Historic Landscape Characterisation

The Vale of Clwyd:
Plās Ashpool, Llandymog, Denbighshire
(HLCA 1057)

Parkland and land of parkland character and scattered large farms and large houses.

Historic background

The character area falls towards the north-west corner of the medieval ecclesiastical parish of Llandyrnog, and forms part of the commote of Dogfeilyn within the ancient cantref of Dyffryn Clwyd. During the medieval period the northern part of the area near Cae'r Fedwen (Birch Field) appears to have been an area of reserved woodland known as Coruedwen.

Key historic landscape characteristics

The earliest surviving buildings within the character area are the possibly late 16th-century cruck-built barn at Plās Ashpool, encased in brick during the late 17th or early 18th century. The house and remaining buildings there being 18th-century brick on stone footings, with some stone dressings, the house forming part of the farm complex. The large houses at both Glan-y-wern and Pentre Mawr are of early 19th-century date, being of ashlar at the former and rendered with stone detailing at the latter. Pentre Mawr house lies next to a fine range of 19th-century brick outbuildings but the farm at Glan-y-wern is set about 300m south of the farm itself. Cae'r Fedwen again has a fine range of 18th- and 19th-century brick outbuildings. Early bee boles for housing bee hives are known at PlāsAshpool.

The character area is formed by a loose amalgamation of parkland, land of parkland character, woodland and gardens associated with four properties Plās Ashpool, Pentre-mawr, Glan-y-wern Hall, and Plās Ffordd-ddwr, forming a band about 3km long and up to about 1km wide across the eastern side of the vale. The landscape is characterised by large enclosed areas of pasture with scattered mature oaks with some small areas of deciduous woodland, with large ornamental lakes in the grounds of Glan-y-wern. Roadside boundaries are characteristically defined by mature hawthorn hedges, subdivisons within the larger enclosures being of post and wire.

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