Wall attached to Library Garden wall at Leighton Hall

Cadw's description

Location

Situated S of library garden on S side of Leighton Hall and forming the W side of a private road immediately S of Leighton Hall Tower. The wall is continuous with the wall of the library garden and is the boundary wall with Tudor Croft.

History

Designed by Edward Kemp, a pupil of Joseph Paxton, c1860 and an element of the formal gardens at Leighton 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. The wall, together with the Library Garden walls, was the first part of the formal gardens to be executed.

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

A boundary wall of coursed, rock-faced Cefn stone with a ramped coping, swept up in stages. At the S end it terminates in an octagonal pier on top of which are a snake and an eagle in combat.

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 garden features are a key element in the setting of the house. The gardens, of which the boundary wall is a strong component, are also a tour-de-force of landscaping while their individual components are remarkable for their consistency of design and the extent of their survival.