Garden pavilion, raised terrace and screen wall to former rose garden to E&S of The Hendre

Cadw's description

Location

Approximately 30m E of the house, overlooking the valley of a small brook.

History

The principal surviving features of a former formal garden, forming its SE side. The pavilion was probably designed by Aston Webb at the same time as the library wing was added to the house in the mid 1890s, but the other elements are probably earlier.

Exterior

Raised terrace and screen wall to a former formal garden, with a garden pavilion. The terrace is approximately 100m long, running almost N-S, with the pavilion incorporated in a screen wall on the W side of the N end, and the formal garden, which is square, on the W side of its S end. The pavilion and screen wall are built of red brick with sandstone dressings, the former with a tiled roof; the terrace is of roughly-coursed rubble with parapets of artificial stone. The pavilion, which is square and faces S, has stone banding to the corners, a large round-headed archway with a banded surround, and an oversailing ogival roof with a very shallow lantern surmounted by a scrollwork finial. At the rear there is an unglazed window on each side of the SE corner. Screen walls about half the height of the pavilion run out on either side to banded terminal piers which have moulded stone caps bearing large ball finials. The terrace, which begins at the E pier, is generally no more than 1m high, and has a coped parapet of circular open-work. At the S end is a short W return, where it links to the NE corner of the formal garden, which is on a higher level (on built-up ground), and is approached by a flight of 8 steps approximately 3m wide. The terrace walling and parapet continue along the E side of the formal garden, with a semicircular bow towards the N end and a wide rectangular bay at its SE corner; and on the S side the formal garden is bounded by the parapet alone (part of this missing at the time of this survey). The garden itself contains a garden pond with fountain (q.v.). (At the time of this survey the whole garden was grassed over but the outlines of geometrical rose beds were clearly visible.)

Reason for designation

Included as fine elements of a late C19 formal garden, and for group value with The Hendre..