Hilston House (nprn 37087) stands on the top of a ridge to the west of the Monnow valley, about a mile South-west of Skenfrith. There has been a house on the site since at least the seventeenth century. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was owned by the Needham family. The house was severely damaged by fire in 1836 and was sold to a Mr. Cave in 1838 who carried out the main phase of rebuilding, in about 1840, at the same time that the park and gardens were laid out (700380 & 265922).

The walled kitchen garden stands to the immediate northeast of the house. It is rectangular and is orientated southwest by northeast. The red brick walls stand to their full height, up to 3m high, and there are entrances on all sides with an arched doorway on the south. The interior is grassed over. A low revetment wall divides the garden in two, with two flights of steps down to the lower part. This is an extension to the garden, built sometime between 1903 and 1918.
The interior (now used as a summer caravan park) is grassed over, with a few isolated old fruit trees remaining, some of which are in rows, indicating the line of former paths. The ground slopes gently towards the south. In the south corner an outbuilding extends slightly into the garden. A low, stone, cross revetment wall divides the garden into two areas: a smaller lower area on the east and a larger upper area, linked by two flights of steps. There is a scarp about l.5 m high across the middle of the lower part, aligned north-west by south-east.

Source:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent, 53-54 (ref: PGW (Gt)22).

RCAHMW, 19 July 2022