Dewstow House

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Dewstow House
Dewstow House, Caldicot, Monmouthshire.jpg
TypeHouse
Location Caerwent, Monmouthshire
Coordinates 51°35′45″N2°46′06″W / 51.5958°N 2.7683°W / 51.5958; -2.7683
BuiltC.1800
Architectural style Georgian
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Official nameDewstow House Garden
Designated1 February 2022
Reference no.PGW(Gt)44(Mon)
ListingGrade I
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameDewstow House
Designated28 October 1976
Reference no.23039
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameGrotto to the SE of the house
Designated29 March 2000
Reference no.23059
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTerrace, wall, grotto and underground garden to the NW of the house
Designated29 March 2000
Reference no.23060
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameGrotto, underground garden and bridge to the W of the house
Designated29 March 2000
Reference no.23061
Wales relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Dewstow House in Wales

Dewstow House, Caldicot, Monmouthshire, Wales, is an early nineteenth century villa in a Neoclassical style. The house is notable as the site of "one of the strangest gardens in Wales." [1] The building itself is plain; described by architectural writer John Newman as a "simple three-bay villa", [2] it has extensive views over the Severn Estuary. The house is a Grade II listed building, while the garden is listed at the highest grade, Grade I, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

Contents

History and description

Dewstow House is a simple, two-storey villa. [3] It is notable for its "network of very rare and unusual underground gardens" constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [4] Comprising "underground passages and top-light chambers with artificial rock-work and stalactites," [2] the garden structures have three separate Grade II* listings as a result of their importance. [5] [6] [7]

After the death of the garden's creator, Harry Oakley, in 1940, the gardens were gradually abandoned. [8] In the 1960s, during the construction of the M4 motorway and the Severn Bridge, soil from these sites was used to fill in the grottoes and pools. [8] The gardens were rediscovered, excavated and restored at the beginning of the twenty first century and were opened to the public. [9] At the end of the 2024 season, the owners announced that Dewstow would be permanently closed. [10] The gardens They are registered Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. [11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Whittle 1992, p. 78.
  2. 1 2 Newman 2000, p. 161.
  3. ↑ Cadw. "Dewstow House (Grade II) (23039)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Dewstow House Garden (266053)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Cadw. "Grotto about 30m to the south east of Dewstow House (Grade II*) (23059)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  6. ↑ Cadw. "Grotto, Underground Garden and Bridge about 60m to west of Dewstow House (Grade II*) (23061)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Cadw. "Terrace, Wall, Grotto and Underground Garden about 5m to north west of Dewstow House (Grade II*) (23060)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 Attlee 2009, p. 94.
  9. ↑ Wareham, Anne (January 1996). "Digging Deep-The Pulham Legacy". Garden Magazine. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dewstow Gardens to permanently close". Dewstow Estate. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  11. ↑ Cadw. "Dewstow House Garden (PGW(Gt)44(MON))". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

References

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