A LATE-18th Century mansion near Chepstow is still facing an uncertain future after being left to rot and decay for decades - with the apparent owners nowhere to be found.

Piercefield House, near Chepstow Racecourse and known locally as The Mansion, is a Grade II listed building, and famous in Chepstow and the surrounding area for being in a poor state of repair.

Over the years, many people had explored the crumbling ruin until metal hoardings were put in place for safety reasons.

The house is currently owned by the Reuben brothers, London-based property developers.

David and Simon Reuben bought the firm which owned Chepstow Racecourse back in 2007, acquiring Piercefield House in the process.

Since then, little has been heard from them and the house remains a shell.

In 2013, Save Britain’s Heritage launched a campaign to rescue the house, but as yet it has not yielded any action on the owners' part.

Piercefield House has a chequered history - with well-known links to the trans-Atlantic slave trade of the period between the 16th and 19th centuries.

In 1740, the house was purchased by Valentine Morris - who was a slave owner and plantation magnate in Antigua.

His son, who bore the same name, worked to develop the estate, but this ended up bankrupting him.

Piercefield House changed hands a few more times before being acquired in 1802 by one of its more well-known owners, Nathaniel Wells.

Wells was the son of St Kitts slave owner William Wells who had fathered him with an enslaved house servant named 'Juggy' (later Jordine Wells).

Nathaniel Wells inherited much of his late father's wealth and moved into Piercefield House.

He later became High Sherriff of Monmouth, the first black man to hold the position.

Over the years the house has inspired writers such as Wordsworth and Coleridge due to its location on the Wye Tour - an early sort of package holiday for the very rich.

It is rumoured to have even hosted Admiral Horatio Nelson at one point.

With the opening of the racecourse in the 1920s the house fell further into disrepair.

During the Second World War, the house was used by the American army for target practice ahead of the 1944 Normandy Landings.

The Reuben Brothers were contacted for comment.