History in Structure

Offa's Pool Dam

A Grade II Listed Building in Forden with Leighton and Trelystan (Ffordun gyda Tre'r-llai a Threlystan), Powys

We don't have any photos of this building yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

Coordinates

Latitude: 52.6349 / 52°38'5"N

Longitude: -3.1035 / 3°6'12"W

OS Eastings: 325413

OS Northings: 304704

OS Grid: SJ254047

Mapcode National: GBR B2.70KZ

Mapcode Global: WH79X.91C9

Plus Code: 9C4RJVMW+XH

Entry Name: Offa's Pool Dam

Listing Date: 20 March 1998

Last Amended: 20 March 1998

Grade: II

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 19543

Building Class: Agriculture and Subsistence

ID on this website: 300019543

Location: Located approximately 1.7km SE of Leighton church and situated in a woodland plantation on the W side of a private forest road (also Offa's Dyke long distance footpath). The pool is fed by 2 streams.

County: Powys

Community: Forden with Leighton and Trelystan (Ffordun gyda Tre'r-llai a Threlystan)

Community: Forden with Leighton and Trelystan

Locality: Offa's Dyke

Traditional County: Montgomeryshire

Tagged with: Dam

Find accommodation in
Welshpool

History

Built with an earthen dam in the late 1850s and subsequently replaced by a brick dam. Offa's Pool is the uppermost of a series of ponds feeding Leighton Farm and Leighton Hall. It was specifically intended to supply water to drive turbines at Leighton Farm. The pool was part of the Leighton Estate, acquired by the Liverpool banker John Naylor in 1846-47. Naylor embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by W.H. Gee and completed by the mid 1850s. Naylor introduced new rational farming methods at Leighton, notably pioneering the recycling of manure as fertiliser and the use of turbines and funicular railways. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889. His grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931.

Exterior

Brick dam wall approximately 70m long which returns at either end into a natural bank. The inner face has shallow buttresses and the wall has a stone coping. On the exterior side of the wall is an earthen ramp. Mid way along the inner face is a cast iron sluice box.

Reasons for Listing

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Offa’s pool and its dam are an important element of this whole ensemble at Leighton. The dam demonstrates the scale of civil engineering undertaken at Leighton in the C19, and is specifically associated with the application of new technology on the 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 Hollybush Cottage
    Located approximately 1.3km SE of Leighton church and on S side of a private forest road E of Leighton Farm.
  • II Upper Cable House
    Located approximately 1km SE of Leighton church and reached by a path S of Leighton House.
  • II Leat to Park Pool
    Located approximately 1.0km SE of Leighton church and situated in a woodland plantation on the S side of a forest road. The leat extends from Hollybush Cottage to the E to a footbridge immediately E
  • II Bridge South East of Old Cable House
    Located approximately 0.5km E of Leighton Farm on the S side of a private forest road E of Leighton Farm at the foot of a woodland plantation. The bridge is SE of the Old Cable House. It spans a sto
  • II The Old Cable House
    Located approximately 1.0km SE of Leighton church and 0.5km E of Leighton Farm, on N side of an unmetalled road and at the foot of Moel y Mab. The tower and part of the vaulted tunnel are in the gard
  • II Park Cottage
    Located approximately 1.0km SSE of Leighton church on the N side of a minor road E of Leighton Farm and situated at the foot of a woodland plantation.
  • II Poultry Cottage
    Approximately 0.9m SE of Leighton Hall and reached from a minor road E of B4388 from which a short private road leads through a forestry plantation to the cottage. The cottage stands on raised ground
  • II Brook House
    Located approximately 1.0km SSE of Leighton church beneath Moel y Mab and situated on N side of an unmetalled track E of Leighton Farm. The house stands in a depression below the road.

BritishListedBuildings.co.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact BritishListedBuildings.co.uk for any queries related to any individual listed building, planning permission related to listed buildings or the listing process itself.

British Listed Buildings is a Good Stuff website.