PGW(Gd)18(GWY)

Tan-yr-Allt  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Porthmadog  

256885  

340518  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Wooded park, ornamental garden with good trees, kitchen garden, view.  

c. 1800.  

Registered for its historic interest as the house and grounds designed by William Madocks (1773-1828) as his own home, laid out in the 'romantic' manner c. 1800. There are exceptional views from the house and grounds. Trees contemporary with the laying out of the site survive and there is a well-preserved kitchen garden. Madocks was the centre of a circle of philosophers and thinkers which included several literary figures. The English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) lived at Tan-yr-Allt between 1812 and 1816. During his time in the house he wrote Queen Mab. He was also involved with Madocks in raising the money for the Cob and the draining work at Porthmadog, and there is a memorial to him in the garden. The playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) also visited Tan-yr-Allt, as did the satirical novelist and poet Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866). The grounds of Plas Tan-yr-allt (LB: 4432) were laid out soon after the house was built by William Madocks in about 1800. The house is perched on a steep hillside looking south over Porthmadog and Traeth Mawr, with a view down to Harlech and beyond, and a sheer rock face as high as the house immediately behind it. There is only a small area of parkland to the south of the house, at the foot of the slope, but a large expanse of semi-natural woodland on the steep, craggy slope to the north of the house forms part of the designed landscape. The woods above the house must have been in existence when Madocks acquired the site, consisting mostly of sessile oak. Madocks added other species of trees, especially beech, many plantings of which survive and are one of the best features of the park and garden. The woods retain their semi-natural character. The field south of the house, between it and the road, an area of former parkland with scattered trees, slopes to the south. The elevated site required long drives, climbing from east and west. The east drive retains many good trees, with an early nineteenth-century picturesque lodge (LB: 4433) also designed by Madocks, at the entrance. Just to the east of the house it crosses a stream, the naturally steep course of which has been altered by the addition of pools and waterfalls, creating both sights and sounds to be appreciated from the drive. The gardens at Tan-yr-allt were laid out around the time the house was built, by Madocks, soon after 1800. They lie around and to the immediate east of the house. There is little formal structure, the important elements being the view, trees, and the kitchen garden. The garden and woods continued to be maintained and there are flourishing trees of all ages. The original informal layout does not seem to have been much altered. In front of the house, which stands on a narrow shelf in the hillside with its garden below and wooded park above is a large, sloping lawn from where wide views over Porthmadog and its surroundings and down to Harlech can be obtained. At the foot of the lawn is a small formal pond which once had a cherub fountain, and the grass slope is surrounded by trees. A level lawn to the east also enjoys the view, and from here one can hear the sound of a stream which runs down through the woods nearby. Varieties of rhododendron planted in this area flower successively, giving colour from early spring to midsummer. A freestone pedestal with garlanded urn stands on the lawn to the east of the house. This is a memorial to Percy Bysshe Shelley who stayed at Tan-yr-Allt in 1812-13 and completed Queen Mab (LB: 85401). Plantations of trees within the garden area extend away to the east and south-west from the house, and contain a good mixture of species, both trees and underplantings. Madocks was a tree enthusiast and was particularly fond of beech; there are numerous specimens planted by him which have now reached a great size, and these constitute one of the main features of the property. The kitchen garden (LB: 85388) at Plas Tan-yr-allt lies to the west of the house and was laid out by Madocks at the same time as the rest of the garden sometime after 1800. The garden is large, sub-rectangular and walled, covering over a third of an acre, sloping down quite steeply from north to south. On the north it is bounded mostly by the back wall of the stables, otherwise by a stretch of stone wall about 3m high; on the west by a wall of hand-made brick on stone foundations, about 2.3m high in the north, but becoming lower towards the south; and on the east by a drystone wall. The south wall is irregular, curved in shape, perhaps the result of enlargement. In the north-west corner of the garden is a large, stone water tank, probably a source of water, but later used as a swimming pool. The garden was originally filled with soil brought up from the Cob during the work there, to augment the thin soil of the hillside. Significant Views: Situated on a steep hillside looking south over Porthmadog and Traeth Mawr, the site is afforded views to Harlech and beyond. Source: Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 296-99 (ref: PGW(Gd)18(GWY).