Ciliau Park is part of the Llanerchaeron parkland estate (NPRN 700355) and is located on the south side of the A482. It is an enclosed area lying some 2 km to the south-east of Llanerchaeron House. It was probably the site of a (long abandoned) Tudor gentry house from about 1500 when it was part of the lordship of Cilcennin. It was bought by the Lewis family after 1609 and became part of the Llanerchaeron estate in 1735.

The park has relatively few internal boundaries and a substantial perimeter wall though the latter has deteriorated in places to resemble a hedge bank. It was probably emparked and enclosed in the late eighteenth century by William Lewis though there is no documentary evidence confirming its status as a deer park. A blacksmith’s bill of 1801 lists the purchase of hinges for ‘Kilie Gate’. In 1822 William Lewis paid for the construction of a pond here. A survey of 1864 provides a detailed description of the condition and agricultural potential of Ciliau Park.

For most of the last 120 years the Park has been managed as part of Pontfaen, a tenant farm, and is characterised by grassland with mature oaks. Few of the oaks are large enough to be remnants from the sale of the park’s timber in 1839, with the exception of two specimens with girths exceeding 5m and 6m respectively. A leat traverses the park following an old field boundary; a mill is recorded here in 1500. A series of ponds, now breached, on the Nant Faen formerly served another mill at Pontfaen Farm.
Visually, the rolling parkland character with fine specimen oaks and enclosing wall is best appreciated from the A482 (turnpike) road.

Source:
R.Laidlaw & C.Palmer 1998, Historic Park & Garden Survey: Llanerchaeron.

RCAHMW, 4 July 2022