Ty Uchaf (nprn 21032) lies within parkland in the Usk Valley, about 6 km to the south of Abergavenny (700205). The present landscape park was formed, in 1826, from two adjacent estates, Tŷ Uchaf to the south-east and Llanover to the north-west. The gardens and grounds were laid out in the 1830s by Benjamin Hall after the amalgation of the estates. Llanover House, located centrally within the park, was demolished in the 1930s (45084). Ty Uchaf, on the south-eastern boundary, is now known as Llanover House (21032).
The gardens of Ty Uchaf lie along the watercourse of the Rhyd-y-meirch stream, which runs south-west/north-east along the south-east park boundary. They stretch in a narrow band from the park boundary at Rhyd-y-meirch to the walled kitchen garden (700206), with the house in the middle. The area slopes gently down north-eastwards.

The gardens fall roughly into three sections: the south-west third is an undulating area of rough grass and specimen trees and shrubs, through which the stream winds naturally. In the middle section, below a low arched stone bridge, the stream becomes canalised and divides, one branch leading to a circular pond via several small weirs. An artificial cascade links the pond with a lower, boomerang-shaped one, at the outlet of which is a further cascade. This pool forms the southern side of a roughly circular garden, walled on its other sides with a high brick wall in the middle of which is a circular dovecote.

The two branches of the stream, canalised and stone-lined, continue north-eastwards through an area of lawn to the south-east of the house, with a number of flagstone bridges over them. To the north-east of the house, is a lawn sloping down to a ha-ha, beyond which is the park. There is a narrow raised terrace on the south-east side of the house.

The stream branches rejoin and continue through the third section of the garden, a wilder area of rough grass and specimen trees and shrubs, with further flagstone bridges. The garden ends near the south wall of the kitchen garden. Much of the planting in the garden is modern, but there are some old trees, some of which may date from the original landscaping in the 1790s.

Sources:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, 76-8 (ref: PGW (Gt)41(MON)).
Ordnance Survey second-edition 25-inch maps, sheets: Monmouthshire XII.16 (1899).

RCAHMW, 25 May 2022