The Dderw is located a short distance to the north-west of Rhayader, part way up a spur of land between the River Wye on the north and its tributary valley of the Nant Gwynllyn on the south. The house is set on a level terrace looking south towards the Elan Valley.

It is a nineteenth-century house on a more ancient site (nprn 81174). It is notable for its well-preserved wooded grounds, around the house, with its fine Arts and Crafts terraced garden established by the1920s (86214). House and grounds form part of a small parkland estate. The park's history is unknown but the surviving plantings within it date from the late 1800s. Once the centre of a vast estate the property remains in the hereditary ownership of the Prickard family.

The park is oval, about 10 acres (4ha.), and lies to the south of the house on ground falling away to the south-east. It is bounded by curving belts of mixed woodland along the east and west sides, natural deciduous woodland on the south-east, and by the public road to Cwmystwyth on the south. The drive enters the site through a formal stone gateway on the west of the park, from which it is separated by a high planted bank. Within the park, which is not partitioned, are isolated plantings of Scots pine, noble fir, lime and copper beech. A few large ancient oaks flank a hollow way near the park’s eastern boundary. Set in a rocky and wooded dell in the south corner is a large pool, a former fishpond, now overgrown.

Source:
Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 146-50 (ref: PGW (Po)2(POW)).
Ordnance Survey first-edition 25-inch map, sheet: Radnorshire XV.9 (1888).

RCAHMW, 11 May 2022