PGW(Dy)19(PEM)

Great Harmeston  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Pembrokeshire  

Tiers Cross  

192501  

208952  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Small enclosed garden associated with the home of minor gentry.  

The garden mounts may be early eighteenth century, whilst the garden building is probably from about 1800.  

The small enclosed garden at Great Harmeston is registered for its group value with the eighteenth century gentry house and for its historic interest including the survival of an arbour or grotto, probably dating from about 1800, and two garden mounts dating from at least 1800 but likely to be earlier. Great Harmeston House (formerly ‘Big Harmaston’ LB:13052; NPRN:22008) is located to the north-east of Milford Haven, just over 1.5km south of Johnston, accessed from the south side of the A4076. Little documentation remains relating to the early history of the property. It is known that it was called Hermaston in the sixteenth-century and that Thomas Jones of Hermaston was sheriff in 1589. The topography of this part of Pembrokeshire is one of gently rolling hills, Great Harmeston being at about 45m AOD. The garden lies on south-facing slopes to the south of the house. In the mid nineteenth century, the homestead and garden areas occupy just under 5 acres, with a further 14 acres being recorded as the garden meadow. Although mapped evidence shows that the area occupied by the garden altered somewhat between c.1840 and 1908, the garden areas today are very similar to those shown in 1908, the main area of interest being the enclosed area to the south of the property. The garden orchard is a rectangular area of about half an acre enclosed by a wall to the north, earthen banks to the west and east and the railway line to the south. The area is now one of rough grass, brambles and the vestiges of an orchard. In the north-east corner is a small, almost square garden ruin, possibly a grotto, with objects of some beauty or importance being housed in the niches within it. Alternatively it was an arbour, the niches serving as seats. To the south are two garden mounts, each about 8m diameter, which terminate the earthen banks immediately prior to a tiny lake or pond, all of c.1800 or earlier. An almost circular level area with a diameter of about 4.5m immediately to the south-west of the western mount and overlooking the western side of the small lake, may have been the site of a summer house. Setting: Great Harmeston is located to the north-east of Milford Haven, just over 1.5km south of Johnston, accessed from the south side of the A4076. The topography of this part of Pembrokeshire is one of gently rolling hills, Great Harmeston being at about 45m AOD. The land is mainly south-facing falling to about 40m AOD at the end of the garden, which is to the south of the house. Sources: Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, PGW9Dy)19(PEM), 217-218. Ordnance Survey County Series 25-inch plan: sheet Pembrokeshire XXXIII.7, editions of 1876 & 1908.