PGW(Po)8(POW)

Trefecca Fawr  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Powys  

Talgarth  

314242  

231690  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Seventeenth-century gentry house with later formal garden; fishponds; relict orchards.  

House c. 1650; formal garden c. 1920  

Trefecca fawr is registered for its historic interest as the grounds to an important seventeenth century gentry house, with improved utilitarian grounds including medieval fishponds, with remains of an ornamental layout and relict orchards. In addition there is an early twentieth-century stone-paved terrace formal garden in Arts and Crafts style. Trefecca Fawr, or Lower Trefecca, stands above the B4560 road about 4km south-west of Talgarth and about 0.5km south-west of the hamlet of Trefeca on a small lane about 100m from the road. It is set on a level terrace below a hill, in rolling pasture, which descends to the west. The house (LB: 6653; NPRN: 16288) has a small gravelled forecourt to its north front. Formal gardens lie to its west but land to the north, which contains fishponds (SM: BR087; NPRN: 306054), also appears to have been ornamented at some period. This land, together with the land to the west and south of the house and garden appears to be utilitarian in origin and contains features of uncertain date but which may belong to the medieval period. None of this land outside the garden boundary was, however, considered to be parkland. The site has a long history of land use but the main remodelling of the south and west area is attributed to the Gwynne family in the early years of the twentieth century. Between about 1903 and about 1930 they laid out a formal stone-paved terraced garden, wild garden and tennis court to the west. The paved terraces and their planting reflect the Arts-and-Crafts style popular during that period but it is unknown whether any noted garden designer was involved in their construction. From at least 1825, and possibly since the medieval period, large orchards of apples and pears were established at Trefecca Fawr, at their height in the mid-1800s covering at least 10 acres (4.1ha) of ground. Little trace of these remain outside the garden aside from a few re-plantings of the early twentieth century. A new orchard has also been established. Setting: Situated above the B4560 road about 4km south-west of Talgarth and about 0.5km south-west of the hamlet of Trefeca on a small lane about 100m from the road. It is set on a level terrace below a hill, in rolling pasture, which descends to the west. Significant Views: Panoramic views west across the surrounding rural landscape. Source: Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 246-9 (ref: PGW (Po)8(POW)).