Ffynone

Ffynone (Welsh: ''Ffynnonau'') is a mansion and estate near Boncath, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the parish of Manordeifi. The original Georgian design was by architect John Nash and later remodelled by Inigo Thomas.

History

The name predates the mansion and its Welsh name ''Ffynnonau'' reflects the existence of a number of wells in the district.

The Ffynone estate belonged at one time to the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan, from whom it was purchased by Captain Stephen Colby in 1752. 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 Manordeifi parish with further lands in adjacent parishes. The parkland around the house was some 30 acres. There were many additions and improvements over future years to both house and estate.

The property was passed down the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby, whose wife in 1902 commissioned architect and garden designer Inigo Thomas to remodel the house and lay out the terraced gardens, which was completed in 1907.

John Vaughan died in 1919 and, having no sons, 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 and 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 took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920 and subsequently sold the property in 1927 to a Glamorgan businessman.

The house, in of woodland, was bought and restored from 1988 onwards by Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor 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 National Library of Wales.

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

The mansion itself is a Grade I listed building, while a number of elements on the estate are listed Grade I, II* or II. They are:
*Entrance gates and piers (Grade II)
*Game-Larder to N of Service Ranges (Grade II)
*Garden Fountain N of Walled Garden (Grade II)
*Gatepiers, Steps and Walls to N Court (Grade II)
*Large Arched Outbuilding on NW Side of Ffynone Farmyard (Grade II)
*Stable and Kitchen Court (Grade I)
*Sundial on W Lawn (Grade II)
*Terrace Wall and Balustrade to W Garden (Grade II)
*Terrace, Walls and Balustrades S of Ffynone (Grade II*)
*The Gazebo, at the Garden House (Grade II)

References

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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 buildings
Country houses in Pembrokeshire
Georgian architecture in the United Kingdom
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales