History in Structure

Ivy Tower

A Grade II Listed Building in Tonna, Neath Port Talbot

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.67 / 51°40'12"N

Longitude: -3.7708 / 3°46'14"W

OS Eastings: 277640

OS Northings: 198291

OS Grid: SS776982

Mapcode National: GBR H4.5VMB

Mapcode Global: VH5GN.L9D3

Plus Code: 9C3RM6CH+2M

Entry Name: Ivy Tower

Listing Date: 20 June 1963

Last Amended: 25 February 2000

Grade: II

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 11768

Building Class: Domestic

ID on this website: 300011768

Location: Approximately 0.7km S of Tonna church, prominently sited on high ground to the E of Dan-y-lan Farm.

County: Neath Port Talbot

Community: Tonna

Community: Tonna

Locality: Dan-y-lan Farm

Traditional County: Glamorgan

Tagged with: Folly

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History

Erected c1780 by John Johnson, architect of Leicester, as an eye-catcher folly at the NE end of the Gnoll grounds. It comprised a 2-storey castellated summer house.

Johnson had an extensive private practice and built or altered many country houses, mostly in Essex and the Midlands. He was a business associate of Sir Herbert Mackworth, with whom he established a bank in Bond Street in 1785. Mackworth employed Johnson to design the castellated Georgian front to Gnoll House, while Johnson's other major work in S Wales was Clasemont House near Swansea of c1775 but demolished in 1819.

The extensive park and grounds at the Gnoll had been laid out for Sir Humphrey Mackworth 1724-7, followed by its extension with an informal cascade in the 1740s. The Ivy Tower and other follies, including a gazebo sited above a grotto, were added by Sir Herbert Mackworth in the 1780s. The late C18 was the heyday of the Gnoll grounds, although it was revived in the C19 by the Grant family and Charles Evan Thomas. The estate was acquired by the local authority in 1923. The Ivy Tower, detached from the main grounds, was gutted by a fire in 1910 and has subsequently fallen into ruin.

Exterior

A ruined and ivy-clad 2-storey castellated tower of rubble stone. It is octagonal and buttressed in the lower stage and circular above, with a string course between. The lower stage has segmental-headed windows in the cardinal directions, with a segmental-headed doorway to the SW, while the upper storey has windows and a doorway on the SE side with 2-centred heads, above which are small quatrefoil recesses. The castellated parapet projects forward.

Inside is a fireplace on the NW side with the chimney accommodated in the castellations.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its architectural interest as a prominent example of an eye-catcher folly associated with the Gnoll Estate.

External Links

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

Other nearby listed buildings

  • II Mosshouse Wood Cascade
    On the NE side of the Gnoll Estate E of Mosshouse Wood reservoir.
  • II Grotto in Gnoll Estate
    At the NE end of the Gnoll Estate on the hillside immediately W of the informal cascade.
  • II Penlan-fach bridge
    On an unclassified road to Wenallt Farm approximately 1km ESE of Tonna church spanning a stream and the former Glyncorrwg Mineral Railway.
  • II Church of St Anne
    Set back on the S side of the main B4434 through the village.
  • II Nazareth Chapel
    On the S side of the main B4434 through the village on the E side of the junction with School Road, and set back from the main road behind a railed forecourt.
  • II Tyn yr Heol
    Set back from the main B4434 through the village 0.7km SW of Tonna church. In its own grounds with rubble boundary wall and stone gate-piers to the drive.
  • II Lock House
    On the S side of the Neath Canal facing the lock. The house backs on to and stands at the foot of Lock Hill on the N side of Henfaes Road.
  • II Stable at Neath Canal Depot
    On the E side and in the garden of Lock House on the S side of the Neath Canal.

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