Bothy Garden

Cadw's description

Location

Located approximately 0.3km SE of Leighton Hall and on the E side of a track N of Leighton Hall Stables. The N wall is a dividing wall between the garden and The Bothy.

History

Early 1850s and probably used as nurseries. The NE quadrant contained numerous glass houses in 1902. An integral part of the Leighton Estate, acquired by John Naylor, a Liverpool banker, in 1846-47. Naylor embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by W.H. Gee and largely completed by the mid 1850s. Leighton Hall was constructed 1850-56 and its formal and landscape gardens were designed by Edward Kemp c1860. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889. His grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931.

Exterior

Walls enclosing a large garden approximately 90x90m, divided internally into 4 equal-sized quadrants by an E-W cross wall and a N-S terrace wall. Brick with ashlar dressings, including saddleback copings. In the external wall are doorways under 4-centred arches, some of which have boarded doors. There are 4 similar doorways in the E-W cross wall. The E-W cross wall also has, in the NE quadrant, a sham fireplace under a shaped gable which has ashlar copings and two polygonal chimneys, one with a tall patterned flue. The N-S cross wall has a low parapet and 4 flights of stone steps, each of which end in piers with flat caps, probably designed for statues. (In the NE quadrant are the remains of glasshouses and in the SE quadrant the remains of a timber-framed summer house.)

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. The Bothy Garden is an important element of this whole ensemble at Leighton. It is also a very good example of a walled garden whose materials and gothic details are consistent with the architectural character of the Estate.