PGW(Gm)49(SWA)

Fairyhill  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Swansea  

Reynoldston  

246660  

191193  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Small landscape park; informal woodland and water grounds  

Second half of eighteenth century; 1830s-50s.  

Fairyhill is registered as a well-preserved eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century small park and informal wooded grounds with remnants of a water garden in the valley. This layout is shown on the 1st and 2nd edition Ordnance Survey maps. There is a fine view from the garden lawn across the well preserved ha-ha to the tree-fringed park. Fairy Hill, a substantial gentry house of the eighteenth century (Cadw LB:22849/ NPRN18637) lies to the north-west of the village of Reynoldston, on level ground on the east side of the valley of the Burry Pill, which runs south-north. The gardens form two main components: the garden to the south of the house and the woodland grounds in the valley to the west and north-west. To the south of the house is a level terrace, bounded on the west by a low stone and brick revetment wall. A gravel path runs parallel to the house, and at its west end a flight of three stone steps leads down to a curving gravel path into the woodland grounds. To the south of the main gravel path the lawn continues southwards towards the garden boundary, dropping slightly half-way to a levelled croquet or tennis lawn. The lawn is bounded on the south by the ha-ha. To the east it is bounded by a belt of mixed trees along the garden boundary. These include sycamore, lime, beech, evergreen oak, pine and yew, with a fringe of rhododendrons. To the west there is a tongue of evergreen oak, pine and beech trees extending southwards along the edge of the lawn. The second main garden area is the wooded grounds in the valley to the west of the house. The slope down to the valley floor is wooded with a mixture of mature trees, mainly beech, evergreen oak, sweet chestnut and Scots pine. Gravel paths lead southwards to the ha-ha, where a modern bridge crosses into the park, and another winds through the woodland down to the valley floor. The stream and its environs have been landscaped into ornamental water gardens, now mostly ruinous. Dams, a diversionary channel, bridges and two islands were created. Plantings include beech and lime, with rhododendrons, and plane. A modern wooden bridge carries the track over the stream to a grass walk around a shallow pond which lies parallel to the stream, to its west. The ground to the east of the pond and stream slopes up gently and is largely grassed, with a few ornamental trees. To the south is a relict orchard. The park occupies a square area, bounded on the east and south by stone walls along narrow lanes and on the west by the Burry Pill. Although small, the layout and planting have been arranged to give a secluded and peaceful scene. The main entrance is on the lane south-east of the house, through incurving stone walls without gates. A gravel drive curves north-westwards through woodland to the east front of the house. Park and garden are separated on the north side by a ha-ha, allowing uninterrupted views across the lawn to the park and vice versa. The ha-ha is built of coursed rough blocks of stone with a ditch on the south side. It begins in the woodland belt on the east side of the park, runs westwards along the edge of the garden lawn, then turns northwards and runs north-westwards down the slope to become a low wall, The centre of the park is open grassland, sloping gently to the south, fringed with belts of deciduous trees on all but the north side. On the west side of the open area is a large clump of mixed trees, including Douglas fir, oak, beech and ash, under-planted with rhododendrons. The belt along the east side has a curving outline and consists of mixed deciduous trees and a clump of rhododendrons. The walled kitchen gardens lie to the north of the house and service court. The kitchen garden comprises three conjoining compartments of unequal size. The southernmost two adjoin the service court. The larger is on the west, its rubble stone walls up to 3.5m high. The smaller second compartment, also with stone walls, conjoins at the north end of the east wall of the first, and is now the private garden to 'The Stables'. The third, rectangular, compartment is the smallest and lies to the north of the second. Its north wall rises to 3.5m high with a lean-to stone bothy built against it. Significant view - Park and garden are separated by a ha-ha, allowing uninterrupted views across the lawn to the park and vice versa. Setting – estate farm and fields to the east of the adjacent lane. See also historic landscape character area HLCA027 Fairyhill (Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust). Source: Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 224-7 (ref: PGW(Gm)28(CDF)). Ordnance Survey First Edition six-inch map, sheet: Glamorgan XXII (1878).