Treowen is located to the west of Monmouth, north of the village of Dingestow. It is an early seventeenth-century house (nprn 20921) associated with a formal garden thought to be contemporary with it but with later alterations. To the east of the house is a small park together with several fishponds in the valleys to the west and east, possibly medieval in origin.
A long drive approaches the house from the Dingestow road to the south. The sloping field to the east of the house has the feel of a small park, grazed open pasture planted with mature oaks, although much of this land was orchard during the nineteenth century. Sheepcot Wood lies to its east. The woodland is shown on the map of c.1800 but had been extended to the west by the late nineteenth century. A stream tributary of the River Trothy runs along the western edge of the wood and feeds into the fishponds in the valley to the east.
The gardens lie to the north and south of the house, the former thought to be contemporary with the house. It has been restored in recent years. It is a roughly square, levelled lawn, slightly wider than the house, and is surrounded on its east, west and north sides by a raised walk, externally revetted with a stone and brick wall. The garden is enclosed by a clipped yew hedge with an arched opening cut into the north side leading to an orchard. Linear earthwork features are present in the orchard. The three-sided raised walk is shown as an earthwork on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1886); all of this area is recorded as orchard on this map, on the map of Treowen dating to c.1800 and on the tithe (1844).
The garden south of the house is a levelled lawn bounded by a modern ha-ha (1960s), which continues to form the garden boundary to the east of the house. From the south lawn there are wide, open views across the rolling, rural landscape. The map of c.1800 shows a garden in this area, which roughly aligns with the garden shown on the first edition OS map, although the layout has changed by this time. Bradney describes this area as having the outlines of ‘old-fashioned gardens’ possibly referring to the former layout shown on the 1800 map, but no longer visible.
Sources:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, p.151 (ref: PGW (Gt)23(MON)).
Map of Treowen Farm (c.1800)
Tithe map (1844)
Ordnance Survey, 6-inch map sheet Monmouthshire XIV (1886; 1902); 25-inch map sheet Monmouthshire XIV.6 (1881; 1901; 1920)
RCAHMW air photos: 94-CS 0383-4; 945053/55.
RCAHMW, 22 July 2022