The History of Hilston Park by Pamela Pugh

From the time of the Catholic Needham family in the 1660s to the last private resident in the late 1940s, the estate has seen many changes and influenced much of the local history of the parishes of St. Maughans, Skenfrith and Llangattock-Vibon-Avel.

Read about the turmoil of Owain Glyndwr's great rebellion and the swashbuckling general who shaped the history of the building and helped found the first education system for the area. Included are the local newspaper reports on the fire that consumed the building in 1836 and the story of the secret connection with the Jacobite Rebellion.

Other sections include the history of the local Catholic church, now demolished, the tower on the hill, once a favourite picnic spot for the residents, and rare pictures of the Rangers, Guides and Brownies groups that met there.

And, as the last of the memories of this once great estate pass into history, read the accounts of the life and times at Hilston Park, recollections of the evacuees of the Second World War who were billeted there, and of life at Hilston Park as seen through the eyes of the staff who worked there.