Trevalyn Hall, an Elizabethan house (nprn 27956), is located to the south-west of Rossett, on the south side of the river Alun, to the north of Wrexham, and lies within former parkland (700070). Dating from the 1750s, the pleasure grounds around the house are notable for an embanked orchard, a walled garden and for well-preserved nineteenth-century topiary. The estate also has historical associations with the Trevor family of Brynkinallt (26866).
The enclosed pleasure garden lies to the south-west of the house, as it did in 1787. The house is now divided but most of the garden is with the north-west section. Its early layout is unknown, its present form dates to the nineteenth century. It has changed little in shape except for the addition of a shrubbery which bounds the north-west side. Elsewhere it is bounded by the walled garden on the south-east, a belt of trees to the south-west, and the house on the north-east. The wall to the south-east is probably the same date as the house.
The garden topiary was carried out between 1836-38, forming a line (south-west by north-east) on the main axis with the door of the Porter’s Lodge (27957). The topiary figures include a dog, a rabbit and variously tiered shapes. Four box balls are situated either side of the path just outside the lodge. Within the garden is a small box garden in the north-west corner, to its south-west the small boundary shrubbery and, within it, an overgrown rockery. The largest area of lawn to the south-west of the house contained circular rose beds, and standard roses were also planted between the yew figures on the central path. There is a small garden area north-east of the Porter’s Lodge.
The old orchard, now a field, retains an impressive earthen bank to exclude deer, in some places up to 1.5m high. In the north-east corner is a small pond, also present in the eighteenth-century, which forms part of the entrance drive to the Trevalyn Wood property.
The kitchen garden lies south of the service wing. It is now only walled on the north-west and north-east sides and is divided in two.
Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 252-4 (ref: PGW(C)26(WRE)).
First-edition Ordnance Survey 25-inch map: Denbighshire XXII.9 (1871).
RCAHMW air photos:945165/44-5