Pool Park country house is located about 4km to the south-west of Ruthin on a multi-period site with origins in the medieval period, and was the seat of two important families: the Salesburys and, later, the Bagots. It is notable for its fine landscape park (700109), its unusual garden terraced mound, and its well-preserved kitchen garden (700110).

The house is set within extensive gardens which had taken on much of their present form by the beginning of the nineteenth century. They fall into distinct areas. The main, formal garden, lies east of the house. To the north are further formal compartments and to the west is an informal, wooded area. Further from the house, beyond the formal gardens on the east front, is a wooded valley - the Dingle - which was landscaped in a picturesque way.

Beyond the forecourt on the east front is a large mound, or mount, partly planted with trees and shrubs. It is a natural mound about 3.5m high, turned into a formal garden feature by cutting walks and terraces into some of its sides. On the west and north it is stepped, backed by sloping grass banks. The north side is elaborately sculpted, and on its lowest terrace there is a stone pillar about 1.4m high with Ogam inscriptions. The east side is laid out only with a gently sloping walk running its full length, below the top. The south side is without terraces. The top of the mount is a grass platform bounded by steep grass banks. In the middle is an ornate sandstone sundial, about 1.5m high. The north side is carved with the initials C S (Charles Salusbury) and on the east side is the date 1661.

To the north-east of the house is a gently sloping lawned area dotted with trees, extending to the park boundary, the former main drive running northwards across it from the forecourt. The slope is interrupted by a levelled bowling green, cut into the slope on the south side below a small, overgrown rockery area. Further north is the site of tennis courts, now seemingly overgrown.
The valley to the east, or the Dingle, is a steep-sided small river valley, precipitous on the west side. It is planted mainly with conifers, with a forestry plantation on the east side. Upstream, near the drive, is a single-arched stone bridge on stone abutments, with a low parapet, about 0.3m high. There are no signs of paths leading to this bridge.
West of the house the slope is revetted, above which is a rock-cut path running north-south through woodland, which includes specimen conifers. It is accessed by a flight of steps up from from the lawn area. The path originally joined a network of informal paths through a large wooded area to the west of the house; these are now inaccessible.

Sources:
Cadw Historic Assets Database (ref: PGW(C)76 (DEN)).
Infoterra (Google Maps) imagery (accessed 31.08.2021).

RCAHMW, 25 April 2022

Site Record

Pool Park Garden, Efenechtyd