Tredegar House and its gardens are located in fragmented parkland on the west edge of Newport (nprn 700046). The gardens lie around the house and are important for the survival of much of their original layout.

The gardens developed mainly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They lie on level ground to the south-west, north-west and north-east of the house. They consist mainly of three large walled compartments and a smaller one at the north-west end, aligned on a north-west/south-east axis to the south-west of the house. The high walls are of brick and on the central axis are ornamented openings. Each compartment is laid out differently.

The smallest, on the north-west, is now a yard devoid of garden features. The next, the Orangery Garden, has been restored (following excavation in 1991) to its early eighteenth-century formal layout of 'inorganic parterre' with central and perimeter paths plus a small mount in the west corner. Along most of its north-east side is a brick orangery attached to the stable block (25152). The square 'Cedar Garden' compartment lies next to the house with a wrought iron gate opening into the forecourt. It is largely laid out to lawn with a wide perimeter gravel path, wall borders and a large cedar tree. In the centre is the grave of the horse Sir Briggs surrounded by yew hedging. The southernmost compartment is the largest, with central axis path, grassed and planted informally with specimen trees and shrubs, and with glass houses and with workshops which include the potting shed (407444).

To the north-west of the house is a forecourt, laid out with grass squares and wide gravel paths, enclosed on the north-west by brick walls with a pair of decorative wrought-iron gates (the Edney Gates). Beyond is an outer court enclosed by modern brick walls and the stable block (on the south-west side). In front of the house is a wide turning circle with a grass centre, with a central circular stone basin, the gravel drive enters through the Grade II Listed wrought-iron ‘Ruperra’ gates. To the north-east is a small restored Italianate sunken rose garden dating from the 1920s.

A large walled kitchen garden once existed east of the house but has now gone.

Sources:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Gwent, 146-9 (ref: PGW(Gt)48(NPT)).
Ordnance Survey Third Edition 25-inch map, sheet: Monmouthshire XXXIII.7 (1916).
RCAHMW AP94-CS 1442-6, 1450-1
RCAHMW AP945158/65-70; 965104/69-70; 965105/42

Associated with: Tredegar House (nprn 20907).
Includes: Gates/gate piers (20908), Gatehouses (301696) and Warren (24533).

RCAHMW, 23 February 2022

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