Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales
Valve House
Forden with Leighton and Trelystan, Powys, Wales
A Grade II listed building in Leighton Park, Forden with Leighton and Trelystan, Powys, designated on 20 March 1998.
The record
- Designation
- Listed building, Grade II
- Broad class
- Water Supply and Drainage
- Date of designation
- 20 March 1998
- Locality
- Leighton Park
- Community
- Forden with Leighton and Trelystan
- Unitary authority
- Powys
- Country
- Wales
- Coordinates
- 52.63618, -3.11793
- Cadw reference
- 19571
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesLlyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales
5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1795 map "To Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bart ... the map of the six counties of North Wales is most humbly inscribed by his obedient humble servant" (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1795 · To Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bart ... the map of the six counties of North Wales is most… (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales)
- 1883 · Watershed map England, Wales 3. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1899 · 151 Welshpool (Hills) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1901 · Sheet 9 and 10. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1916 · Sheet 60. Shrewsbury. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
Cadw's description
Location
Approximately 1.1km SSE of Leighton Church, set back from W side of Estate road between Park Pool and Goppas, and at S end of conifer plantation.
History
Constructed 1850s and part of a system that pumped water from the River Severn to pools on Moel-y-Mab. The building houses valve rods whereby water pumped from the river at Cilcewydd Mill could be controlled.
The Valve House was part of the Leighton Estate, acquired by the Liverpool banker John Naylor in 1846-47. Here he embarked on an ambitious programme of building, principally Leighton Hall, church and Farm, which was largely completed by the mid 1850s. Naylor introduced new rational farming methods at Leighton, notably pioneering the recycling of manure as fertiliser for which he had to add hydraulic engineering systems on a large scale. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889. His grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold the Estate in 1931.
Exterior
One-storey, of brick but faced in snecked, rock-faced Cefn stone with rusticated quoins and dressings. Slate roof with overhanging eaves. The E and W walls have small round-headed openings (the glazing bars are missing) with prominent keystones. The similar S window is larger. On the N side is a round-headed doorway with planked door. Above the openings is a deep cornice on a corbel table, above which the side walls are of dressed stone while the gables are faced in blue brick.
Interior
Brick floor with valve control lever, an exposed valve rod and fixing bolts of another valve rod.
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 Valve House is an important element of this whole ensemble at Leighton. It is a highly specialised building type which represented a bold attempt to revolutionise agricultural techniques utilising new technology, in the context of a model farm of national significance.
Nearby in the register
- Park HouseDomesticunder 1 mi
- Footbridge E of Serpentine Pond at Leighton HallDomesticunder 1 mi
- Footbridge and boundary wall on N side of Leighton HallDomesticunder 1 mi
- Statue of Icarus in Serpentine Pond to NE of Leighton HallCommemorativeunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.