Ffynone (Welsh: ''Ffynnonau'') is a mansion and estate near

Boncath Boncath is a village, Community (Wales), community and postal district in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about west of Newcastle Emlyn. The village stands at a cross-roads linking the nearby settlements of Newchapel, Pembrokeshire, Newchapel (''C ...

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, in the parish of

Manordeifi Manordeifi () is a parish and community (Wales), community in the hundred of Cilgerran Hundred, Cilgerran, in the northeast corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected community council and ...

. The original Georgian design was by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Nash, and the house was later remodelled by Inigo Thomas. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and its gardens and park are also listed, at Grade I, on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

History

The name predates the present house, and its Welsh name ''Ffynnonau'', meaning "Wells", reflects the existence of a number of springs in the vicinity. In 1752 Captain Stephen Colby bought the Ffynone estate from the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan. The house, completed in 1799, was repaired in 1828 by W. Hoare and Son of Lawrenny. In the 1830s, the estate extended to 237 acres in the

parish, with further land in adjacent parishes. The parkland around the house was some thirty acres. There were many additions and improvements over the following years to both the house and the estate. The property was passed down in the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby, whose wife in 1902 commissioned the architect and garden designer Inigo Thomas to remodel the house and lay out the terraced gardens, work which was completed in 1907. John Vaughan Colby died in 1919. He had no son and left the estate to his daughter Aline Margaret, who had married Captain Cecil John Herbert Spence-Jones, son of the Dean of Gloucester, in 1908; the marriage was a notable occasion, reported in great detail, an occasion for local celebration, despite there being no guests at the wedding and no reception, owing to the bride's mother's state of health. Spence-Jones took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920. In 1927, the property was sold to a Glamorgan business man. The house, in of woodland, was bought and restored from 1988 onwards by

Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (28 April 1924Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, ...

and his wife, who are credited with saving the house. After the death of the 3rd Earl in 2010, the house was put up for sale with a guide price of £2.5 million. The asking price for the house and was reduced in July 2021 to £1.8 million and the property was subsequently sold for an undisclosed sum. The estate records (to 1919) are held at the

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Architecture

John Nash was commissioned to design the house in the early 1790s; construction work began in 1794 and was completed by 1799. Materials included locally quarried stone as well as stone from other parts of Britain. The house was laid out to a classical Georgian plan. 60,000 trees were sourced from John Mackie, a Norwich nursery man, and hundreds of tons of topsoil were brought in. Inigo Thomas, in contrast, remodelled the house in the style of an Italian

palazzo A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

. He added the east and west wings, creating a library and an ornate dining room and music room with a cross vaulted tunnel roof.

Listing designations

In January 1952, the house was designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Other buildings on the wider estate were listed in November 1994. The service range, comprising stables and a kitchen court, is listed at Grade I. Other ancillary buildings are listed at Grade II including the

game larder A game larder, also sometimes known as a deer or venison larder, deer, venison or game house, game pantry or game store, is a small domestic outbuilding where the carcasses of Game (hunting), game, including deer, game birds, hares and rabbits, ar ...

, and a large outbuilding. The entrance gates and gatepiers to the estate piers and the piers, steps and walls in the North Court are all listed at Grade II. The gardens and parkland at Ffynone are designated Grade I on the

. Structures within the gardens with listings include: the terrace to the south of the house, together with its enclosing walls and

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s, which are listed at Grade II*; and a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

on the west lawn; the Western Terrace; a fountain; and a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

, all of which are listed Grade II.

References

{{reflist

External links

National Gardens Scheme: Ffynone
Grade I listed buildings in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed buildings in Pembrokeshire Grade II* listed buildings in Pembrokeshire John Nash (architect) buildings Country houses in Pembrokeshire Georgian architecture in Wales Registered historic parks and gardens in Pembrokeshire