PGW(Gm)39(GLA)

Fonmon Castle  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Vale of Glamorgan  

Rhoose  

304589  

168071  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Formal and informal gardens and grounds  

1656-74; about 1762; 1840-78  

Registered as the walled, terraced and informal gardens which form an attractive setting for the ancient castle at Fonmon, continually occupied since the mediaeval period. The grounds incorporate an interesting small keep which was once set in its own garden. The registered park and garden has group value with the castle and its associated estate buildings and structures. Fonmon Castle (LB: 13597) is situated in grounds on the western lip of a steep ravine in which the Fonmon Brook runs northwards to join the Kenson river. There appears to have been little parkland at Fonmon. A field and some walled paddocks to the north (of likely seventeenth-century date), woodland in the valley to the east, and a long straight ha-ha, now within the gardens, running southwards from the stable block, indicates that the large field to the west was probably considered parkland from the later eighteenth century when the ha-ha was probably made. On the 1760s estate map the field is named 'Castle Field' and on the tithe map of 1840 it is recorded as the 'Great Lawn'. The grounds are entered from the south, reached by a narrow lane from the hamlet of Fonmon, crossing a bridge (LB: 83165) over the B4205 which isolates the southern end of the grounds from the rest. The entrance of wooden gates is flanked by square stone piers and pine trees, a former lodge to the east (NPRN 19658). The drive then runs to the house through the gardens. North of the house and gardens is a partitioned, trapezoidal, pasture field partly enclosed with rubble stone walls, flanked on the north and east sides by woodland, with buildings (or their remains) in the far north-west and north-east corners. The far north-east paddock has now been developed as part of the gardens. To the south-east is a former orchard, labelled as such on the 1840 tithe map. The wooded valley of the Fonmon Brook, which runs south-north, is largely semi-natural deciduous woodland, with some ornamental planting below the gardens which may have begun before 1828. This area can be thought of as woodland grounds rather than parkland. There is at least one path leading into the woodland from the gardens, now rather overgrown, and there may originally have been more. The gardens originated in the second half of the seventeenth century with modifications made over the following centuries. They occupy a roughly rectangular area, elongated north-south, to the south and west of the castle. Most of the area is level, but on the east the ground drops steeply down to the ravine of the Fonmon Brook and the gardens extend part of the way down the slope. The gardens can be divided into two main areas: the lawn, walled garden and kitchen garden to the west of the castle, and the informal garden to the south, truncated at the south end by the B4265 cutting. To the south of the house and stables is a large level lawn. A few specimen trees stand on the southern part of the lawn, including a cedar and a plane. The lawn is bounded on the east by a substantial crenellated stone revetment wall with a parapet c. 1m high (LB: 83159). Below is a steep drop down to the valley of the Fonmon Brook and from the terrace there is a good view out over the valley. Near the castle a flight of steps, flanked by low walls, lead southwards down the slope to a sloping path against the revetment wall and, eventually, down into the wooded valley. Features in the garden include a disused quarry ornamented with a pond and a small informal rockwork cascade fed from a tank in the stables; and in the south-east corner stands a tall, narrow, battlemented tower or keep, called the Watch Tower (LB: 83166). The garden incorporates the line of the old drive, still visible, and part of the ha-ha. The kitchen garden (LB: 83164) lies to the north and north-west of the castle. It occupies a rectangular area, elongated east-west, and bounded by rubble stone walls on all sides except the south bounded by a hedge. It is divided into two unequal compartments by a north-south wall, the northwards continuation of the wall revetting the lawn to the west of the house. The smaller bay to the north of the house is enclosed by walls standing to about 2.1m high. An arched doorway leads to the service area to the south. Buildings along the north wall include a brick bothy, a glasshouse with a brick base, and a brick-based vine house. A shallow-arched opening leads into the main compartment to the west. The walls rise to a height of about 2.3m-2.8m high on the north. Significant Views: From the garden terrace there is a good view out over the valley. Sources: Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 240-44 (ref: PGW(Gm)39(GLA)). Ordnance Survey first-edition six-inch map, sheet: Glamorgan L (1877). Ordnance Survey first-edition 25-inch map, sheet: Glamorgan L.1 (1877). Additional notes: D.K.Leighton