Terrace Walk at Leighton Hall

Cadw's description

Location

Situated on the N and E sides of Leighton Hall and with gardens to N and E.

History

Part of the formal gardens at Leighton Hall which were designed by Edward Kemp, a pupil of Joseph Paxton, c1860, for John Naylor. The terrace forms a plinth to the Hall. Leighton Hall has formal gardens S of the library wing and SE of the Tower. In contrast, NE of the Hall and Tower it has a landscape garden which was planted with trees and shrubs, its woodland walks also contrasting with the terrace walks of the formal garden.

John Naylor, a Liverpool banker, had acquired the Leighton Estate in 1846-47 and embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by W.H. Gee and completed by the mid 1850s. Leighton Hall had been constructed 1850-56. John Naylor's grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931.

Exterior

Terrace walk extending along N front of Leighton Hall and continuing on E side as far as steps immediately in front of entrance to Leighton Hall Tower. Of coursed, rock-faced Cefn stone with ashlar dressings. Along the N front of Hall it consists of a low retaining wall with ramped coping and curved steps to W, straight steps to E (matching the bow and bay windows respectively of the Hall). The terrace terminates in a N-S wall to W, with a tall octagonal pier which has a frieze of blank shields below battlements. The N-S wall returns again to the Hall with an embattled doorway. At the NE corner is another flight of steps where the terrace wall returns S and continues, stepping out to follow the plan of the Hall, to the steps beside the Tower.

Reason for designation

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Leighton Hall represents the centrepiece of this development, and the terrace walk is a key element in the setting of the house. The gardens at Leighton Hall are a tour-de-force of landscaping and the features within them are remarkable for their consistency of design and the extent of their survival.