides of the main house. The natural slate roof is a slim hipped style and the house was extended to the rear with dual wings.”

“The listed building status notes The Pentre’s pretty parkland setting on a gentle ridge of the lower hillsides of Sugar Loaf with vineyards and woodland as some of your neighbours. The house is surrounded by about 21 acres of the former historic farm estate, with views across the River Usk valley to the Blorenge, the area’s rustic landscape begins to unfold right in front of you.

“There is majestic scale to The Pentre throughout. It is a patchwork of timeless period grandeur and a testament to the recent passage of time and interior trends as a family home.

“The exquisite detailing of plasterwork moulding and ceiling roses in the formal front rooms of the house are spectacular. There are arboreal themes to the entrance hall and drawing room with painted leaves and twisting laurel vines. The Greek key motif is echoed and is complimented by the colonnaded architraves, and there is curved and linear panelling to archways, doorframes, and the rooms themselves.

“The central entrance hall also connects to the kitchen and rear hall, which in turn offers side access to the courtyard. The rear hall is a utilitarian gem with plentiful storage and room for any necessary overspill in connecting the inside outdoors. There is also a wc and stairs to the arched brick cellar, which also retains the original stone stair external access hatch.

“The spacious family kitchen is situated singularly in the rear wing and is dual aspect to the gardens and courtyard. Retained period detailing in the coving, curved wall and deep set windows, sit alongside the most contemporary updates via a brick enclosed workspace that delivers fantastic stone worktop space and myriad cabinets. The central focal point is the aga but there is also a breakfast dining area.

“The orangery is accessed separately from the rear courtyard and is ripe with opportunities as an interconnected three or four season room. The triple aspect walls of glass panes soaks in the surrounding landscape and the vaulted iron structure is enchanting. There are further doors leading to the front veranda and down to the lake, and with its own wc facilities it is an ideal entertaining space.

“There are four bedrooms to the first floor of The Pentre, with an additional interconnected room.
The principal bedroom is more than generously proportioned and it has the benefit of surveying the grounds and valley below with a further decorative marble one of the lasting features.”

“Each of the main bedrooms and the separate bathrooms are enormous and there is tremendous scope to personalise these into luxurious havens. The two bathrooms on this floor have latterly updated tiling and suites including double vanity sinks, walk-in showers and accessible or standalone soaking tubs. There is also a practical laundry space on the first floor and the smallest of the bedrooms can equally be used as a home office.

“Externally, there is a modern double garage and a collection of rubble stone outbuildings which includes a wc and a wood store to the rear courtyard of the house. A drive leads away from the house to the rear of the grounds to find the equipment shed. The former livery, there is fully enclosed storage and a covered forecourt.

“The garden is in part a pristine remnant of the genteel history. To the front of the house, in the foreground of the glorious view, is the old boating lake and tennis court, and sitting just behind would have been the croquet lawn. It is still a wondrously level section of the manicured grassy areas, which otherwise gently follow the topography around the property and are studded with monolithic mature trees. Additional waterways were added, with a brook cutting through the western embankment under a flagstone bridge, with a rubble stone pond and stepped waterfall leading separately toward the lake. The result is further tranquillity in accordance with the scenery.

“The house is well setback from the road, gated and accessed alongside the large paddock which provides ample privacy and is dotted with further shrouding trees.”

Read The Telegraph’s Richard Hammond: ‘I’m through my midlife crisis… I think’ in full here.

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