Penrhos is an area or hamlet at the top of the hill east of Kington, Herefordshire near the Welsh border. In the area there are a small number of buildings including Penrhos Farm and Penrhos Court.

Toponymy

The name is derived from the Welsh words pen and rhos and means "head (top) of the moor".

History

Penrhos Court originated around the late 13th century with a large cruck dwelling. Generations of owners have added more buildings and at one stage it became a small hamlet of half a dozen dwellings. Farm barns were added which formed a squared of ancient farm building surrounding a courtyard with a puddle duck pond and a well in the middle. Records of 1752 refer to the area as Penrose, in 1841 as Penrhose, in 1850 again as Penrose being a farm of 213 acre, then 1880 as the first reference to the Welsh name of Penrhos which it is still now known by.

Notable people

Many famous people have stayed at Penrhos Court including Queen, Led Zeppelin, Mike Oldfield and Terry Jones of Monty Python. Queen stayed there for a couple of weeks in August 1975 to rehearse their album A Night at the Opera (which features the hit "You're My Best Friend" and the legendary "Bohemian Rhapsody") before embarking to Rockfield Studios in Monmouth.