Banqueting House in Walled Garden at Talacre Abbey

Cadw's description

Location

Within the E wall of the walled garden W of the house.

History

Talacre Abbey was built 1824-9 by Thomas Jones, architect, for Sir Edward Mostyn, on the site of an earlier house. The banqueting house is the only surviving building associated with the earlier house. It is C18 in date and is said to have been designed by Capability Brown. The attached walls of the kitchen garden are shown on the 1839 Tithe map.

Exterior

Palladian style of 2 storeys and basement, with single-storey wings built behind original walls, which have a continuous balustrade, set back from the main elevation. The basement is rusticated stone, the upper storey of rubble stone (formerly stuccoed). The front faces E to the interior of the walled garden. In its basement is a blind arch of roughcast brick framing a coat of arms. A blind balustrade to the lower storey has open shaped balusters to the central window. The window has an eared architrave and a moulded cornice (partly missing), is boarded over but retains some small-pane glazing bars. The pedimented gable has a diamond tablet framing a roundel. In the R-hand wall is a blocked window in a stone architrave above the wing, the interior of which incorporates stone steps that were the original entrance.

The rear wall is roughcast, with coped gable on moulded kneelers and central brick stack. It has 2 basement windows, above which are single windows in both storeys but all window details are missing. The outer wing to the R has a single window, the wing to L a doorway.

Reason for designation

Listed grade II* as an exceptionally rare Palladian building associated with an C18 landscape garden, and as an integral component of the later outbuildings associated with Talacre Abbey.