PGW(Gt)50(NPT)

Kemeys House  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Newport  

Langstone  

338175  

192612  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Terraced garden.  

Sixteenth century.  

The garden at Kemeys House is registered for its historic interest as a surviving example of garden walls and terraces associated with the substantial Tudor manor house, Kemeys Manor (LB: 2916; NPRN: 45003). The house is located on the eastern edge of the Usk Valley, on a steep slope above the river, to the north-east of Newport. The garden lies on the slopes below the house and is notable for the survival of its layout of terraces and walling and their integration with the house and barn (LB: 2917; NPRN: 43260). This suggests a sixteenth century date, contemporary with the house and its outbuildings. The garden terraces lie to the north-west and south-west of the house. To the south-east of the house is a small walled court, the former forecourt. From this court there is a doorway through the south-west wall into the terrace d garden. It is roughly square, backed on the south-east side by a wall and bounded along its north-west side by a steep grass scarp about 1.3m high. Below is the lower, narrower, terrace which runs the full length of the garden, from the wall which bounds the south-west side, to a revetment wall at the northern end, which runs north-west from the north corner of the house. The terrace is built up over the steep slope, revetted along its north-west side by a substantial stone wall. Both terraces are largely grassed over, and some modern features have been added to the lower terrace (walling, steps, a small pond, and a low bank with revetment wall). Below the terraces the ground slopes steeply down to the road. In the nineteenth century the garden area was used as an orchard, and it may always have been so. The enclosing wall on the south-west side continues most of the way down to the road. A small stream, culverted under the terraces emerges below the wall, and is channelled into two small ponds, one above the other, of unknown date. Setting: The garden layout is integrated with and provides the setting for the manor house and barn and the whole is situated on the eastern edge of the Usk Valley on a slope above the river surrounding by farmland. Significant View: Views from the house and terraces across the Usk Valley. Source: Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, 60-1 (ref: PGW (Gt)50(MON)).