15628

 

II*  

Designated  

24/12/1982  

20/03/1998  

Footbridge E of Leighton Hall Tower  

 

Powys  

Forden with Leighton and Trelystan  

Forden  

Leighton Park  

324196  

304585  

 

Situated E of Leighton Hall Tower, S of Serpentine Pond and NE of a terrace walk at Leighton Hall.  

Domestic  

 

Designed by Edward Kemp, a pupil of Joseph Paxton, c1860 and part of the landscape gardens at Leighton Hall. Leighton Hall has formal gardens S of the library wing and SE of the Tower. In contrast, NE of the Hall and Tower it has a landscape garden which was planted with trees and shrubs, its woodland walks also contrasting with the terrace walks of the formal garden. In the landscape gardens bridges were used to span the natural hollows. The Footbridge E of Leighton Hall Tower occupies a focal point in the structure of the garden design as it stands between the formal and landscape gardens. John Naylor, a Liverpool banker, had acquired the Leighton Estate in 1846-47 and embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by W.H. Gee and completed by the mid 1850s. Leighton Hall had been constructed 1850-56. John Naylor's grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931.  

Five-span bridge of rock-faced Cefn stone with ashlar dressings and parapet. Each bay has a Tudor arch and is framed by moulded ribs and a string course. Above the string course is a pierced trefoil parapet with flat-topped coping. The abutments have no parapet but a similar coping, with string course below, ending in low square piers.  

 

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Leighton Hall represents the centrepiece of this development, and the garden features are a key element in the setting of the house. The gardens are also a tour-de-force of landscaping whose individual components are remarkable for their consistency of design and the extent of their survival. The footbridge is listed Grade II* as a focal point of the gardens and for the high quality of its design.