Introduction
George Llywelyn, who was vicar of Condover 1705-39, created a small formal garden at Condover Rectory to the north-east of the churchyard.
When Llywelyn rebuilt the rectory in 1705, he undertook the design of a formal garden to the north-east of the churchyard. There was a 'great garden' to the south, and on the west was a smaller garden which had been taken in from the roadside waste.
About 1715 it was said of Llywelyn that 'His house was fitted up with great taste, and had many good pictures in it. But he seems to have spent more time in horticulture than in any other amusement; yet in this, notwithstanding his antipathy to King William, his taste was so peculiarly Dutch, that he cherished "the mournful family of Yews" to a risible degree: having at each angle of his parterre, trees of that species cut into the shape of almost every bird and beast that had been preserved in Noah's ark; with Satan, the prince of devils, in the centre, for which it was said by the country people he had been offered a œ1000; and in a flower bed, just under his parlour window, King David playing on the harp, was cut in box.'
- History
George Llywelyn was vicar of Condover from 1705 to 1739, and was also a sometime Page of the Backstairs to Charles II, an acquaintance of Purcell, and a Jacobite (and was hence known to Whigs as 'a Jacobitical, musical, mad, Welsh parson.') He created a small but unusual and notorious formal garden at Condover Rectory, and in 1705 he rebuilt the Rectory as a three-storey structure.
He continued his horticultural efforts throughout the tenure of his vicarage, and the gardens were kept afterwards. In 1769, part of the great garden was leased to Nicholas Smythe, who was at that time extending the grounds of Condover Hall. In 1787, however, the parsonage and grounds were demolished, having been exchanged for a new one.
- Key Information
Type
Formal
Principal Building
Domestic / Residential
Survival
Lost
Open to the public
Yes
Civil Parish
Condover
- References
References
- Gaydon, A.T. (ed.) {Victoria History of the County of Shropshire, Volume 8}, (London: Constable, 1968): 53 Victoria County History: Shropshire, Volume 8
- Burney, C. {General History of Music, Volume III}, (London, 1789): 495 General History of Music, Volume 3