Kemeys Inferior

The bedrock of the parish is largely Devonian Old Red Sandstone in the Brownstone group of which the dominant feature is the ridge of Kemeys Graig, consisting of mostly undivided sandstone with marl further down the slope on the Usk side; the flood plain of the Usk is marine or estuarine alluvium. The highest point of the parish is Caer Licyn at 241 metres (location: 51.33686, −2.37970).^[1] The largest percentage of the land is agricultural, of which the most fertile by the Usk. About 40% has tree cover, including Coed-y-Caerau (also the name of a hamlet) on Kemeys Graig, which joins Wentwood further east and is part of the largest ancient forest in Wales, which used to cover the area from the Usk to the Wye.^[2][3]

The wider parish area lies across and either side of Kemeys Graig and was part of the Usk Hundred and Caldicot Hundred.^{[citation needed]} It is bounded by the meandering Usk to the northwest, Bulmore, Mount St. Albans and Catsash in the southeast, then centrally by Coed-y-Caerau Lane and the stream down from the hamlet of Great Caer-Licyn , turning roughly northwards along Hendrew Lane and then through the west of Wentwood until the Usk again. It is recorded as covering an area of 670 hectares (1656 acres).^[4]

The area around Kemeys Graig, much of which is included in the parish, has been occupied for thousands of years. It has structures going back to the late prehistoric period, with Iron Age, Roman and mediaeval defensive earthworks extant. Pen-toppen-ash, a series of ringfort earthworks from the Iron Age which was re-used in the Roman era, is adjacent to the parish immediately southwest of Coed-y-Caerau (woods).^[5] Kemys Graig Roman Fort, now within Coed-y-Caerau (woods), is also on the ridge which overlooks the Usk to Caerleon on one side and the land southwest to the mouth of the Usk on the other. It's believed it might have been garrisoned to keep communication between Burrium Legionary Fort (in Usk) and early coastal military at Cardiff.^[6] There are several old quarries at a few sites, e.g. Abernant and within Coed-y-Caerau (woods), which were used throughout later centuries for paving and roofing at least.^[7][8][9]

A lordship of Kemeys existed in the Middle Ages. The Kemeys family was established in this part of southeast Wales by the 13th century. The family was associated with the area for generations until George Kemeys, who was the local sheriff in 1699, sold the family estate some years afterwards. The parish lay in the county court district of Usk and the diocese of Llandaff.^[10] Kemeys House (later Kemeys Manor) has elements such as the tower which date to the 13th century, of a green stone presumably from a local quarry. Extensions and additions were made up to the 20th century.^[8] Much of the parish land was owned later by the Duke of Beaufort and the provost of Eton College.^[3]

A mediaeval wooden cross (now in the National Museum) from the rood screen of the very small Kemeys Inferior church of the same period – All Saints church – was found by restorers in the 19th century; dated to the late 13th century, it was apparently concealed during the Reformation and depicts a mid-point in the development of the imagery of the crucifixion from Jesus as God (Christus victor) to Jesus as a person (Christus patiens). The church itself was dismantled in 1961 during construction of the A449 and a portion of its stones reused in the choir of Newport Cathedral (St. Woolos Cathedral).^{[11][8]: 259}