PGW(C)55(FLT)

Hawarden Castle  

I  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Flintshire  

Hawarden  

332186  

365071  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Landscape park; semi-formal garden; informal garden with picturesque ruins; walled kitchen garden  

Early eighteenth century; 1770s; early nineteenth century (1806; 1809-10; c. 1830); later nineteenth century  

Hawarden Castle is a large castellated mansion situated on the south-eastern edge of the village of Hawarden close to the ruins of the medieval castle. It is registered for the survival of an early eighteenth-century turf amphitheatre and as a fine example of early nineteenth-century picturesque landscaping of both park and garden, including the ruined medieval castle as a focal point. There was, additionally, the involvement of William Sawrey Gilpin in the 1830 reorientation of the house, and an association with the nineteenth-century politician W.E. Gladstone. There is group value with Grade I Listed Hawarden Castle (LB 4) and with several nearby outbuildings, and with the Grade I Listed, and Scheduled, medieval castle (LB 14; SAM FL016). There are also Listed features related to the park and gardens. Hawarden Park is situated on rolling ground to the south of the house and village. The precinct is bounded by Grade II Listed curtain walls (LB 15029). The medieval castle, which lies in the grounds, forms a picturesque landmark and prominent focal point at the northern end. However, there is no evidence for a medieval park here. There are hints of a park, and the recorded intention to create one, in the eighteenth century but construction only began in the early nineteenth century. However, planting was carried out in 1747 on Bilberry Hill in the south of the later park. The highest part is at the south-west end, to the north and east of which the ground drops down to the small valley of the Broughton brook, and then rises to the house and castle on the north. The flattest part is the eastern end, on the edge of the Dee valley. The main entrance is off the B5125 road to the north of the house, through Grade II Listed gatepiers and walls (LB 15059) next to a lodge, with a drive leading to the north front of the house. This entrance also leads to two former drives, now tracks, across the park: one runs to Broughton Lodge on the B5125, 1.75km to the south-east of the house, the other curves westwards to the Grade II Listed castellated entrance gate and lodge in the village (LBs 15028 & 15030). Another drive off the B5125 approaches from the north-west from Grade II Listed Wynt Lodge (LB 15058). The park is bounded for much of its perimeter by stone walls which run from the west end of the garden terrace around the foot of the castle and north to the village gate, south along the Old Hope Road, along the western half of the south boundary, and along the B5125. Part of the south boundary wall is replaced by a stone ha-ha, running in two gentle curves either side of the present track up the Bilberry Wood. The park falls into two main sections: the northern half, to the north of the Broughton brook, and the higher southern half, known as the Top Park, both separated by a nineteenth-century iron deer fence running along the valley, bounding nineteenth-century woodland planting to its south. The northern half is open grassland, unfenced to the south and west of the house, and with many isolated specimen trees. The southern part is part open grassland with scattered trees (mainly oak), and partly woodland of varying types and ages. The valley bottom is mixed woodland, with conifer plantations towards the western boundary. To the east of the footbridge is a silted up former millpond, and lower down a small lake, originally in part a small natural pond. The rising ground is mostly rolling grassland bounded on the east by Beeches Wood and on the south by a large area of plantation. Near the south-west corner of the park is a disused gateway flanked by Grade II Listed piers, side gates and ruined twin stone lodges (Sir John's Lodge, LB 21366), though the park drive was never built. The gardens have a long history but they owe their present-day appearance to development from the early eighteenth century onwards. They lie to the south, west and north of the house and fall into three main sections: the formal terrace to the south; the informal slope between the house and medieval castle, and the castle itself; and the area of shrubbery to the north of the house. The drive enters the garden from the north, to the east of the shrubbery, through a Grade II Listed gateway (LB 15014) into a crescent-shaped gravel forecourt. South of the house is a large level terrace revetted on its south side by a substantial stone wall. It is largely lawn with gravel paths and rectangular and semi-circular island beds. At the east end is a modern swimming pool. The terrace continues for a short distance around the west side of the house, an area also laid out formally with straight gravel paths and a central circular fountain reached by narrow flagstone cross paths. In the south-west corner of the terrace is a small Grade II Listed pavilion, or tea house (LB 15015), and on its west side steps lead up to a raised viewing platform. Beyond the terrace, to the west, the character of the garden changes to one of informality and picturesqueness. The ground rises to the west, while also sloping southwards, up to the ruined medieval castle. A wide vista of lawn has been kept open between the house and castle, flanked by banks of mixed trees and ornamental shrubs. Below the terrace is an informal pond. A stone wall from the tea house extends west around the foot of the castle mound, separating garden from park. The castle with its mound forms a picturesque object on the skyline, accessed by a Grade II Listed stone bridge over a deep cutting (LB 16). It is integrated into the gardens and ornamented with grass walks, steps, wild flowers, and some tree planting, and a lawn in the inner ward. Between the castle and the kitchen garden to the north are lawns flanked by informal and ornamental tree and shrub plantings, a rectangular pool, grass walks (including the start of W.E. Gladstone's walk across the park), an ornamental stone column, and an ice house. The informal shrubbery lies to the north of the house. Next to the forecourt is a lawn with informal beds, shrubs, trees, rhododendrons and yews. It is bounded by the drive to the east and the kitchen garden to the west, and runs northwards as far as the stable court. The kitchen garden is situated to the north-west of the house and probably dates to the second half of the eighteenth century. It is trapezoidal in shape, narrowing towards the north. The ground within is flat on the eastern side and rises to the west and south on the western side. It is surrounded by brick walls 4m-5m high. The west wall is stepped up the slope to 5m-6m high at the south end. There are doorways in the south and west walls. On the outside of the south wall are three pairs of arched bee boles at ground level. The southern half of the garden appears to be in use ornamentally (air photos). There are glasshouses and other structures at the north end. Most of the nineteenth-century path lay out has gone. Setting - Hawarden Castle with its park and gardens are situated to the south of Hawarden village. Although the designed landscape is well preserved, it is almost entirely surrounded by urban development. The gardens provide an impressive setting for the house. Significant views - From the house and terrace there are splendid views across the park to the south and to the medieval castle to the south-west. The park can also be viewed from the high ground to the south-west, from the edge of Bilberry Wood. Sources: Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 128-33 (ref: PGW(C)55(FLT). Ordnance Survey, 25-inch map, sheets: Flintshire XIV.3 & XIV.7 (third edition 1909). Additional notes: D.K.Leighton