SERENE in its arena of hills, Grosmont brooks no rival among other villages. A short street of houses, each of its own separate elevation, a glorious church, a hill-top castle overlooking an incredible river valley, a couple of inns, two shops, and a pseudo-mediaeval town hall in the street - that is Grosmont. What then makes it unique?

Approach it from Cross Ash (on the Abergavenny-Ross road). As you complete your semi-circle around the Graig you see suddenly through the trees the spire and the castle and then houses perched, it seems, like an Italian hill-hamlet. Approach it from Llanfihangel Crucorney, along Campston hill, which we christened 'Meadow-sweet Lane.' Move slowly, for the glimpses of Grosmont from this height are fleeting, but of extreme beauty.

Approach it from Herefordshire over Cupid's Hill descending at about two knots. You pass a school and a few flower-filled cottage gardens and now travel-hardened though you be, gasp with delight. You pause' do you hear the sound of trumpets 'on the other side?' For surely this is heaven, and you are about to enter...

When is Grosmont seen at its best> Dreamlike in December snows, idyllic in springtime when its background is the bluebell covered Graig ('le gros mont'), festive in summer when its tubs and boxes and walls are gay with flowers, it is, I fell, in its most satisfying glory in autumn when its brown roofs and spire echo the russet of its countryside.

Grosmont became crown property when Henry IV ascended the throne, and it formed the focus of Owain Glyndwr's activities. Prince Henry of Monmouth was in Hereford when he heard the news that Owain was burning Grosmont, and he send a force to assist the garrison. In the battle that followed, Owain was routed and over eight hundred Welshmen were slain.

Grosmont Castle was a fortified residence with a hall, a circular keep, and surrounded by a deep ditch, not a water moat. It was dismantled probably in the Wars of the Roses.

The quaint building in the centre of the village is the Town Hall, built in 1832 on the site of a larger half-timbered hall, which had been used partly for the Justices of the Peace, and partly as a 'publick school.' There were but two offices of the ancient borough of Grosmont. One was the Mayor. The other, appointed by the Mayor, was the ale taster, who became the next mayor.

Our visitors rave about the thrill of moonlight at Tintern. They should stand outside John Bryan's cottage at Grosmont and watch as the moon silvers the walls of the cottages, the windows light up, and the delicate spire rises like a prayer.

We begin our inspection of the village at the town hall. Built in 1832 by the Duke of Beaufort, who was lord of the manor and owner of the official market tolls, the handsome structure houses on its ground floor a fourteenth century stone of considerable interest. It is of red sandstone, about three feet high and equal width and the upper portion was once octagonal, decorated with quatrefoils.

It is described by some authorities as the base of the wayside cross, but I am prepared to accept the traditional view that it was the market stone. Market women arrving early ran to place their basket on the stone, for the first escaped toll.

Between the town-hall and the shop stands an ancient landmark still known as the toll-stone: some distance up the street stood another, long since missing. At all fairs in Grosmont the householders had the right to charge toll on merchandise placed on the land opposite their houses and between the two toll-stones.

The shop opposite the town hall has the inscription, '1611 - H.P' on its carved door head. Inside, the plan and ceiling beams, with their concave 'stops' indicate the same age. Mrs Nash and her mother took me around this well-preserved house. Original beams are still visible in the room behind the shop, but the show-place of the house is the room now used as a games room, where four stout beams are crossed by 19 smaller beams, reminding me of similar patterns in the western areas of our country.

In the massive fireplace beam, which is seven foot long and 18 inches deep are a recess and a peg-hole. Both were closed until eleven years ago, when the door of the small recess was opened to disclose a slipper and an old news-cutting, and at the back of the peg-hole a toothpick and human hair were found.