Soughton Hall (nprn 36236) is located on the immediate south side of the village of Northop. It is notable for its well-preserved early eighteenth-century parkland planting and for the contemporary lime avenue that flanks the drive approaching the house (700111).

The main drive enters a walled forecourt on the south front of the house. The forecourt has stone gate piers, iron gates, red brick walls, and corner turrets (36237). It encloses a central turning area with grass in each corner. There are narrow plant beds under the walls and plum puddings of yew planted in the grass. The coach house and stable block, south-west of the house, are surrounded by an earth bank faced with stone and planted with a screen of trees. To the west a semi-circular area of tree-planted raised ground was probably a garden or a drying green for the coachman and his family.

The main garden is west of the house, on raised ground overlooking the forecourt, with a steep bank on the houseward side. It is reached from the forecourt by a door in the wall. It is simply laid out as a quartered square, each quarter under grass and surrounded by yews, with a brick sided pool at centre. There is a perimeter path around the outside. On the east side is a small formal garden built on the site of an old glasshouse. A tennis court is sited to the west of the formal garden.

West of the garden area, on the park boundary, is the walled garden (700112).

Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 168-70 (ref: PGW(C)18).
Infoterra (Google Maps) imagery (accessed 01.09.2021).

RCAHMW, 26 April 2022

Cofnod Safle