High Glanau (also known as High Glanau Manor) is a country house and Grade II* listed building within the community of Cwmcarvan, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Monmouth, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Trellech, adjoining the B4293 road and with views westwards over the Vale of Usk. Commissioned by Henry Avray Tipping and designed by Eric Francis, it is particularly noted for its gardens which are listed at Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

High Glanau
TypeHouse
LocationCwmcarvan
Coordinates51°45′47″N 2°43′43″W / 51.762989°N 2.728568°W / 51.762989; -2.728568
AreaMonmouthshire
Built1922
Built forHenry Avray Tipping
ArchitectEric Francis
Architectural style(s)Arts and Crafts
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Official nameHigh Glanau
Designated1 February 2022
Reference no.PGW(Gt)45(Mon)
ListingGrade II*
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameHigh Glanau
Designated22 February 1989
Reference no.2813
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTerraces at High Glanau
Designated22 February 1989
Reference no.2814
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameGarden wall and pergola at High Glanau
Designated22 February 1989
Reference no.2817
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameGardener's Cottage at High Glanau
Designated22 February 1989
Reference no.2815
High Glanau is located in Monmouthshire
High Glanau
Location of High Glanau in Monmouthshire

History

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Henry Avray Tipping (1855-1933) was born in France, the youngest of four sons, to a family of prosperous merchants.[1] After reading history at Oxford,[2] he moved to Monmouthshire, where he bought the Mathern Palace estate in 1894.[a][4] While at Mathern he began his professional career as a writer, becoming editor of Country Life magazine, and developed his alternative career as an architect and garden designer, while expanding his circle of friends to include Edwin Lutyens, Edward Hudson, Gertrude Jekyll and Harold Peto. In 1912, after the death of his mother and the last of his three older brothers,[5] Tipping moved to Mounton, north of Chepstow, and began the building of Mounton House, in collaboration with Eric Francis.[6] By 1922, with Tipping planning his retirement, he again moved north, and again employed Francis to design his last home in Monmouthshire, High Glanau.[7] Tipping had bought the 1,640 acre estate, near Trellech, as a rough shoot in 1917.[8]

Tipping moved to London in 1930, and died in 1933.[9] The house was given Grade II* listed building status on 22 February 1989.[10] It is privately owned. The gardens are open to the public on several days each year.[11]

Architecture and description

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High Glanua is designed in Francis' favoured Arts and Crafts style. The front of the house is of two storeys, with three slate-hung gables between two chimneystacks. On the upper entrance side there is a broad slate roof with a pair of gabled turrets. The house is set above formal gardens, with stone-walled terraces and an octagonal pond.[7] The gardens were created by Tipping between 1922 and 1929.[12] Several cottages around the estate were built by Francis for Tipping at about the same time.[7]

Garden

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The gardens are described by the National Gardens Scheme as having a "pergola, herbaceous borders, Edwardian glasshouse, rhododendrons, azaleas, tulips, orchard with wild flowers and woodland walks".[13] The pergola columns are the original stone, but the oak crossing beams have been replaced, a restoration funded by Cadw.[14] The terraces are highly structured, with steps, walls and piers, although some architectural features, such as finials and urns were stolen in the 1990s. The terraces have their own Grade II* listing.[15] The garden wall and pergola,[16] greenhouse,[17] gardener's cottage[18] and garage are all listed Grade II.[19] The garden historian Elisabeth Whittle describes High Glanau, along with Tipping's other gardens at Mathern Palace, Mounton House and Wyndcliffe Court as "four of the best Welsh gardens of (the Arts and Crafts) period".[20] The gardens themselves are listed at Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.[21]

Notes

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  1. ^ Tipping purchased Mathern Palace from George Francis, a solicitor from Chepstow, and father of Eric.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Gerrish 2011, pp. 12–14.
  2. ^ Gerrish 2011, p. 18.
  3. ^ Bradney 1994, p. 64.
  4. ^ Gerrish 2011, p. 27.
  5. ^ Gerrish 2011, pp. 14–15.
  6. ^ Gerrish 2011, p. 110.
  7. ^ a b c Newman 2000, p. 208.
  8. ^ Gerrish 2011, p. 162.
  9. ^ Attlee 2009, p. 98.
  10. ^ Cadw. "High Glanau (Grade II*) (2813)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  11. ^ Gerrish 2015, p. 35.
  12. ^ "High Glanau". Parks and Gardens UK. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  13. ^ National Gardens Scheme, High Glanau. Accessed 23 April 2012
  14. ^ Gerrish 2015, p. 27.
  15. ^ Cadw. "Terraces at High Glanau (Grade II*) (2814)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  16. ^ Cadw. "Garden Wall and Pergola at High Glanau (Grade II) (2817)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ^ Cadw. "Greenhouse at High Glanau (Grade II) (25755)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  18. ^ Cadw. "Gardener's Cottage at High Glanau (Grade II) (2815)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  19. ^ Cadw. "Garage at High Glanau (Grade II) (2816)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  20. ^ Whittle 1992, p. 76.
  21. ^ Cadw. "High Glanau (PGW(Gt)45(MON))". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

Sources

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