PGW(Dy)20(PEM)

Haroldston  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Pembrokeshire  

Merlin's Bridge  

195751  

214554  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Formal pleasure garden associated with the house and groves beyond.  

Possibly extant by the mid-sixteenth century.  

Haroldston is registered for its garden earthworks consisting of a raised walk, sunken terraced garden, terraces to the north of the house as well as an enclosed garden with a central pathway. To the west are the possible remains of a formal pond. The formal gardens are probably those mentioned by Elizabethan historian, George Owen. The garden features were extant in 1774, when the property had been more or less abandoned. The garden earthworks and ruinous remains of the house are also a scheduled monument Pe438. The house ruins consist of the stone remains of an entrance structure, an L-shaped raised walk, a linear building complex with the Steward's Tower and its spiral stone stair to first floor level to the east and the hall and part of a vaulted under-croft to the west. The tower was probably built in the fifteenth century, part of the hall is probably thirteenth- or fourteenth-century, with some later additions, but the dating of much of the existing masonry is uncertain. Little documentation appears to have survived from the house during its heyday. It was believed to have been the favourite home of the most well-known of the Perrot family, Sir John Perrot, who was apparently born at Haroldston. The Elizabethan historian George Owen notes that Haroldston boasted every luxury of fashionable life, including pheasants: `As for pheasant, in my memory there was none breeding within the shire until about sixteen years past Sir Thomas Perrot, knight, procured certain hens and cocks to be transported out of Ireland which he, purposing to endenize in a pleasant grove of his own planting adjoining to his house of Haroldston, gave them liberty therein, wherein they partly stayed and bred there and near at hand, but afterwards chose other landlords in other places, and as I hear of no great multiplying; so are they not altogether destroyed, but some few are yet to be found in some places of the shire, though but thin'. From Clay Lane the site is entered towards its south-east corner, immediately adjacent to an entrance building, that is to the east of the present gateway. To the east of this entrance building is the sunken way that runs towards the north, just to the west of the boundaries to `The walks' and `The orchard'. Just to the north-west of the entrance building is the L-shaped raised terraced walk that is reached by two steps at the southern end and three at its northern end. Earlier surveys show this walk and the entrance building are connected by a short section of walling. An entrance to the gardens would have been logical at this point. The raised walk measures about 16m east-west (the short side) and some 48m north-south (the long axis). The west end of the short axis is shown linked to the main building complex by a parallel wall on the early surveys. To the west of this linking wall is a sunken garden that is partially surrounded by a terrace, which may have been a walk or garden. This terrace is between 2.5m and 3m wide; the sunken area is c. 9m x 16m. To the west of this sunken garden are five lime trees in a row; in addition there are a further three trees that appear to be of the same age, but not part of this line. In a field to the west that was known as the `Little grove' is a rectangular enclosure that is adjacent to the building complex. This feature, which is some 8m east-west and just over 12m north-south is probably the remains of a formal pond and is shown as containing water on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1888. To the north of this feature is a further enclosure of just under 0.27 acres. In recent times, this area has become waterlogged, which may have given rise to the suggestion that it was a water feature. However, it is more likely that recent disturbance has changed the drainage patterns. To the north again is an enclosure of 0.540 acres known as `The groves'. This enclosure originally extended beyond the railway line and can clearly be seen on early aerial photographs. `The Groves', as recorded in 1774 - 85, actually included all the land to the north and totalled about four acres, prior to the railway line being built. Aerial photographs show a sunken linear feature to the east of `The groves' and possibly two terraced areas immediately to the north of the house site. Dividing the larger, northern terrace is a further, sunken feature which may represent a pathway. To the east of `The groves' are two further fields, the southern field was known as `The walks' and the northern as `The orchard'. The early surveys also show (possibly) two ponds on the boundary between `The walks' and `The orchard'. The small ponds are differently configured on either side of the boundary, suggesting that the present hedge-bank was extant at the time. The picture that emerges from the available sources (see Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 2002) is one of a formal garden to the south of the house, with a terraced, sunken garden. To the east are the raised walks, which were structural features. To the east again, were the walks towards the cockpit, possibly less formal, although it is tempting to imagine that these walks were shaded with managed tree and plantings; possibly something similar to Addison's Walk at Magdelen College, Oxford. To the north of the house were further formal (possibly enclosed) gardens that consisted of two terraces, the smaller parterre is associated with the house and the larger, with its central path, being towards Merlin's Brook. To the west of the house was a pond or formal water feature and to the north of this were enclosed orchards and groves. Setting: The ruins, which are at c.20 m AOD, occupy gently north-facing land that overlooks the valley of Merlin's Brook; a very charming prospect prior to the building of the railway and sewage works to the east of Haverfordwest. Source: Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire (ref: PGW(Dy)20(PEM)).