Leighton Hall, Powys
Encyclopedia
Leighton Hall is an estate and farming complex, located outside Welshpool
in Powys
, Wales
. A grade 1 listed building and estate farming complex, located on the opposite side of the valley to Powis Castle
. It is notable for being a precursor of the The Great Exhibition
of 1851 in demonstrating the practical use of Victorian
"industrial" farming methods; and the birthplace of the now much disparaged hybrid Cupressocyparis leylandii hedge tree. Now in private hands and not accessible to the public, the Hall and farming works can still be viewed from the road.
by Liverpool
banker Christopher Leyland. In 1847, he gave it as a wedding present to his nephew
John Naylor (1813–1889) who then proceeded to rebuild the house and estate at a reputed cost of £275,000, plus an additional £200,000 on the farm technology.
The house was rebuilt in a Gothic
style, with the exterior and estate buildings designed by Liverpool architect W H Gee, and a Palace of Westminster
interior style by Augustus Pugin. The buildings constructed at the time included the Church of the Holy Trinity, still in regular use today.
. The Nantcribba Hall Farm included:
, a pupil of Sir Joseph Paxton
, to lay out the gardens. Kemp laid out a decorative water cascade fed from a series of lakes, which sequenced down from the Moel y Mab. He then developed the estate's Park Wood, making use—like many Victorians of the time—of exotic species including monkey puzzle trees. The 1857 Charles Ackers Memorial Redwood
grove - the largest and oldest grove of coast redwoods in Europe
- and the historic Naylor pinetum are today listed Grade 1 locations, now managed by the Royal Forestry Society
.
species of conifers in close proximity to each other:
The two parent species would never have met in the wild as their natural ranges are thousands of miles apart, but in 1888 the hybrid cross occurred when the female flowers or cones of Nootka Cypress were fertilised by pollen from Monterey Cypress, to create the first Cupressocyparis leylandii.
As John Naylor died the following year, his eldest son Christopher John Naylor (1849–1926) inherited Leighton Hall from his father in 1889. A sea captain by trade who commanded a ship known as the I.S.S. Enterprise, in 1891 on inheriting the Leyland Entailed Estates established under the will of his great-great-uncle, which passed to him following the death of his uncle Thomas Leyland (née Naylor); Christopher John changed his surname to Naylor, and moved to Haggerston Castle
, Northumbria
. He further developed the hybrid at his new home, and hence named the first clone variant Haggerstown Grey. His younger brother John Naylor (1856–1906) resultantly inherited Leighton Hall, and when in 1911 the reverse hybrid of the cones of the Monterey Cypress were fertilised with pollen from the Nootka, that hybrid was baptised Leighton Green.
Welshpool
Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...
in Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. A grade 1 listed building and estate farming complex, located on the opposite side of the valley to Powis Castle
Powis Castle
Powis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country mansion located near the town of Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales.The residence of the Earl of Powis, the castle is known for its extensive, attractive formal gardens, terraces, parkland, deerpark and landscaped estate...
. It is notable for being a precursor of the The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
of 1851 in demonstrating the practical use of Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
"industrial" farming methods; and the birthplace of the now much disparaged hybrid Cupressocyparis leylandii hedge tree. Now in private hands and not accessible to the public, the Hall and farming works can still be viewed from the road.
History
In 1845, the Leighton Hall estate was purchased from the Corbett family of ShropshireShropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
by Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
banker Christopher Leyland. In 1847, he gave it as a wedding present to his nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
John Naylor (1813–1889) who then proceeded to rebuild the house and estate at a reputed cost of £275,000, plus an additional £200,000 on the farm technology.
The house was rebuilt in a Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style, with the exterior and estate buildings designed by Liverpool architect W H Gee, and a Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
interior style by Augustus Pugin. The buildings constructed at the time included the Church of the Holy Trinity, still in regular use today.
Farm
Naylor spent £200,000 between 1848 and 1856 on revamping the 4000-acre (1.620ha) farm on the same industrial principles as that of HRH Albert, the Prince Consort's farm in Windsor Great ParkWindsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...
. The Nantcribba Hall Farm included:
- a water-powered turbine generating electricity for distribution over the estate
- a gasworksGasworksA gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
supplying heat and light - Glan-Hafren Farm Barn
- a fowl house housing Pekin bantamsBantam (chicken)A bantam is a small variety of poultry, especially chickens. Etymologically, the name bantam is derived from the city of Bantam - currently known as "Banten Province" or previously "Banten Residency" - once a major seaport, in Indonesia...
and a dovecoteDovecoteA dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...
. Restored by CadwCadw-Conservation and Protection:Many of Wales's great castles and other monuments, such as bishop's palaces, historic houses, and ruined abbeys, are now in Cadw's care. Cadw does not own them but is responsible for their upkeep and for making them accessible to the public...
, it can be visited by the public today - Cil-Cewydd CornMaizeMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
mill, to create flour and animal feed - industrial support works including a saw mill, wheelwrightWheelwrightA wheelwright is a person who builds or repairs wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the archaic word "wright", which comes from the Old English word "wryhta", meaning a worker or maker...
's shop and smithySmithySmithy may refer to:* Forge, also called a smithy, the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith* Smith , sometimes referred to as a smithy, a person involved in the shaping of metal objects... - a funicular railway that carried manureManureManure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...
slurry from the farm buildings up to a storage tank at the top of Moel y Mab - Nantcribba Cottages, built for housing farm workers
Gardens
Naylor commissioned Edward KempEdward Kemp
Edward Kemp was an English landscape architect and an author. Together with Joseph Paxton and Edward Milner, Kemp became one of the leaders in the design of parks and gardens during the mid-Victorian era in England....
, a pupil of Sir Joseph Paxton
Joseph Paxton
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English gardener and architect, best known for designing The Crystal Palace.-Early life:...
, to lay out the gardens. Kemp laid out a decorative water cascade fed from a series of lakes, which sequenced down from the Moel y Mab. He then developed the estate's Park Wood, making use—like many Victorians of the time—of exotic species including monkey puzzle trees. The 1857 Charles Ackers Memorial Redwood
Pinaceae
Pinaceae are trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales, formerly known as Coniferales. Pinaceae are supported as monophyletic by its protein-type sieve...
grove - the largest and oldest grove of coast redwoods in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- and the historic Naylor pinetum are today listed Grade 1 locations, now managed by the Royal Forestry Society
Royal Forestry Society
The Royal Forestry Society is a charitable organisation that was established in 1882 in Northumberland, England...
.
Cupressocyparis leylandii
Kemp in his garden layout had placed two disparate Pacific coast North AmericanNorth American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
species of conifers in close proximity to each other:
- Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa (syn. Callitropsis macrocarpa) from CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
- Nootka Cypress or AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n Cypress Cupressus nootkatensis (syn. Callitropsis nootkatensis), family CupressaceaeCupressaceaeThe Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
The two parent species would never have met in the wild as their natural ranges are thousands of miles apart, but in 1888 the hybrid cross occurred when the female flowers or cones of Nootka Cypress were fertilised by pollen from Monterey Cypress, to create the first Cupressocyparis leylandii.
As John Naylor died the following year, his eldest son Christopher John Naylor (1849–1926) inherited Leighton Hall from his father in 1889. A sea captain by trade who commanded a ship known as the I.S.S. Enterprise, in 1891 on inheriting the Leyland Entailed Estates established under the will of his great-great-uncle, which passed to him following the death of his uncle Thomas Leyland (née Naylor); Christopher John changed his surname to Naylor, and moved to Haggerston Castle
Haggerston Castle
Haggerston Castle was a castle located in the county of Northumberland, England at Haggerston about south of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Only the tower and the rotunda remain...
, Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. He further developed the hybrid at his new home, and hence named the first clone variant Haggerstown Grey. His younger brother John Naylor (1856–1906) resultantly inherited Leighton Hall, and when in 1911 the reverse hybrid of the cones of the Monterey Cypress were fertilised with pollen from the Nootka, that hybrid was baptised Leighton Green.
Present
After a period as a school as part of Powis College, the estate is now in private hands and not accessible to the public. The Hall can still be viewed from the road, and has been restored to its former glory; the former farm buildings are now used for commercial purposes, although in a state of disrepair.See also
- Powis CastlePowis CastlePowis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country mansion located near the town of Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales.The residence of the Earl of Powis, the castle is known for its extensive, attractive formal gardens, terraces, parkland, deerpark and landscaped estate...
- a grade 1 National Trust property located on the opposite side of the valley