PGW(C)14(FLT)

Mostyn Hall  

II*  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Flintshire  

Whitford  

314815  

380077  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Former deer park; landscape park; informal garden; Japanese garden.  

Eighteenth century; early-mid nineteenth century.  

Mostyn Hall is situated on a north-east-facing hillside above the Dee estuary. It is registered for the historical interest of its fine early nineteenth-century layout of parkland with its numerous drives and lodges, and its long and winding Marine Walk with its spectacular views over the Dee estuary. The former main drive is flanked by an ancient lime avenue. There is group value with Grade I Listed Mostyn Hall (LB 21517) and with numerous Grade I, II* and Grade II Listed estate buildings around the Hall and home farm and within the park and gardens. Additionally, Mostyn Hall is notable for having been the residence of the wealthy and prominent local Mostyn family. Landscaping took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The park surrounds the house on all sides and once extended to the shoreline. It falls into two distinct areas: the deer park north and west of the house and the park to the south. The land to the east of the hall, now largely scrub and forestry, is the site of old mine workings, while the land to the south is pasture. To the west, parkland slopes down towards the Dee estuary. In 1742 this was the only area of open land which then extended further south. A large dingle runs north-south through the centre of it. This area of the park is bounded on the south side by the Marine Walk, an extensive serpentine ha-ha, on the boundary between park and garden, topped by a walk. Towards the west boundary is a block of six stone-walled stallion paddocks. The north boundary is a wall alongside the A548 coast road. The whole area is enclosed by nineteenth-century perimeter belts of mixed woodland. Additional planting comprises a few scattered oaks and a depleted beech avenue on the west boundary. The park to the east of the house is bounded by a wooded dingle. The other park area is situated to the south. It lies above Mostyn and also has views of the Dee Estuary but with much broader prospects. In the eighteenth century part of this area was known as Park Newydd (later Upper Park), probably an extension associated with the former estate of Bychton, the seat of the neighbouring Pennants. It borders on Whitford Wood, now included in this area of the park. Early planting is now much depleted and extensive replanting is taking place. A drive through the wood enters from the south in Whitford at a castellated lodge, Listed Pennsylvania Lodge and gates (LBs 26271-2), before entering the wood at a second lodge, and finally entering the demesne via Listed Dry Bridge lodge (LB 352), a castellated 'folly' lodge which bridges the public road, the carriage drive passing through the lodge. Prior to this a drive from a nearby lodge approached the hall to the north. The original main drive, now disused, runs south-eastwards from the house to Rhewl Mostyn. It is lined with an avenue of ancient limes. The present main drive dates from the early nineteenth century and runs south from Grade I Listed Porth Mawr (LB 21516) to Top Lodge (nprn 36032). Another ran directly south from Listed Seaview Lodge and gates (LBs 26288-9) near Mostyn Quay, and another to the east to Listed Penlan Lodge and gates at Mostyn (LBs 26286-7). An avenue shown on an early map, on the extreme west of the Deer Park, was also used in the early nineteenth century as an entrance from the west. The pleasure gardens lie to the immediate south-west, north-west and north-east of the hall. Formal gardens were completely obliterated by the early nineteenth-century re-planning of the grounds and have been replaced on the north-west side by an extensive sloping lawn. The garden now consists of shrubberies with mature trees and shrubs with winding paths, and with open lawns nearer the house. It is bounded on the north side by the curving ha-ha with the Marine Walk, completed by 1815. The ha-ha continues west to the kitchen garden and beyond. The remains of old herbaceous borders run alongside the kitchen garden. To the north of the house, in a small dell, is a twentieth-century Japanese garden. A small Edwardian formal garden lies to the south-west of the house with a terrace at the back, roughly on the site of a small seventeenth-century formal garden. The early nineteenth-century kitchen garden, still in use, lies west of the house. It is rectangular, long axis east by west. The northern third of the garden is walled off as a separate area. This is trapezoidal and slightly longer on the west end; the larger area lies to the south. The enclosing brick walls are about 3m high with brick pillars at regular intervals and with doors in all the walls. The main area is divided symmetrically by paths and cross-paths into eight compartments, fountain at centre. In the smaller area a line of potting sheds, bothies, boiler rooms etc lie along the entire exterior north wall. The head gardener's house is also part of this unit. This and the garden walls are Grade II Listed (LB 26262). The garden is entered through the potting sheds and then into a range of nineteenth-century glasshouses on the south side of the wall. These include vineries and peach houses, all facing south. Just outside the main area, to the south, is an orchard. Setting - Mostyn Hall is located in a largely rural area, the park and gardens providing a setting for the house. Significant views - From the Marine Walk, on the garden boundary, there are spectacular views across the Dee Estuary and beyond. Source: Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 172-5 (ref: PGW(C)14(FL)).