THIS Saturday Chepstow celebrates the gift to the town of the historic Town Gate by the 9th Duke of Beaufort 100 years ago. The public are invited to a programme of events which includes a lunchtime "happy hour" at the next door George Hotel when beer will be sold at Victorian prices.
A great auction on October 5 1899 sold off most of the Beaufort property in the Wye valley, including no less than 22 public houses in Chepstow alone. Towards the end of the sale the chairman of the council, C.W. Whalley, addressed a plea to the auctioneer.
"We have a great wish to retain this old gate for the town, and I have been asked to appeal to you, seeing that you have had such a successful sale, to ask you whether it would be possible that the town should receive this as a present."
The auctioneer consulted the Duke's agent and announced the Town Gate would be presented to the people of Chepstow.
The adjacent Gate House, today the home of the town council and other offices, was rebuilt in 1609 by Margaret Cleyton, the rich widow of a Chepstow merchant. Around 1620 she built the George Hotel on the adjacent site.
It burnt down in 1896. To mark the centenary of its reopening in September 1899, a descendant of Margaret Cleyton through her daughter Eleanor, the Hon. Mrs John Foster, sister of Viscount Ashbrook, will open the newly refurbished Wye Suite on Saturday at 11am.
Victorian entertainment will be provided in Cormeilles Square before an 11.30am ceremony to mark the Duke's gift. Anna Tribe of Raglan, a member of the Somerset family, will give a short address in honour of the occasion. The Town Gate, the original town museum after the last war, will be open to visitors thereafter.
For an hour after midday the George will serve beer at Victorian prices. Lunch and high tea will be served to a Victorian parlour accompaniment, with the staff in Victorian costume. It is rumoured that Margaret Cleyton might herself appear.
To mark the occasion the Chepstow Society is republishing Ivor Waters' "Chepstow Town Gate and Museum" (1948) booklet and "Margaret Cleyton" in a single volume, with additional material and illustrations. The booklet – "The George and the Gate" (£4.95) will be on sale on the day, and thereafter in the tourist information office and other town outlets.