19529

 

II  

Designated  

24/12/1982  

20/03/1998  

Arbour at Leighton Hall  

 

Powys  

Forden with Leighton and Trelystan  

Forden  

Leighton Park  

324189  

304600  

 

Within landscape gardens at Leighton Hall SW of Serpentine Pond. It is linked by paths to W and N to bridge E of Leighton Hall Tower and bridge E of Serpentine Pond respectively.  

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. The arbour is part of the network of woodland paths through the landscape gardens and was designed as a resting place from where both the formal and informal aspects of the garden could be viewed. 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.  

Six-sided enclosure within a network of paths. Of coursed, rock-faced Cefn stone and ramped, ashlar parapet. Stone steps lead down from the W side; a second opening is on the N side. The parapet has a simple cusped trail with ramped coping. On the E side is a curved slate bench.  

 

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 Arbour is characteristic of these garden features in its attention to detail.