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26-525: John Hanbury (1664–1734) had developed the family ironworks at Pontypool into a successful commercial enterprise, and began the creation of the Pontypool Park estate, although nothing of his 17th century house remains. His second wife, Bridget Ayscough, was a close friend of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough , and this connection led to Hanbury's appointment as one of the executors of John Churchill's will. The Pontymoile Gates, which now stand at

52-511: A bowling green. Pontypool RFC also is based in the park, at its 8,800-capacity stadium. There is also a bandstand that forms part of the venue (along with nearby Torfaen Museum ) for the annual Jazz in the Park festival. John Hanbury (1664%E2%80%931734) John Hanbury, Esq. (1664–1734) was a British ironmaster and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1701 and 1734. He

78-494: A fortune of £10,000 and connections with established political families. Bridget was a close friend of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and Hanbury was introduced to influential politicians. Together, they were the parents of: Hanbury died in 1734. Elisabeth Whittle Elisabeth Whittle is a garden historian from Wales . A former president of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and

104-577: A large area to the east of Pontypool town centre. The main park starts at the Pontymoile Gates near New Inn and Pontymoile Basin , and finishes to the north close to St Alban's RC High School and Torfaen Museum . To the east the land rises to the tower and the grotto. Its western border follows the Afon Lwyd river and Pontypool Leisure Centre , and Italian Gardens are located close to the western periphery. There are landscaped areas such as

130-709: A report of it being published in England – millfounded a rolling mill and started a tinplating industry. Hanbury can thus properly be claimed as the progenitor of the British tinplate industry. In 1701, he married Albina, daughter of William Selwyn and Albinia daughter of Richard Betenson, and began to enlarge Park House in Pontypool , a property begun by his father in 1659. In July 1703, he married Bridget Ayscough, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Ayscough of Stallingborough and South Kelsey. With his marriage to Bridget came

156-539: A royal charter to incorporate a million pound company for his (ineffective) ironmaking enterprise. Lowther referred to Hanbury as having 'the greatest skill as well as works' (i.e. ironworks). In 1720 he benefited from the legacy of his friend Charles Williams of Caerleon, and with the £70,000 left to him he bought Coldbrook Park near Abergavenny , which subsequently passed to John Hanbury's son Charles Hanbury Williams . When his father died in Jan 1704, Hanbury inherited

182-585: A trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales , her published works include studies of the historic gardens of Wales and of the history of Glamorgan and Gwent . She is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. For twenty-one years Whittle worked for Cadw , the Welsh historic environment agency as their Inspector of Historic Parks, Gardens and Landscapes. She retired in 2014. She

208-611: Is a former president of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and is a trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales . Whittle, the holder of a Master of Arts degree and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London , lived in Usk , Monmouthshire for many years, but moved to Wilburton , Cambridgeshire in 2019. Following her relocation, Whittle took on the chair of the Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust. Whittle

234-472: Is decorated with shells and bones, reputedly the work of Hanbury Leigh's first wife, Molly Mackworth. Both sites are open to the public at weekends from May to September. Restored in the 1990s, the grotto is a Grade II* listed building . There is also a double ice house near the old Pontypool House and Torfaen Museum . It has a Grade II listing. A second set of gates into the Italian Gardens at

260-469: The 1715 Hanbury stood for Gloucester again but was defeated. He was eventually returned to Parliament in a by-election in 1720 for the Welsh constituency Monmouthshire . Although a supporter of the Whig party , in his later life he opposed several of Robert Walpole 's most important bills. In 1731, he joined with Sir James Lowther and others in opposing the application previously made by William Wood for

286-827: The Cadw guidebook. In 1994 Whittle led work on the compilation of the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales to assist owners, developers and planners to manage the country's landscape heritage. She became a trustee of the Hobson's Conduit Trust in 2018 and vice-chair in 2020. John Newman , author of the Gwent/Monmouthshire volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, recorded his debt to Whittle in

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312-531: The Second World War , after fears that it would act as a marker for German aircraft. The present tower is a replica, constructed in 1994. A short distance from this folly is the Shell Grotto . Designed by S. Gunston Tit, the structure was commissioned by Capel Hanbury Leigh and built in the 1830s. The garden historian Elisabeth Whittle describes the grotto as a "magnificent survivor". The interior

338-473: The Italian Gardens (refurbished in 2006) and the Nant-y-Gollen Ponds (originally one large millpond used to power a forge downstream). Three main avenues divide the park; they all merge at the leisure centre near the park's centre. The park is set mostly to open grassland and mixed woodland with many old sweet chestnuts . One of the oldest, a 400-year-old hollow tree, was voted Welsh Tree of

364-516: The Year for 2019. In 1923, the Gorsedd stone circle was created in time for the park to host the 1924 National Eisteddfod of Wales . The park is listed at Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales . The Folly Tower is a three-storey tower near the eastern edge of the park. Originally constructed by John Hanbury in 1762, it was demolished during

390-494: The blast furnace at Melin Cwrt , near Neath . Hanbury continued his Pontypool and Llanelly ironworks for the rest of his life and they passed to his descendants with the rest of his Pontypool estate. The observations included details of the production costs of iron and "Pontpoole plates". Edward Lhwyd in 1697 described the process for making these as involving a rolling mill . Hanbury's Observations do not include tin among

416-413: The costs, which suggests that his Pontypool plates were blackplate (plates of iron), not tinplate . This is confirmed by its being sold by the ton, not by the box. This may be to prevent the plates rusting that Thomas Allgood , one of Hanbury's managers, began japanning plates as " Pontypool japan ". However, the concept of rolling plate iron was probably brought to Pontypool by Thomas Cooke, probably

442-405: The entrance to the park, were a gift from Sarah, and originally stood between Hanbury's house and the stables, before being moved to their present position in around 1835. They have a Grade II* listing . The present house at Pontypool Park was developed by John Hanbury (1744–1784) in the late 17th or very early 18th century. Hanbury continued his grandfather's development both of the business and

468-478: The estate and in around 1762, he built the folly tower as an eyecatcher . His third son, Capel Hanbury, who subsequently appended Leigh to his surname, also worked to enhance the estate. Archdeacon Coxe stayed during his Welsh tours in 1799-1800, and described a visit to the tower in the company of Hanbury-Leigh and his wife: "From this eminence, the wild and fertile parts of Monmouthshire are beautifully combined. No traveller should quit Monmouthshire without enjoying

494-472: The estate at Pontypool . The estate included ironworks, some of which had long belonged to members of the family. Soon after his father's death he wrote down his observations about his ironworks. He had a blast furnace , forges (probably two), and mills (including a slitting mill ) at Pontypool and a further furnace and forge at Llanelly (then in Breconshire ). In 1708, he also became interested in

520-567: The singular and almost boundless prospect". In the 1830s, Hanbury Leigh undertook a large expansion of the house, doubling its size, the construction of new stables to the northwest of the house, and the Shell Grotto in the park. The stables, which now house the Torfaen Museum , are listed Grade II* on Cadw 's historic buildings record. After the death of John Capel Hanbury in 1921, his daughter Ruth Julia Margarette Hanbury inherited

546-525: The son of Thomas Cooke, who had worked at Wolverley for Andrew Yarranton , who found out how to produce tinplate by visiting Saxony . The first production of tinplate at Pontypool seems to date from 1725, when this commodity first appears in the Gloucester Port Books. This immediately follows the first appearance (in French of Réaumur 's Principes de l'art de fer-blanc ), but prior to

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572-427: The southern edge of the park forms the town's war memorial . They were erected in 1924, following the gift of the gardens to the town of Pontypool in 1920, by Ruth Tenison on her coming of age. They are a Grade II listed structure . Pontypool's main leisure centre is located within the park. A dry ski slope was constructed in the park in 1975 and remains in use. The park also has outside tennis and netball courts and

598-572: The wider Pontypool Park Estate. After marrying on 18 December 1923 and deciding to raise a family at her husband's Anglo-Irish estate in County Monaghan, Ireland , Ruth sold-off parts of the estate, selling the gardens and park to Pontypool Urban District Council and giving the house to the Roman Catholic Church. The house continues as a school, and the park is maintained by Torfaen County Borough Council . The park occupies

624-642: Was a member of the Garden History Society from the early 1980s and between 1989 and 1997 co-edited, with Jane Crawley, their journal Garden History . She has a particular interest in Tudor and Stuart gardens. In 1991 she re-created the 15th-century garden of Sir Roger Vaughan at Tretower Court in Powys , Wales. She also discovered evidence of the 17th-century appearance of the gardens at Raglan Castle , now destroyed, which has been published in

650-676: Was one of a dynasty of ironmasters responsible for the industrialisation and urbanisation of the eastern valley through which runs the Afon Llwyd (in English "grey river") in Monmouthshire around Pontypool . Hanbury is most notable for introducing the rolling process of tinplating in the early 18th century. Hanbury was born into a family ultimately from Hanbury, Worcestershire , and was christened in Gloucester in 1664. Hanbury

676-462: Was the son of Capel Hanbury (1625–1704), who in turn was the third son of the first John Hanbury of Pursall Green. Hanbury was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Gloucester in December 1701. He did not stand in the 1702 general election but regained the seat in a contested by-election in December 1702. He retained his seat in the 1705 general election but did not stand in 1708. At

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