VIVOD Ref No PGW (C) 65 OS Map 125 Grid Ref SJ 191 423 Former
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VIVOD Ref No PGW (C) 65 OS Map 125 Grid Ref SJ 191 423 Former County Clwyd Unitary Authority Denbighshire Community Council Llangollen Designations Listed building: Vivod Grade II Site Evaluation Grade II Primary reasons for grading An attractively sited Victorian house with contemporary garden of terraces and shrubbery, and adjacent former kitchen garden. Type of Site Victorian garden and kitchen garden. Main Phases of Construction c. 1850s -1870s SITE DESCRIPTION Vivod is a large, irregular stone house situated on a north-facing slope in a small valley to the south of the Dee valley. From the north front of the house there are fine views towards Berwyn and the rocky north side of the Dee valley. The house is built into the slope, so that the entrance on the south side is on the first floor. It has two storeys, and a steeply pitched slate roof with attic windows. The large windows have brick surrounds, and outside the front door is a large wooden porte cochÖre said to be of Scandinavian origin. The core of the house was built in the 1850s or early 1860s, and was altered and enlarged in 1871 by W.J. Green for William Wagstaff, a solicitor. In 1906-10 the house was altered again for Captain J.C. Best, Wagstaff's son-in-law, and for his son. Above the forecourt, to the south-west of the house, is a small stable court. This is contemporary with the house, and consists of two ranges, on the north and east sides of a courtyard, now converted to garages. The court is built into the hillside, and on the south side is an alcove with a spring in it, set into the revetment wall. The garden is of modest size, and lies to the north and east of the house, with the former kitchen garden, now integrated into the pleasure garden, to the north-west. The ground slopes to the north, and from the garden there are fine views down the valley towards Berwyn and the Dee valley. The garden was made at the same time as the house was built, in the 1850s to 1870s. It is shown with its present layout on the lst edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1874. At the same time picturesque walks were laid out in The Dingle to the east, reached by a path across the intervening field. The entrance is off a small lane to the north of the house. The two original lodges for the house lie further north on the west side of this lane. A tarmac drive leads through a wooded area around the west side of the kitchen garden, past a small cottage that was originally a school, to the gravel forecourt on the south side of the house. This is carved out of the hillside, and is partly rock-cut. The house stands on a terrace on its north and east sides. On the north this is of grass, bounded by a scarp, with a gravel path around the house as far as stone steps near the west end which lead down to a grass tennis court. These were moved to their present position from the middle of the terrace, where they are shown on an aerial photograph of the 1950s. There are similar steps near the east end, and a further matching flight leading from the tennis court down to the path below. Below the tennis court is an informal shrubbery, with a grass path around the outside, and the remains of a gravel path along the lower edge of the tennis court. The shrubbery is mainly planted with banks of rhododendrons, and continues beyond the terraces to the east of the house. There are two terraces to the east of the house. The lower one, on the same level as that to the north, is laid out to lawn, bordered by a gravel path, with a box-edged parterre of herbs in the centre. This was made by the present owner's wife, and replaced an earlier parterre of roses. An aerial photograph taken in the 1950s shows that before that there was a parterre delineated with narrow grass paths here. The terrace is bounded on the north by a grass scarp, with stone steps leading up to a small upper terrace cut into the slope. This is laid out to lawn, with a path along the south side leading to a grass path through the shrubbery. To the east the shrubbery gives way to informal lawn, with a few islands of shrubs. The garden is bounded on the north side by an iron fence topped by a chain looped between the posts, and on the south side by a hooped iron fence bordering a path that leads from the forecourt to the eastern edge of the garden. Originally this continued across the field to the woodland of The Dingle, in the valley bottom to the east, where paths led up and down the stream, crossing it over several small bridges. The path across the field is just traceable; those in the woodland can only be followed with difficulty as they are overgrown in places, and the bridges have all collapsed. There are some remnants of ornamental planting in The Dingle, in particular rhododendrons. On its west side the garden now merges with the former kitchen garden. There was originally a rustic summerhouse at the west end of the north terrace, but this has been removed. The former kitchen garden lies to the north-west of the house, on a steep slope facing south-east. It is now fully integrated into the pleasure garden, and the whole slope has been grassed over. A photograph of about 1891 shows the garden in full production, with vegetable beds, paths, and fruit trees on the slope. The garden is only walled at the top of the slope, on its west side. The curving wall is of brick, c. 1.7 m high, except at the north end, where the outside is stone and the inside brick. At the top of the garden is a raised bed bounded by a low stone revetment wall, c. 0.5 m high, along which runs a grassed-over gravel path with roll-top tile edging along its outer side. There are some old espalier apple trees along the edge of the path, and also in rows, marking former paths, on the slope below. Half way along the wall is an area of greenhouses and former greenhouses, shown by the whitewashing on the wall, which were demolished in 1992. The former central greenhouse is set in front of the back wall of the garden, and its footings, slate floor and iron heating grills remain. Behind it are potting sheds and a subterranean boiler room. Near the north end is a modern greenhouse with a terrace in front set on a brick revetment wall. Behind it the garden wall curves out to form a shallow alcove. At the very northern end of the kitchen garden is a ruined glasshouse and pergola with brick piers. A grass path leads down the centre of the slope to an old iron arch on the line of the boundary between the kitchen and pleasure gardens. A modern swimming pool has been inserted near the foot of the slope. To the north-west of the kitchen garden, on the other side of the drive, is a field that was formerly the orchard. It is bounded by an iron fence and has some ornamental conifers in it, including larches. Sources Primary 1879 wash drawing by 'F.C.H.C.' of house and grounds: National Library of Wales, drawings vol. 380, f. 19. In house: photo c. 1891; aerial photo c. 1950s. Secondary Hubbard, E., Clwyd (1986), p. 104. DENBIGH: PIERCE MEMORIAL GARDEN Ref No PGW (C) 66 OS Map 116 Grid Ref SJ 056 662 County Clwyd District Glyndwr DC Community Council Denbigh Designations Listed building: Pierce monument Grade II Conservation Area (Denbigh) Site Evaluation Grade II Primary reasons for grading An unusual small Victorian garden, surviving in its entirety, made as a setting to a memorial column Type of Site Formal memorial garden Main Phases of Construction 1874-87 SITE DESCRIPTION The Pierce Memorial Garden is a small formal Victorian garden situated on the south side of Vale Street in Denbigh. It is surrounded by buildings and bounded by stone walls on all but the north side, facing the street, where it is bounded by iron railings. The garden is dominated by its central feature, a tall stone column topped by a statue of a man. This commemorates Dr Evan Pierce, a local doctor. Subscriptions were raised locally for its erection, between 1872 and 1876, and Dr Pierce himself donated the ground. Beatrix Potter's diary entry for Tuesday 28 May 1895 mentions the garden: 'He presented a little slip of garden to the town, and set up an obelisk and his statue exactly opposite his front door. His name was Pearce, he died a few weeks since and lay in state in a scarlet hunting coat'. The Tuscan column, 72 ft high and made of limestone from the Graig Quarry, Denbigh, was designed by Martin Underwood. The statue, of Sicilian marble, is by W. & T. Wills. The column stands on a base of six stone steps leading up to a pedestal, with rectangular relief panels by M. Raggi set into three sides. The column was unveiled on 23 November 1876, and the panels were added in the 1880s. On the street side is an inscription detailing Dr Pierce's good works, positions et cetera, and giving the date of the foundation stone being laid (1874), and the work unveiled (1876).