PGW(Gt)34(MON)

Moynes Court, Mathern  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Monmouthshire  

Mathern  

351979  

190943  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Walled garden; fishpond.  

Sixteenth century.  

The garden at Moynes Court is registered for the historic interest of its Tudor walled garden and (probably medieval) fishpond. The garden has group value with the early seventeenth-century Moynes Court (LB:2008) and associated contemporary outbuildings, the medieval gatehouse (LB:2042) and with the medieval moated site (scheduled monument MM187). Moynes Court is of medieval origin, but the present house had a major rebuilding by the Bishop of Landaff in 1609-10 and was occupied as their main seat after leaving Mathern Palace. The Bishop moved to Cardiff in 1763 and Moynes Court was sold by the diocese in 1889. The c.1609 work was probably done by Bishop Francis Godwin of Llandaff. The gardens of Moynes Court lie to the northwest, northeast and southeast of the house. The gardens are largely laid out to lawns, with perimeter borders and a few specimen trees. No planting is earlier than the 20th century. To the northeast is a rectangular walled area between the gatehouse and the house, with a central paved path between the two. To the SE is a square walled garden with perimeter and central paths, and a seventeenth or eighteenth-century stone sundial in the centre. All walls are high and of stone, mostly standing to their full height. The surviving walled gardens are likely to be of the same date as the alterations to the house in the late sixteenth century. A map of 1669 by George Goode shows the approach from the northeast along a tree-lined drive, the house and gatehouse, and a walled garden to the southeast of the house, where the present-day walled garden is. The garden's layout is shown schematically. To the northwest of the house is an open area of garden on a steep slope, at the bottom of which is a rectilinear pond. This part of the garden is probably medieval in origin. A garden at Moynes Court is mentioned in Inquisitions Post Mortem in 1307 and 1340. Setting: Moynes Court is situated on the Gwent Levels to the southwest of Chepstow. A moated site (scheduled monument) lies to the southwest of Moynes Court and is likely to represent the location of the earlier Bishops manor. The registered park and garden is located within the Mathern Conservation Area and the Gwent Levels Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest. Sources: Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, p105 (ref: PGW (Gt)34).