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
563
Building Number
Grade
II*
Status
Designated
Date of Designation
02/04/1987
Date of Amendment
30/04/2001
Name of Property
Grotto adjoining Folly Tower at Talacre Abbey
Address
Location
Unitary Authority
Flintshire
Community
Llanasa
Town
Locality
Talacre
Easting
310510
Northing
383330
Street Side
Location
In woodland on the SE side of the house, and S of the Folly Tower.
Description
Broad Class
Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces
Period
History
Talacre Abbey was built 1824-9 by Thomas Jones, architect, for Sir Edward Mostyn, on the site of an earlier house. The grotto was added to the gardens in final quarter of the C19 and is first shown on the 1899 Ordnance Survey. The adjacent folly tower is earlier, built in the third quarter of the C19.
Exterior
Built partly into the natural rock, and partly using rubble and mortar to create a rock-cut appearance. The grotto has 3 well-hewn entrances, while its interior has a central chamber open to the sky, and passages with niches, carved seats and a number of carved grotesque figures in the walls. The chief of these is inside the lower entrance, and comprises a heraldic lion (representing the Mostyn family) with its mouth open, and openings at its back for lighting fires that would send flames and smoke from the lion's mouth.
Interior
Reason for designation
Listed grade II* as an especially notable example of a Romantic grotto retaining original grotesque carvings, and as an important component of the pleasure grounds at Talacre Abbey.
Cadw : Full Report for Listed Buildings [ Records 1 of 1 ]
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