Penmaenuchaf - CADW Reg No. PGW (Gd) 37 (GWY) |
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The original main approach came straight to the front (east side) of the house from
the east, and then passed to the south on its way round to the stables. It would have run
straight through the middle of the formal terraced garden, and the obvious assumption is
that it was moved to make way for this garden. If so it must have been done just before
the area was surveyed in 1888 by the Ordnance Survey, and the garden laid out just after,
for the new drive arrangement appears on the 1889 map but the terraces do not. Although
both 1889 and 1901 maps omit the top of the old drive, leading off from the terraces,
and the latter indicates it coming to an end not far east of the end of the lawn, well
short of the entrance gate, it can in fact today be followed from the terraces to the
main entrance, where it is truncated by the new drive. It has a grassy surface in the
open, leaf mould in the woods, probably over gravel, and has low walls and revetments
on both sides where necessary. At the top there is a hedge on the down slope side and
a wall about one metre high, retaining the lawn, on the upper side, with access to the
lawn at the top, above the end of the retaining wall, which tapers out. Steps on the
south side give access to paths into the woods, only one of which is edged.
A track, which is also a public footpath, branches off the rear drive some way west of the stable block, and passes to the south of the house and then up into the woods, serving some other properties. Some steps leading up from just beyond the southwest corner of the stable yard may have given access to a path leading to this, now overgrown. A track from the yard south of the stable yard also goes up to meet it - more recent, as it is not shown on the old maps. Another track, now disused, leads off from the stable area to the south east, passing the tanks and reservoir which supplied the house with water and eventually leading to Wood Lawn, the former gamekeeper's cottage with kennels and pheasantry. Another, more recent track, also disused, branches off from this and runs down alongside the tennis court and lawn to the old drive. These tracks have various grassy, muddy or stony surfaces. There are several footpaths in the woods, some of which appear on the old maps, though these seem to be mostly those with a practical purpose. One links the old and new drives, and is stone edged, with steps; another goes off to the south from tile old drive towards Wood Lawn. The footpath from the rear drive to the station [Penmaenpool Station] is now disused.
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