CADW/ICOMOS REGISTER OF LANDSCAPES,PARKS AND GARDENS OF
SPECIAL HISTORIC INTEREST IN WALES

REGISTER ENTRY

SITE NAME: Mostyn Hall
REF. NO: PGW (C) 14
OS MAP: 116 GRID REF: SJ 148 807
COUNTY: Clwyd DISTRICT: Delyn BC COMMUNITY COUNCIL:
Mostyn
DESIGNATIONS: Listed Building Mostyn Hall Grade I
SITE EVALUATION Grade II*

PRIMARY REASONS FOR GRADING
Fine early nineteeenth century layout of parkland, with numerous drives and lodges,
and with long winding Marine Walk on the boundary of park and garden from which
there are spectacular views over the Dee estuary. Ancient lime avenue flanking the
former main drive.

TYPE OF SITE
Former deer park; landscape park; informal garden; japanese garden

MAIN PHASES OF CONSTRUCTION
Eighteenth century; early to mid nineteenth century

SITE DESCRIPTION

Mostyn Hall is a large mansion of irregular heights and massing, built of stone under
a slate roof. It is situated on a north-east facing hillside above the sea with the main
entrance front facing south-east. The present house shows extensive nineteenth -
century remodelling in neo- jacobean style of a seventeenth - century house with
fifteenth - century fragments. The work was carried out by Ambrose Poynter for the
1st Lord Mostyn in 1846-47.

On the south-east Poynter introduced a two story gabled block now joined on to the
rebuilt great hall. A square tower based on a drawing by Thomas Dinely in his
Account of the Progress of the Duke of Beaufort through Wales (1684), was
reintroduced by Poynter, but this time with a truncated apex. The latest addition was
the north-west wing in 1855. Although the interior is considerably re-arranged it
retains some earlier features.

The earlier parts of the building include the recessed centre of the south-west front
(1631-32) overlooking a small formal garden.

Porth Mawr is a gatehouse wing at right angles to the south-west front of the house. It
is a two-storey stone building with two three storey cross wings, one forming the
central gatehouse block, the other on the south-east. A half cross wing with bell tower
and cupola at the north-west and balances the building. There are four blocked
doorways with rounded entrances on the north side. A carved beam in the entrance
has 'Anno Mundi 1555 W.M. 1570' carved on it.

A large quadrangle of stone barns and farm buildings, including a late sixteenth/early
seventeenth-century dovecote, lies to the west of the house. The dovecote, situated at
the end of the east block, originally had a cruciform roof but now has a plain pithched
roof with a belfry.

The park surrounds the house on all sides and at one time must have run all the way to
the sea. It falls into two distinct areas: the deer park to the west of the house and the
park to the north which is reached by the Dry Bridge Lodge. The land to the east of
the hall is taken up with old mine workings and the ground is covered mainly by
scrub. The land to the south is pasture.

The park to the west slopes towards the Dee estuary and has alarge dingle running
north-south through the centre of it. On a map of 1742 this was the only area of open
land and extends further south than it does today. This area of the park is bounded on
the south side by what is known as the Marine Walk, an extensive serpentine ha-ha
topped by a walk, separating the park from the garden. From here there are
spectacular views across the Dee estuary to the Wirral and beyond. Thomas Roscoe in
his Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales (1838) states that 'The marine
prospects may be especially noticed, which present themselves at sucessive openings,
among the surrounding foliage of venerable oaks and beech-trees'. Towards the west
boundary is a block of six stone-walled stallion paddocks. A wall runs along the north
boundary bordered by the A548 coast road. The park to theeast of the house is
bounded by a wooded dingle. The whole of this deer park is enclosed by mixed
woodland.

The original main drive, not now in use, runs south-eastwards from the house to the
village of Rhewl-Mostyn. It is line with an avenue of ancient limes, already
'venerable' in 1796 (Pennant). The present- day main drive runs south-west from Porth
Mawr, and was made at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The other area of park is situaded to the south at SJ 147 795. This lies above Mostyn
itself and like the Deer Park has views of the Dee estuary, but with much broader
prospects. In the eighteenth century part of this area was known as Parc Newydd and
was probablyassociated with the estate of Bychton (not extant) which was the seat of
the Pennants, neighbours of the Mostyns. It borders a wood called Whitford Wood,
known previously as Plas yn Whitford as there was reputedly a mansion in the area.
Whitford Wood is now included in this area of Mostyn Park. By extending
southwards in this fashion an entrance was made from Whitford, with the building of
the Pennsylvania Lodge in a castellated style. The drive curves gently through the
new piece of park and from there enters Whitford Wood through another castellated
lodge, finally entering the Mostyn demesne via the the Dry Bridge Lodge. This is an
extraordinary castellated 'folly' lodge built by Ambrose Poynter in 1849. It bridges
the public road, with the carriage drive passing through the lodge. Prior to the
building of this lodge there was a drive north to the Hall from this point. All these
later extensions and buildings, including the marine walk and Stallion Paddocks
probably date to the early to mid nineteenth century. The new park became known as
Upper Park and was planted up by 1815 as indicated on an estate map of that date.
The three lodges and new drive are also marked, although the Dry Bridge Lodge is
said to be 1849.

Other drives were made about this time including a new drive and lodge to the west of
the Dry Bridge entrance, one directly to the north to to Mostyn Quay, another to the
east to Mostyn. A curious avenue shown on Badeslade's map of 1742, on the extreme
west of the Deer Park was also utilised in the early nineteenth century to make an
entrance from the west. There are thus 6 drives in the park.

The main planting in the Deer Park to the north-west of the house consists of
nineteenth century perimeter belts of mixed woodland. Within the park there are a few
scattered oaks and a beech avenue near the west boundary that is nearing the end of
it's life. The planting of the upper park beyond Dry Bridge Lodge, planted before
1815, is now much depleted. In the centre are two large clumps either side of the
drive. Extensive replanting is taking place.

The pleasure gardens lie to the immediate south-west, north-west and north-east of the
Hall. Thomas Badeslade carried out an extensive survey of the Mostyn demesnes in
1747 and recorded considerable formal gardens to the north-west, north and south-
west of the house. Thomas Dinely recorded in 1684 that 'Belonging to Mostyn-house
are a fair garden, good walks and excellent walled fruit'. The formal gardens are now
completely obliterated by the early ninteenth century re-planning of the grounds, and
have been replaced on the north-west side by an extensive sloping lawn. The garden
now consists of shrubberies with mature trees and shrubs interspersed with winding
paths and open lawns nearer the house. The garden is bounded on the north side by a
long curving ha-ha, which follows the contour along the top of the northward facing
slope. Along the top of the wall of the ha-ha is a walk. the Marine Walk, from which
there are fine views to the north. This feature was completed by 1815. The ha-ha and
walk continue westwards past the kitchen garden, and beyond along the edge of
Maes- William wood as far as the stallion paddocks.

To the north of the house, in a small dell, is a twentieth-century Japanese garden made
by the present Lord Mostyn's grandmother. A small formal garden lies to thesouth-
west of the house with a terrace at the back. This is Edwardian in conception but lies
roughly on the site of a small seventeenth century formal garden. An eighteenth-
century drawing (pre-1747) shows a range of walled gardens and a garden house to
the north-west. Thomas Pennant refers to a 'very handsome summerhouse, built by the
first baronet, as aappears by his arms quartered with those of his wife, Bulkley of
Baron Hill'. This may be the one shown on an eighteenth-century drawing, which has
a summer house to the north-west in line with the south-west front of the house.
Thomas Badeslade's plan of 1742 shows several buildings in this area including a
building with steps.

Thomas Pennant's rendering of Thomas Dinely's sketch of the south-east front of the
house throws considerable light on the layout of 1684, and can in fact be easily seen
on the ground today. Pennant's interpretation of Dinely's sketch shows an entrance
courtyard with terraces on the north and south. These are clearly to be seen although
the courtyard is no longer enclosed by walls. The chapel lies at the north-west end of
the north terrace which is shown by Pennant as having steps ascending to it. These are
no longer extant. The terrace was also walled on the north and south sides, with a
garden building at the south-east end. This building is also shown in an eighteenth
century sketch but is no longer extant. A set of steps still leads from the south terrace
into the forecourt but these are probably Edwardian. This terrace was also shown to be
walled on it's north side. The entrance court today is now very open with large sweeps
of grass to the north and south and a large gravel sweep in front of the house.

There are remains of old herbaceous borders running north-west/south-east alongside
the nineteenth century kitchen garden.

To the west of the garden is an early nineteenth-century compartmented brick-walled
kitchen garden with a line of potting sheds, bothies, boiler rooms along the entire
north-east wall. The head gardener's house is also part of this unit, at the south end.
Entrance to the walled garden is through the potting sheds and then into the
glasshouses. A range of nineteenth-century glasshouses, vineries, and peach houses
runs the length of this north-east wall, facing south . This northern third of the walled
garden is walled off and a larger area lies to the south.

A stone fountain forms a central focal point, with quartering paths dividing the
garden. All the paths are bordered with black edging tiles. The walls are about 3 m
high with brick pillars at regular intervals. There are doors in all the walls. This part
of the walled garden is planted with christmas trees and used for rearing game. There
is a narrow walled area to the north and adjoining the above, now used for bee hives.
Just outside the walled garden to the south is an orchard with brick bays projecting
from the rear wall of the walled garden. A well preserved domed brick ice-house is
situated between the kitchen garden and the farm buildings.

SOURCES

Primary
A map of Mostyn Hall, Gardens Park and Desmesnes surveyed by Thomas Badeslade
1742, Copy c. 1853. Clwyd Record Office: D/M/5248
A map of Mostyn House Gardens and Park, also part of the desmesne land belonging
to Thomas Mostyn Esq by Thomas Badeslade 1742. Bangor University archives
Sketch maps of the Upper Park (1808). Bangor University Archives Mostyn Mss. No.
8549
A map of Mostyn Desmesne (1815). Bangor University Archives Mostyn Mss. No.
8556

Secondary

Pennant, T. The History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell (1796) Reprint
Clwyd County Council (1988)
Roscoe, T. Wanderings and Excursions in North Wales (1838)
Pratt, D. and A.G. Veysey, A Handlist of the topographical prints of Clwyd (1977),
nos. 813-21.
Haslam, R. 'Mostyn Hall, Clwyd', Country Life 31 October 1985, pp. 1338-43
Hubbard, E. Clwyd (1986), pp. 400-01

This is a transcript of the CADW register entry so any errors are most likely mine and I apologise for those. Rod Craddock 2001