PGW(C)18(FLT)

Lower Soughton Hall  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Flintshire  

Northop  

324765  

367957  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Formal and informal garden.  

1937, 1947, 1960-70.  

Registered for its historic interest as a garden designed by eminent landscape architect Dame Sylvia Crowe (1901-1997) c.1937. Crowe’s design replaced an earlier garden which was described in the sale catalogue of 1912 as an ‘old time garden’, laid out with traditional herbaceous borders roughly in the area of the present borders, and with lawns immediately to the south of the house; some walling is all that remains of this earlier garden. The grounds are entered by a straight drive from the west leading to the north front of Lower Soughton Hall (Cadw ref: 25692). The forecourt is bounded by mown lawns with specimen trees, focused on a curved wall. The garden is bounded on the north by a ha-ha, giving views out over the former park. The main part of the garden lies immediately to the south and west of the house, viewed from the south front over a lawn towards the main body of Sylvia Crowe’s garden. A short avenue of yew piers is bounded on one side by a herbaceous border backed by a high yew hedge, contrasting (on the east) with island beds of mixed shrub and herbaceous planting sloping towards the river which forms the east boundary of the garden. On the eastern side of the stream is a mixed tree and shrub border. A curving path follows the line of the river and back towards the house; on the side of the path is a Baptistry or Bath House (Cadw ref:25695). Behind the yew hedge a yew archway enters a double border at the south end of which is a small enclosed garden surrounded with yew hedge. New gardens have been made on a compartmented theme, with a recently-planted orchard. Two restored glasshouses are also situated in this area. On the west side of the main lawn is a formal paved rose garden laid out in 1947. Sources: Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, pp.168-70 (ref: PGW(C) 18).