PGW(Po)51(POW)

Evancoyd  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Powys  

Old Radnor  

325927  

262851  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

House and gardens overlooking small park.  

c. 1840.  

Evancoyd is registered for its nineteenth-century gardens, ornamental woodland and small park associated with the house, built c.1835. A mound within the garden may be a garden feature. The house and grounds are in a superb setting. The remains of a late nineteenth-century house, ‘The New Seat’ exist within the woodland. The registered park and garden has group value with the house and associated estate outbuildings and structures. Evancoyd lies to the west of Presteigne near the English border. It stands on the edge of a steep ridge which drops down to the south-west, between two woodland belts, on to parkland which gently rolls south out towards the Kinnerton Road and the Radnor plain. The house was built c.1835 for Peter Mynors (LB: 9149). A drive winds through the park from the southeast and a second drive approaches the house from the east with a picturesque lodge at the entrance (LB: 9154 - built c.1835), both from the Evenjobb to Whitton road (B4357). This arrangement is shown on the tithe map (1840) and first edition Ordnance Survey (1888). There is a lake in the south-east of the park, to the north of which, is the line of an abandoned drive which crosses the park from east to west, towards the site of the 'New Seat', an unfinished late nineteenth-century house which survives in woodland. The drive crosses a small stone bridge over the stream to the north of the lake which feeds it. This drive, and another approaching ‘The New Seat’ across the park from the south, are visible in aerial photographs. A few isolated trees and stumps survive in the park. Mapping of 1927 shows the wood pasture landscape, a pheasantry near the New Seat, the lake described as a fishpond with a boathouse and, nearby, an orchard in the south-east corner of the park. The gardens at Evancoyd lie to the east and south-east of the house, set at the north end of the parkland, with an ornamental woodland valley to the west. The garden area covers about 25 acres, with a further 50 or so acres of woodland. The approach is from the east drive, which branches around cottages, stables, kennels and the mound (NPRN: 306370) towards the forecourt of the house where it is joined by the south drive. The garden to the south-east is laid out as a lawn and a small tree and shrub planted woodland garden on land that slopes up to the north-east. The area between the forecourt and paddock is laid out as a garden of stone and gravel paths amongst planted trees and shrubs including rhododendron and Lawson Cypress. To the south is a large lawn flanked by a 2m wide herbaceous border alongside the west wall of the kitchen garden. A level terraced area once supported a croquet lawn and a tennis court at different times. Below it, alongside the south drive is a narrow grassy terrace along the edge of a steep slope at the foot of which is a pond. The terrace runs back to the house and around its landscaped west side. The form of the present garden is believed to date from the late nineteenth century. The woods, particularly Lodgemoor Wood, contain nineteenth-century tree and shrub introductions. A redwood in Lodgemoor Wood had already grown to 122ft in 1949. The valley to the west of the house contains at least two ponds, one of which was a lily pond. The valley stream runs into a large oval pond, with a central island, which lies below the house. In Dingle Wood a path runs up the north and south side of a small stream. A second path, partly edged with stones, runs above the Dingle stream on the south. The ponds, stream and walks through the Dingle are recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1888). The kitchen garden lies to the south-east of the house and is believed to be contemporary with it. The garden is square, covers about 1.5 acres, and is surrounded by walls of stone and/or brick, between 3m and 5m high. The main gateway is in the north-west, near the north end of the west wall. A simple brick arch between, with a pair of brick columns, containing a nineteenth-century iron gate connects the walled garden with the main garden to the west. In the north-east corner of the garden there is a small two-storeyed hipped slate roof bothy, recently converted into a pool house and on the east of the north terrace a swimming pool has been built. The centre of the garden has been completely remodelled. Sources: Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 60-3 (ref: PGW Po51(POW)). Ordnance Survey first edition 6-inch map: sheet Herefordshire X.NW (1888) Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map: sheet Radnorshire XXV.5 (1927). Additional notes D.K.Leighton/L Fiddes