SLEBECH PARK Ref number PGW (Dy) 43 (PEM) OS Map 158 Grid ref SN 025 145 Former county Dyfed Unitary authority Pembrokeshire Community council Slebech Designations Listed buildings: Slebech Park (Grade II*): Old Church of St John the Baptist (Grade II); Stable Block (Grade II): Blackpool Bridge (Grade II*) Scheduled Ancient Monuments: Remains of the church of St John the Baptist (PEM 275); Burial mounds on the island to the east of the church (PEM 276) Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Site evaluation Grade II* Primary reasons for grading This well preserved park and extensive garden is set within an outstandingly beautiful and picturesque location. The ancient site incorporates the romantic remains of the church of St. John the Baptist. Although now without the walled garden which was to the north of the stable block, the layout has changed little since the plan of c. 1790. The park and water features to the north and east of the house are recorded on this plan. The south-facing terraces, which overlook the Eastern Cleddau river, are of outstanding historical interest. They were probably constructed by Sir John Barlow or his successor during the reign of William and Mary, in the late seventeenth century. The range of plant material within the park and garden remains extensive and impressive. Type of site Extensive park including water features, bridges and surrounding woodland areas. Informal garden and formal terraced garden. Main phases of construction Late seventeenth century; eighteenth century onwards, some remodelling of the drives and other features from the early nineteenth century. Site description Slebech is situated in an outstandingly picturesque location on the western bank of the Eastern Cleddau river, in the upper reaches of its estuary. It is reached from one of two drives, both of which are over a mile long. The most convenient access is from the minor single-track road off the A40 to the east of Haverfordwest that leads to Picton Castle and Rhos. The other entrance is at the Mill at Blackpool, to the east . Here a fine bridge crosses the Cleddau river and the drive, referred to on the Ordnance Survey 1 map as Knight's Way, follows the course of the river to the house. Part of this drive, however, now belongs to the Mill and access can be interrupted. The house is set at about 23 m AOD on the western side and at the southern end of a small valley. It is surrounded by the fields that formed the former parkland; to the west are the terrace gardens and to the south is the estuary. Between the house and the estuary are the picturesque remains of the church of St John the Baptist. A service is still held within the walls once a year but this church was replaced at the beginning of the nineteenth century by one (now empty) adjacent to the A40 road. The present house, built c. 1776, was built ‘castle wise’ in that it once possessed castellated parapets and the rounded bays reflected the round towers of medieval keeps and gatehouses that occur throughout Pembrokeshire and beyond. The castellations were removed from the house some decades ago, but they remain on the outbuildings The house is an imposing rendered block of three storeys, with sash windows of twelve lights on the two principal floors and of six on the upper floor. The flat roof, which is still surrounded by a reduced parapet is leaded and there are multiple chimney stacks to either end. The main entrance is to the west-north-west; the door, which is reached up a shallow flight of steps, being protected by a semi- circular canopy. The canopy, which forms an open porch, is supported by four columns, two adjacent to the house and two associated with the steps. This porch is topped with a small castellated design which, presumably, echoed the parapet of the house. To the north and south of the building are the semi-circular bays mentioned by Jones. The site of Slebech is one of established settlement. In the twelfth century the site was occupied by the Commandery for the Knight's Hospitallers. No views or plans of this building appear in the National Library of Wales but an internal wall, in excess of 1 m wide, is believed by the present owner to have been one of the original walls. Following the Dissolution, Slebech became the home of the Barlow family and in 1773 Anne Barlow brought it to her husband, John Symmons of Llanstinan. By then the house was obviously in considerable need of attention and Jones (1951) refers to a letter from Anne Symmons to her mother Mrs Barlow, written in 1774, in which she complains that the house is cold and they are unable to shut the door because the smoke would not then go up the chimney. By 1776 another letter from Anne tells of building work which were being carried out under the direction of Mr Calvert. Plans, probably drawn up about 1760, are held in the National Library of Wales. These show the `imitation castle' referred to by Sir Christopher Sykes in 1796 and also alternative designs for the principle entrance and other features. An estate plan of c. 1780 represents the landscape features reasonably accurately but on the house site, a massive 'castle' has been sketched in with a most impressive gateway to the west; this was never built. In c. 1783 Slebech was sold to William Knox. Two years later a visitor wrote in his diary for 4 September 1787 :`In the way to H.West call at Slebech, a handsome house built Castle-wise, surrounded with fine Woods. The apartments are neat and pleasant. The estate is for sale, the purchase money £75,000. It appears to disadvantage from symptoms of neglect attending the family's leaving it'. In 1791 Mrs Morgan in her Tour of Milford Haven records: `It is an exceedingly handsome house and has accommodations for a vast many people. I think they told us there were 25 bedrooms with each a dressing-room adjoining; and likewise two parlours, a study, a drawing room, a dining room and a billiard room, besides offices and accommodations of every other kind'. According to Jones (1996), the sale particulars of May 1792 of the 7,000 acre estate were very detailed, describing the interior of the house and the curtilage. He states that: 'The mansion had three regular fronts with flights of stone steps to the principle floor. The north and south fronts each extending to 88 feet with uniform semi-circular bows'. 2 Slebech was eventually sold to Nathaniel Phillips ( sic ,) a wealthy Jamaica merchant. In 1796 Sir Christopher Sykes noted that : 'Slebech now Mr Phillip's but built by the Bowers ( sic ) now extinct. It is a beautiful Situation on the banks of the Clethy as is also Picton Castle between which places there is a fine Walk of 3 miles along the River side. It is a very good living house of 6 rooms, built in imitation tho a bad one of a Castle but altogether it is a very enviable Place, and capable of Improvement. It stands close to the inner angle of the River by which it commands two fine reaches, and when the tide is up it is very beautiful'. Estate maps from the Phillips occupation show the plan of the house very much as it is today, although some areas of the grounds were remodelled from c. 1815 onwards. From 1822 to 1944, Slebech was the property of the de Rutzen family. John, Baron de Rutzen was killed in action in 1944. His widow, who inherited Slebech, later married Lord Dunsany . Slebech was then sold to the Hon. William Philipps, C.B.E., fourth son of the 1st Lord Milford and although he made some internal alterations, the house is essentially the structure erected by Symmons. To the north and east of the house are the service buildings and stables. One building, which has been referred to as the kitchen or dairy abuts the house to the north. This is an extremely humble building when compared with the adjacent house to the south. Of one and two storeys with an extremely low parapet and single pitched roof, it is dominated by the massive chimney which is at the junction between the higher and lower sections of the building. The stack appears to have been recently rendered and it is thought that the parrel fluting is a representation of the original. Because of the size and complexity of the chimney, it has been suggested that this was part of the original structure of the Commandery. To the north-east of the house and set nearly at a right-angle to it is the coach house and stable courtyard. This complex is thought to have been designed by Keck, who also worked at Penrice, Gower, in the late eighteenth century. The three-sided building stands mostly to two storeys with decorative recessed arches on the ground floor. Across these arches and below the castellated parapet run dressed stone string courses that would have originally stood proud of the rendering. At the two southern corners and over the principal grand entrance are elevated, castellated walls that give the effect of towers. Some of the rendering has now gone revealing that windows have been moved and blocked; although it is not clear when these alterations were made. The history of this complex and other features immediately surrounding the house is shown by comparing an unattributed plan of c. 1815 held in the National Library of Wales with later surveys.