![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Nation-Cymru-20.jpg\")
Left: \u201cTerra Mater: Wild Weather with Richard Hammond\u201d by Ars Electronica licensed CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Right: Hammond\u2019s new property. Image: Savills<\/p>\n Left: \u201cTerra Mater: Wild Weather with Richard Hammond\u201d by Ars Electronica licensed CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Right: Hammond\u2019s new property. Image: Savills<\/p>\n
Nation Cymru staff<\/p>\n
Richard Hammond has shared how his priorities have shifted since moving to a Georgian manor house on the outskirts of one of Wales\u2019 most desirable locations, saying \u2018he won\u2019t move again\u2019.<\/p>\n
In a new interview with the Telegraph<\/a>, Hammond praised the new location with the \u2018Brecon Beacons\u2019 the other side of his fence, and his realisation that \u2018time\u2019 is the biggest value he has in life.<\/p>\n Back in March, former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond moved into a \u00a32 million mansion complete with tennis courts and an orangery on the outskirts of Abergavenny.<\/p>\n Following a split from wife Mindy, Hammond left the couple\u2019s Bollitree Castle in Herefordshire last year and had been renting a property nearby \u2013 regularly being spotted shopping in nearby Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The house, which was a cash sale, comes complete with \u201cenormous\u201d bathrooms and bedrooms, a tennis court, wine cellar, orangery, its own lake and a series of modern and historic outbuildings.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n According to the property listing, the property, which can be viewed from the Brecon Road enjoys a \u201csublime parkland setting and views across the Blorenge\u201d.<\/p>\n The Telegraph\u2019s Guy Kelly writes: \u201cHammond\u2019s accommodation was never going to remain hamster-sized. A year ago he bought the \u00a32m The Pentre, a 19th-century Georgian manor house on 21 acres in Llanwenarth on the outskirts of Abergavenny. \u201cOne of the first times I went to see it, I just thought, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s me, that\u2019ll do. I won\u2019t move again.\u201d<\/p>\n No? \u201cNo, that\u2019s me done. I love it,\u201d he says. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly adds: \u201cHe\u2019s now doing the place up, adding car garages, guest accommodation\u2026 Another resto-mod. Recently he made headlines when the discovery of eight protected species of bats forced a pause on building work. \u201cOh, that\u2019s fine,\u201d he says, waving it off. \u201cI just have to work with the bats. I like bats. You don\u2019t move to where I\u2019ve moved and try to stamp all the nature out.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Kelly, Hammond has joined the local running club in Abergavenny, and brought his 5k time down to under 25 minutes.<\/p>\n A week after the two met was the Abergavenny Food Festival which clashes with the Goodwood Revival Festival, which Hammond has never missed.<\/p>\n He told the publication, proudly: \u201cAnd I\u2019m going to the food festival.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to do a guided foraging walk, then we\u2019re going to listen to a talk about cheese, and another about whisky. It\u2019s going to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n Living in Wales has also shifted Hammond\u2019s focus in life, with him concluding: \u201cWork is fun again, however life is the priority. \u201cI\u2019m 56, I\u2019ve suddenly realised my 60s are coming at me. And I don\u2019t want to be caught up with work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather be fit and healthy, balanced and happy than unbelievably wealthy. I\u2019ve done better than I ever thought I\u2019d do. The bigger value now is time, and what you do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Y Fenni<\/p>\n Abergavenny was named the \u2018best place to live in Wales\u2019 in the annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide in 2024<\/p>\n The Sunday Times\u2019 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 \u2013 with the Welsh winner announced as Abergavenny.<\/p>\n Judges said: \u201cFew locations in the UK are as friendly, practical and picturesque as this friendly market town on the edge of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.<\/p>\n \u201cThere 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.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity spirit is off the charts and there\u2019s a strong and varied sporting scene.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The town is surrounded by seven mountains in total, the most famous being Pen y Fal (the Sugarloaf), The Blorenge and Ysgyryd Fawr.<\/p>\n Abergavenny\u2019s status as a foodie Mecca is well established, with the annual Abergavenny Food Festival \u2013 a staple on the culinary calendar.<\/p>\n It is also famed for its regular food & craft markets featuring some of the best artisan producers from across the region.<\/p>\n Tim Palmer from the Sunday Times said: \u201cWhat really stands out, though, is the powerful community spirit that everyone buys into.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Abergavenny Voice Facebook group has almost three times as many members as the town\u2019s population of about 13,000, while another online collective, the Abergavenny women\u2019s network, has 600-plus members with an impressive capacity to get things done, from organising litter picks to finding a home for unwanted goods.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCommanding\u201d<\/p>\n Estate agents, Savills, share: \u201cThe Pentre is a commanding example of Georgian architecture that offers a striking profile in luminous white painted faced stone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe three-storey manor has the classically designed central double depth entrance and is handsomely flanked by banks of original sash windows.<\/p>\n \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe listed building status notes The Pentre\u2019s 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\u2019s rustic landscape begins to unfold right in front of you.<\/p>\n \u201cThere 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are four bedrooms to the first floor of The Pentre, with an additional interconnected room. \u201cEach 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.<\/p>\n \u201cExternally, 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Read The Telegraph\u2019s Richard Hammond: \u2018I\u2019m through my midlife crisis\u2026 I think\u2019 in full here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Support our Nation today<\/p>\n For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an Get more trusted Welsh news<\/p>\n Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Nation-Cymru-22.jpg\")
Hammond\u2019s new property. Image: Savills<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Nation-Cymru-19.jpg\")
\u201cRichard Hammond in Toronto \u2013 2024\u201d by Sikander Iqbal licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Right: Hammond\u2019s new property. Image: Savills<\/p>\n
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.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Nation-Cymru-21.jpg\")
Hammond\u2019s new property. Image: Savills<\/p>\n
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