PGW(Dy)8(CAM)

Edwinsford  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Carmarthenshire  

Talley  

262789  

234408  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Woodland and parkland surrounding pleasure garden and house, now somewhat degenerated.  

About 1635; mid/late eighteenth century; nineteenth century re-modelling.  

Edwinsford, the derelict ancient seat of the Williams family, is located in an idyllic setting on the banks of the Afon Cothi, about a mile north of the village of Talley. It is registered for the vestiges of its parkland including an oak avenue, possibly c.1635, and its fine bridge linking the utilitarian area, including walled garden, coach-house and gardener's cottage, to the mansion on the opposite side of the river. Many of the buildings were topped with lead ornaments that depicted their function, now gone. In addition to park and garden structures, there is group value with the Grade II* Listed ruins of the mansion (LB 15766), the Grade II Listed bridge (LB 10920), and with a number Grade II and II* Listed utility buildings across the river including the home farm. There are also family associations with the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks who spent several summers at Edwinsford. The park is a roughly rectangular area bounded on the east by the B4337 and B4302, on the south by a minor road which partly follows a former carriage drive, and elsewhere by woodland and field boundaries; the greater part of it lies on the south side of the river, to the west and south of the mansion. The picturesque lakes at Talley are immediately to the south, almost forming the estate boundary. The land within the estate is either rolling parkland or wooded slopes with some lowland marsh. There were once several drives to the house and its ancillary buildings. A carriage drive entered the park from Irongate Lodge near the B4302, through Grade II Listed gates and gate piers (LB 15773), passing through a large area of shrubberies and plantations south of the house to a forecourt on its east front. From here it returned west, circling Moelfre Hill through woodland to Moelfre Lodge on what is now a public road. Opposite Irongate Lodge, on the road, are two cottages designed to mimic the main house (nprn 17452). A short drive once branched off the main drive just south of the house to Mill Lodge amongst mill buildings on the B4337. Today the house is approached off the B4337 to the north-east, the carriage drive passing the utility area before crossing the Grade II Listed river bridge (LB 10920) to the house site. The parkland to the west is now sub-divided and has lost its characteristic continuous sweep of grass. The most ancient features are the non-native English oaks that line the B4337 and also occur along the drives and in the woodland to the south-west, most likely planted in the sixteenth century. A summer house, or eyecatcher, was built on the summit of Pen Dinas to the north (NPRN 406812), now quarried away. Around the house there was a formal pleasure garden that utilised the flatter land of the river terrace to the east, west and north of the house but this entire area has now degenerated into rough grass and trees. An enigmatic enclosed garden to the south-east of the main drive, prior to the bridge, may once have been an ornamental lake but is now overgrown, before which it may have been a tennis ground. On the opposite side of the drive is the extensive Grade II Listed walled garden enclosing some 6.5 acres (LB 15997), probably dating to the early nineteenth century, with walls up to 3m high. Cottages and other utilitarian buildings and their garden enclosures form most of the north-west and north-eastern boundary. The main entrance is towards the north-west corner, close to Garden Cottage. The garden had more than utilitarian function having been sub-divided into smaller pleasure gardens with walls and hedges. Near the south corner, outside the home farm, is a Grade II Listed sundial (LB 15996). Setting - The idyllic valley location of Edwinsford provided the setting for the house and its grounds. Significant views - From the east front of the house there would have been tranquil views across the river; whilst from the back of the house the parkland would have extended into the distance with wooded hills to either side. Source: Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 18-21 (ref: PGW(Dy)8(CAM)). Additional notes: D.K.Leighton