PGW(Dy)35(PEM)

Landshipping  

II*  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Pembrokeshire  

Martletwy  

202121  

211049  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

The earthwork remains of a formal landscaped garden of over two hectares.  

The site was probably originally landscaped by Sir Arthur Owen in the late seventeenth-century, possibly abandoned with little alteration.  

Landshipping, to the south-east of Haverfordwest, is registered for the extremely well-preserved and impressive earthwork remains of a large and complex, seventeenth-century formal garden with terraces, ponds and paths. Two walled gardens are adjacent to the former house which may be incorporated within the walls. The remains are a Scheduled Monument (PE454). The site of the garden is about a kilometre to the east of Landshipping Quay and a kilometre south-east of Landshipping hamlet, on the east side of the Cleddau estuary. The site covers an area of about 6.5 acres, occupying gentle to moderately sloping ground falling towards the south-south-east, from about 34m to 15m above sea level, over a distance of about 280m. It comprises walled areas on the north and, to the immediate south and west, a remarkable series of earthwork terraces which create five main levels of garden. The exact site of Old Landshipping House is not known. It was ruinous in 1811 and was eventually demolished soon after. The walled areas may incorporate part of the house complex. The walled area form two adjoining enclosures, long axis north-east by south-west. Blocked entrances, some with architectural elements, and other structural details, together with variations in ground level, suggest a complex history of construction possibly related to the former presence of the house. The lack of documentary evidence means that there is some conjecture as to the precise use of the walled area but it is likely that it was, at least in part, used as pleasure grounds/gardens, with a horticultural use for at least part of it. The larger area is on the north-east. Its partly-tumbled walls rise to 3m high, mostly brick on the south and west, stone elsewhere. A small square building in the south-west corner may have been a summer house alongside an entrance through the dividing wall into the west garden area. The adjoining smaller enclosure (the ‘north-west walled area’) is again built of mixed brick and stone, walls rising to a maximum height of 3m. Four brick pilasters are clearly evident in the east dividing wall. The south wall, built of two brick skins with a rubble and mortar core, was also reinforced by brick pilasters separating blocked apertures. Abutting part of the external west wall are the foundations of a possible small square building, perhaps a summer house. The terraced garden and water features lie to the south-west and south-east of the walled enclosures, the earthwork remains of what must have been a magnificent formal garden created and planned to provide walks and vistas. The garden comprises five areas that probably extended over most of the 6.5 acres that is still enclosed within a stone wall. The recorded remains comprise plots of rectilinear cultivation beds, some of which lie on artificially raised terraces. Others form a pattern of chevrons, a group of enclosed tree mounds, a raised walkway and four excavated ponds. All the earthworks now lie within fields enclosed by walls, demolished or partly demolished, and banks. The disposition and character of the earthworks are well-displayed on air photos. Setting - Landshipping garden earthworks are located in an area of small country lanes, low rolling hills and streams draining to the Daugleddau, Cleddau or Cresswell rivers. The earthworks are under permanent pasture. Although the walled areas are hard to evaluate the earthworks are well preserved, thanks mostly to there being no history of ploughing. Significant views - Blocked openings in the south wall of the smaller walled enclosure, whether part of the original house complex or deliberately constructed as clairvoies, would have afforded a wide view of the countryside to the east and would have overlooked the great terraced garden below. Sources: Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 240-3 (ref: PGW(Dy)35(PEM)).