The gardens, grounds and relict parkland of The Hill, an early nineteenth-century miniature country estate around a substantial house (nprn 407212), are located.at the northern edge of Abergavenny, overlooking the town and with the lower slopes of the southern Black Mountains above it. It was formerly more isolated from the town. Within the grounds is an eighteenth-century walled garden in which there is a rare and unusual semi-circular projection. There are also historical associations John Wedgwood, eldest son of Josiah, who rented The Hill from 1831 to 1836. John Wedgwood was a noted horticulturist and one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804.

The house is surrounded by formal and informal gardens, a large walled garden, informal woodland and relict fragments of formerly extensive parkland. The Hill is situated in the centre of the gardens and grounds, reached by a drive from Hill Road, to the west, through ornate Edwardian iron gates with a lodge at the entrance. Trees flank the drive. There has been a house on the site since at least the eighteenth century and it is probable that there was then a garden and perhaps a small park there.

In the late eighteenth century the house came into the ownership of Thomas Morgan who, with his son, William made substantial alterations to the existing house, its outbuildings and the grounds at the start of the nineteenth century. The earliest evidence for the layout is a survey of 1798. The plan shows that at that time some features of the present-day layout were already in existence. The property extended further south and east than at present. It included a small park, drive, small garden and, of most interest, the walled garden with its projection.
Changes involved the removal of field boundaries around the house, creating what was described in 1842 as ‘a rich Park-Like Paddock’, an informal garden and woodland area and the enlargement of the walled garden. The 1842 Sale Particulars state that Hill House had ‘A Walled Garden, abundantly stocked with Fruit; Lawn and Pleasure-Grounds, embracing a beautiful Grove of lofty and varied Timber at the North Side of the Mansion, through which might be formed beautiful walks’. The included map and 1843 tithe map show roughly the same layout but the former is more detailed, showing tree planting and paths. The overall layout has remained substantially intact since that time, although the gardens were reworked in about 1904 and the park to the east and south has been considerably reduced.

After Thomas Morgan’s death in 1822 there were several owners. Between 1829 and 1835 or 1836 it was occupied by John Wedgwood .The gardens and grounds shown on the 1842 and 1843 maps would most probably have been in existence when he and his family lived there. As he was renting, and was there for a short time, it is unlikely that he made any major changes. Of exceptional historical interest is the fact that his gardening diary, now in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library in London, covers the period when John lived at The Hill.
Further changes occurred from about 1904 when the property was owned by Edward Pritchard Martin, JP (1844 – 1910).who extensive alterations to the park and garden, including the terrace and steps to the front of the house. The main sources of information on these changes are the 1916 Sale Particulars and the 1920 Ordnance Survey map. The lodge, which is in the same style as the side wings added to the house, was built at the same time.
The present gardens and grounds fall into four main areas: the formal and informal garden to the south of the house; the informal and woodland areas; the walled garden and the relict parkland.

South of the house is a large ballustraded terrace with an informally planted sloping lawn below, accessed by wide stone steps (also about 1904) a gravel path running straight down the slope. A Wellingtonia stands at the east end of the lawn, one of a pair planted in about 1904 each side of the central axis path running down the lawn from the main house entrance. The position of the second tree, now missing, is shown on the 1920 Ordnance Survey map.

North of the house and drive are the informal and woodland areas, mostly woodland wrapped around the walled garden. It is mixed deciduous woodland, with occasional survivors of an earlier planting scheme, and in places an ornamental shrub understorey. Informal paths run through the wood. At the core of the gardens is the walled garden, always used for both ornamental and kitchen garden purposes. Radical restoration took place in the 1990s and the interior layout dates only to the period after 1995, when Coleg Gwent took over The Hill.

The remaining parkland area lies mainly below the house and ornamental garden, at the south end of the site. It is an area of open, mown grassland dotted with trees of varying age. Much of the grounds have been redeveloped for housing.

Sources:
Cadw, Historic Assets Database (ref: PGW(Gt)62(MON)).
Additional notes: D.K.Leighton.

RCAHMW, 19 July 2022