Full Report for Listed Buildings


The list description is not intended to be a complete inventory of what is listed: it is principally intended to aid identification. By law, the definition of a listed building includes the entire building (i) and any structure or object that is fixed to the said building and ancillary to it and (ii) any other structure or object that forms part of the land and has done so since before 1 July 1948, and was within the curtilage of the building, and ancillary to it, on the date on which said building was first included in the list, or on 1 January 1969, whichever was later.

Summary Description


Reference Number
16786
Building Number
 
Grade
II*  
Status
Designated  
Date of Designation
29/02/1996  
Date of Amendment
29/02/1996  
Name of Property
Statue of Hercules at E of Top Terrace in Powis Castle Gardens  
Address
 

Location


Unitary Authority
Powys  
Community
Welshpool  
Town
 
Locality
Powis Castle  
Easting
321647  
Northing
306490  
Street Side
 
Location
Towards the E end of the top terrace of the gardens, close to the great yew hedge.  

Description


Broad Class
Commemorative  
Period
 

History
 

Exterior
History: The statue is one of a number of lead statues at Powis which have been attributed to the studio of John Van Nost, and which are assumed to have been made for the Baroque water garden (largely completed, 1705), which formerly occupied the land at the foot of the garden terraces. This statue is signed by Van Nost's pupil Andries Carpentiere. The statues probably used lead from the Powis family's own mine at Llangynog, Montgomeryshire. The water gardens were demolished between 1801 and 1809, and it is likely that this statue was sited in its present position shortly afterwards. Description: Lead figure of Hercules on a stone plinth. Hercules is depicted wearing a lion-skin and slaying the hydra (carved in stone), using a club which is made of wood. A Baroque sculpture of exceptional quality and power, which is of particular historical interest as it was made for the lost Baroque water gardens at Powis - one of the few surviving relics of them. Reference: National Trust, Powis, 1988, p.42-3;  

Interior
 

Reason for designation
 

Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]



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