PGW(Dy)30(PEM)

Cosheston Hall  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Pembrokeshire  

Cosheston  

200486  

204394  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Landscape park; formal and informal gardens; walled kitchen garden.  

Walled garden was extant in the early nineteenth century; landscaping to complement the mid-nineteenth-century rebuild with further alterations during this century.  

Registered for its historic interest as a garden and park established to complement a rural country residence, although somewhat altered during the last century to reflect changing landscape and gardening trends. The small park occupies an area of about 13 acres, whilst the garden area around the hall (NPRN: 21818) is some 3.5 acres. The sweep of parkland, now to the east and south of the house, was created at some time between 1864 and the turn of the century, although earlier documents point to a 'Cow Park' at Cosheston. In 1864 this area was divided into two large fields, the field boundary running from the southern edge of the formal garden, south of the hall, towards the dell to the east of the park. By 1908 this division had been removed, aside from a small stretch at its eastern end. In the mid-nineteenth century there was only one main entrance to the property, which was a drive off the small lane towards Home Farm. This drive is still extant. By the early twentieth century a further drive is shown sweeping across the park. The drive approached a southern forecourt from the east; it then continued to the west and north to the utility area of the stables and garages. This drive, which bisected the park longitudinally, was removed between 1906 and about 1940. Today, the small park is under pasture, with the drive skirting its western edge, separated from the parkland by iron park fencing. Set within the park are several mature oaks that appear to be much the same age, probably about a century or so old. There are oaks and other native trees in the small valley or dell to the east. A lake has been created on the eastern side. Like the parkland beyond it, the garden area has been reshaped and remodelled over time. In the mid-nineteenth century, when the property was called 'Woodfield', the main area was a rectangular block which extended to the east and south of the hall. It was separated from the house by a field boundary to the east. A sundial is shown on early surveys. After 1908, the garden area was extended further east into the parkland when a ha-ha and other features were also constructed, and the sundial removed. The drive was replaced by a new one built to pass through the garden area. Today, the garden is separated from the drive, now to the west, by a wall a little over 1.5m high. Within, the garden has been constructed on several levels, linked by flights of steps, reflecting its gradual development. To the east of the house, a stone retaining wall 1.5m high built into the north-south slope is probably the eastern limit of an earlier house platform. The lawn surrounding the house is linked by a flight of steps to the south garden below. To the north-east are two different levels divided by a stone retaining wall. Set within the upper lawn is a circular bed and two tiered, circular platforms with a stone urn at centre. Originally there were two such beds, one of which may have been the site of a fountain present in 1906. The lower lawn accesses the park via a flight of steps. To the east the entire garden area is separated from the park by a ha-ha 1m-1.5m deep. Adjacent to the house is a 2m square summerhouse. A walled garden lies to the west of the house. At the time of the tithe survey (1840s) a garden enclosure was portrayed west of the house. The present garden development post-dates the 1860s though some of the east wall may date from the earlier garden. By the 1860s part of the former garden area had been taken up with the cottages that are now known as the gardener's cottage. By the beginning of the twentieth century, a small rectangular, double-walled (on three sides) garden, of about an acre, has appeared to the west of the gardener's cottage. Small structures, including glass, are shown both within the garden and between the walls. After 1908, the southernmost wall was rebuilt further to the south and the western walls realigned so that now there are two small walled gardens of equal size. Setting: Cosheston Hall is set in gently undulating land just over 100m north of the village of Cosheston, about 3km to the east of Pembroke Dock. The whole area is one of established settlement with the medieval castle and town of Pembroke to the south-west and the castle at Upton to the east. To the south of the village of Cosheston surveys show a pattern of strip fields that may have survived from the late medieval period. Sources: Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 322-4 (ref: PGW(Dy)30(PEM)). Ordnance Survey County Series six-inch plan: sheet Pembrokeshire XL.NW (editions of 1864, 1906 & 1948); 25-inch plan Pembrokeshire XL.2 (second edition 1906. Additional notes: D.K. Leighton