Llanerchydol Hall Gardens

Llanerchydol Hall Gardens

Llanerchydol Hall is a 19th-century Gothic house is set in beautiful gardens laid out in the mid-Victorian period. Highlights include a formal parterre, sunken garden, woodland, and landscaped parkland.

History

There was a house at Llanerchydol at least as early as the first half of the 18th century. After that early house burned down a new house was erected in 1776 by David Pugh, who made his fortune in the tea trade.

The house stayed with the Pugh family for the next 136 years, and underwent a striking transformation in 1820 when it was remodelled with romantic touches like Gothic towers and a castellated roofline, making it look more like a medieval fantasy than a comfortable Regency house.

The style is best described as Gothic Revival. The family asked architect Thomas Penson to work on the dining room, and to advise on a sunken garden. The Gardens The Pugh family called in John Repton to create a landscape garden surrounding the house.

Among the touches added by Repton are a Japanese water garden, and a formal parterre. During the late Victorian period the three large country houses near Welshpool; Powis Castle, Llanerchydol, and Vaenor Park, all tried to outdo each other with planting of rare trees, and flowers from around the world. The Pughs added an Orangery to the house, and it still hosts at kumquat tree.

The drive rises through wide parkland past massed banks of azaleas and rhododendron. The formal parterre is to the front of the house, while to the rear is woodland. The parkland designed by Ruskin includes gentle grassland with carefully arranged plantings of specimen trees framing distant views.

Like many country house owners at the turn of the 20th century the Pughs had to downsize, and they sold off parts of the estate. In 1912 they finally sold the house, to a wealthy Liverpool cotton merchant. The gardens are listed Grade II* in the CADW Register of Landscapes Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

NOTE ... NOTE ... NOTE
we understand that Llanerchydol Hall has been sold, and is no longer open to the public. We'll verify this and add more details just as soon as we know more.

Public Access
However, even if the grounds are not officially open, you can STILL enjoy them, for the long distance Glyndwr's Way trail leads directly through the park, past the house. You can take the trail from the centre of Welshpool, or off the A458 or A490 as for the main Hall drive.