PGW(C)17(DEN)

Valle Crucis Abbey  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Denbighshire  

Llantysilio  

320495  

344123  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Summerhouse; fishpond.  

Mediaeval period; mid-late eighteenth century.  

Valle Crucis Abbey is located in the Dee Valley, to the north of Llangollen. It is registered for the eighteenth-century summerhouse, aligned on a monastic fishpond, which reflected the Picturesque taste of the day. The summerhouse is a Grade II Listed building and there is group value with the nearby Grade I Listed abbey ruins (LB 19693). The entire registered area is a Guardianship Monument (DE003). The summerhouse is thought to have been built in the mid to late eighteenth century by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn 4th Bt, of Wynnstay. It is situated on the eastern side of the abbey ruins, with the river Eglwyseg bounding it to the east. To its north is a small rectangular pond thought to be a monastic fishpond. The building is a two-storey stone and brick-rendered cottage with a hipped slate roof on its northern end. It has a central chimney stack and an exterior stack on the south end, with casement windows either side. The north end has a shuttered canted window which looks down the axis of the fish pond. A datestone over the door reads J.L. 1773. This is John Lloyd of Trevor who acquired the Valle Crucis lands from the Wynnstay estate. Setting - The summerhouse lies in the Dee valley and placed in response to the recent appreciation of picturesque ruins often incorporated into landscape layouts. Significant views - From the summerhouse there is are fine views across the fishpond to Eglwseg Mountain beyond. Source: Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 264-5 (ref: PGW(C)17(DEN)).