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
22870
Building Number
Grade
II
Status
Designated
Date of Designation
25/02/2000
Date of Amendment
25/02/2000
Name of Property
Mosshouse Wood Cascade
Address
Location
Unitary Authority
Neath Port Talbot
Community
Tonna
Town
Locality
Gnoll Estate
Easting
277860
Northing
198085
Street Side
Location
On the NE side of the Gnoll Estate E of Mosshouse Wood reservoir.
Description
Broad Class
Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces
Period
History
The extensive park and grounds at the Gnoll were laid out for Sir Humphrey Mackworth in 1724-7 and were centred upon fish ponds (that also supplied water to his copper works) and cascades. The informal upper cascade in Mosshouse Wood was added in the 1740s by an unknown designer, working for Herbert Mackworth. The grotto beside the cascade was also added at this time. Follies were later added in the 1780s by Sir Herbert Mackworth, which included a gazebo above the grotto and the Ivy Tower. The late C18 was the heyday of the Gnoll grounds, although it was revived in the C19 by the Grant family and Charles Evan Thomas. The latter came to an agreement with Neath Corporation for the building of Mosshouse Wood reservoir, which is dated 1889. The estate was acquired by the local authority in 1923. The house was demolished in 1957. The cascade was restored in 1984-5.
Exterior
Comprising a series of cascades descending a steep ravine approximately 200m in length. At the top is a restored rubble stone cairn over which the water descends fed from a pipe taking water from a stream higher up. The cascades are partly cut from bedrock and partly constructed of stone blocks laid dry. At the bottom is a rustic footbridge with a segmental arch of thin voussoirs and a grass-covered deck.
Interior
Reason for designation
Listed, notwithstanding restoration, as a prominent man-made feature of an important landscape garden, and for group value with the adjacent grotto.
Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]
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