Ffynone House

Not to be confused with Ffynone House School.

Ffynone
Ffynnonau
Ffynone in 2004
Ffynone Ffynone within Wales.
General information
Location	Manordeifi
Town or city	Boncath
Country	Wales
Coordinates	52°01′04″N04°34′0″W / 52.01778°N 4.56667°W / 52.01778; -4.56667
Elevation	120m
Completed	1799
Design and construction
Architect(s)	John Nash

Ffynone (Welsh: Ffynnonau) is a mansion and estate near Boncath, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the parish of Manordeifi. The original Georgian design was by the architect John Nash, and the house was later remodelled by Inigo Thomas. It is a Grade I listed building, and its gardens and park are also listed, at Grade I, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History

A view of part of the garden in 2004

The name predates the present house, and its Welsh name Ffynnonau, meaning "Wells", reflects the existence of a number of springs in the vicinity. ^[1]

In 1752 Captain Stephen Colby bought the Ffynone estate from the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan. The house, completed in 1799, was repaired in 1828 by W. Hoare and Son of Lawrenny. In the 1830s, the estate extended to 237 acres in the Manordeifi parish, with further land in adjacent parishes. The parkland around the house was some thirty acres. There were many additions and improvements over the following years to both the house and the estate. ^[1]

The property was passed down in the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby, whose wife in 1902 commissioned the architect and garden designer Inigo Thomas to remodel the house and lay out the terraced gardens, work which was completed in 1907. ^[2]

John Vaughan Colby died in 1919. He had no son and left the estate to his daughter Aline Margaret, who had married Captain Cecil John Herbert Spence-Jones, son of the Dean of Gloucester, in 1908; the marriage was a notable occasion, reported in great detail, an occasion for local celebration, despite there being no guests at the wedding and no reception, owing to the bride's mother's state of health. ^[3] Spence-Jones took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920. In 1927, the property was sold to a Glamorgan business man. ^[4]

The house, in 20 acres (8.1 ha) of woodland, was bought and restored from 1988 onwards by Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor and his wife, who are credited with saving the house. ^[5] After the death of the 3rd Earl in 2010, the house was put up for sale with a guide price of £2.5 million. ^[5] The asking price for the house and 34 acres (14 ha) was reduced in July 2021 to £1.8 million and the property was subsequently sold for an undisclosed sum. ^[6]

The estate records (to 1919) are held at the National Library of Wales. ^[4]

Architecture

John Nash was commissioned to design the house in the early 1790s; construction work began in 1794 and was completed by 1799. Materials included locally quarried stone as well as stone from other parts of Britain. The house was laid out to a classical Georgian plan. 60,000 trees were sourced from John Mackie, a Norwich nursery man, and hundreds of tons of topsoil were brought in. ^[1] Inigo Thomas, in contrast, remodelled the house in the style of an Italian palazzo. He added the east and west wings, creating a library and an ornate dining room and music room with a cross vaulted tunnel roof. ^[5]

In January 1952, the house was designated as a Grade I listed building, ^{[2] [7]} while in November 1994 a number of other structures on the estate were listed at Grade I, II*, or II. They are:

• Entrance gates and piers (Grade II) ^{[8] [9]}
• Game-Larder to N of Service Ranges (Grade II) ^{[10] [11]}
• Garden Fountain N of Walled Garden (Grade II) ^{[12] [13]}
• Gatepiers, Steps and Walls to N Court (Grade II) ^{[14] [15]}
• Large Arched Outbuilding on NW Side of Ffynone Farmyard (Grade II) ^{[16] [17]}
• Stable and Kitchen Court (Grade I) ^{[18] [19]}
• Sundial on W Lawn (Grade II) ^{[20] [21]}
• Terrace Wall and Balustrade to W Garden (Grade II) ^{[22] [23]}
• Terrace, Walls and Balustrades S of Ffynone (Grade II*) ^{[24] [25]}
• The Gazebo, at the Garden House (Grade II) ^{[26] [27]}

The gardens and parkland at Ffynone are designated Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. ^[28]

References

1. "Coflein: Ffynone". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
2. "British Listed Buildings: Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
3. "Marriage of Capt. Cecil Spence-Jones" . Gloucester Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 20 June 1908. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
4. "National Library of Wales-Ffynone Estate Records". Archives Wales. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
5. "Million pound houses for sale in Pembrokeshire and Rutland". Country Life . 30 June 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
6. "Ffynone". Savills. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
7. Cadw. "Ffynone (Grade I) (11980)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
8. "British Listed Buildings:Entrance Gates and Piers to Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
9. Cadw. "Entrance Gates and Piers to Ffynone (Grade II) (15129)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
10. "British Listed Buildings: Game-Larder to N of Service Ranges at Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
11. Cadw. "Game-Larder to N of Service Ranges at Ffynone (Grade II) (15127)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
12. "British Listed Buildings: Garden Fountain N of Walled Garden at Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
13. Cadw. "Garden Fountain N of Walled Garden at Ffynone (Grade II) (15128)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
14. "British Listed Buildings: Gatepiers, Steps and Walls to N Court at Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
15. Cadw. "Gatepiers, Steps and Walls to N Court at Ffynone (Grade II) (15124)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
16. "British Listed Buildings: Large Arched Outbuilding on Nw Side of Ffynone Farmyard, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
17. Cadw. "Large Arched Outbuilding on NW Side of Ffynone Farmyard (Grade II) (15130)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
18. "British Listed Buildings: Stable and Kitchen Court, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
19. Cadw. "Stable and Kitchen Court, Ffynnonau (Grade I) (15122)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
20. "British Listed Buildings: Sundial on W Lawn at Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
21. Cadw. "Sundial on W Lawn at Ffynone (Grade II) (15126)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
22. "British Listed Buildings: Terrace Wall and Balustrade to W Garden at Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
23. Cadw. "Terrace Wall and Balustrade to W Garden at Ffynone (Grade II) (15125)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
24. "British Listed Buildings: Terrace, Walls and Balustrades S of Ffynone, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
25. Cadw. "Terrace, Walls and Balustrades S of Ffynone (Grade II*) (15123)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
26. "British Listed Buildings: The Gazebo, at the Garden House, Ffynone, Ffynnonau, Manordeifi" . Retrieved 25 March 2016.
27. Cadw. "The Gazebo, at the Garden House, Ffynone (Grade II) (15131)". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 10 February 2020.
28. Cadw. "Ffynone (PGW(Dy)18(PEM))". National Historic Assets of Wales . Retrieved 6 February 2023.

External links

• National Gardens Scheme: Ffynone