Tredegar House at Christmas

On 1 December, I took an impromptu day off work, so decided to head to Tredegar House to take a look at the Christmas decorations.

The red-brick Restoration mansion near Newport in south Wales is one of my favourite places for a weekend walk, but for some reason I’ve never gotten around to writing about it on the blog.

When I arrived at 10.30am, the house wasn’t open yet, so I set off for a walk around the 90 acres of surrounding parkland.

I passed the house and the 200-year-old sweet chestnut tree that’s protected by a wooden fence (above), in the direction of the estate’s large lake.

The lake is home to lots of swans, herons, coots and ducks, and I’ve been known to spend a fair bit of time photographing the wildlife.

I decided to follow my usual route, walking along the edge of the lake, then through the woods that border it and around the park.

Unlike on the weekends when it’s often filled with families and dog walkers, the park was really quiet and I only passed a few other people during my stroll.

Having looped around the park, I made my way back towards the house (which was now open) and after buying my ticket, headed inside to the formal gardens.

The house boasts three formal gardens, as well as the informal Laundry Garden, where the house’s fresh produce is grown.

I began my visit in the Orchard Garden, which as its name suggests is home to a number of apple trees and which had been decorated for Christmas with a series of lights.

There’s a small door in the red brick wall at the edge of the garden that takes visitors to the adjoining Laundry Garden (above).

As it was winter, the garden was fairly sparse but there were quite a few leafy greens and alliums growing in the vegetable plots.

The Cedar Garden (above) is so-called because of the enormous 250-year-old Cedar of Lebanon tree that takes pride of place in its centre.

The striking tree had been wrapped in fairy lights for Christmas and it looked really pretty twinkling in the sunlight.

The garden is also home to a stone obelisk that honours Sir Briggs, the beloved horse on which Sir Godfrey Morgan, Lord of Tredegar, rode into battle at the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

Next door is the Orangery Garden and after walking around the parterre garden, I popped inside the red-brick orangery (above), which is home to the Cefn Mabli Shovelboard (below).

The 42-foot long shovelboard is the longest table made from a single piece of oak in the UK.

It was carved during the English Civil War and used to be housed in nearby Cefn Mabli House.

The Orangery leads to the stables, where there was a small Christmas display in front of the stalls (above).

The stables have to be one of the most impressive stable blocks in the UK (above).

It’s a spectacularly beautiful building and its sheer splendour shows how much the Morgan family, who used to own Tredegar House, must have valued its horses.

After looking around the stables, I found myself in the courtyard leading up to the house and passing through the grand gates (below), I went inside.

The house was built in the 17th century by Sir William Morgan and his wife Blanche, and remained in the Morgan family until the death of Evan Morgan in 1949.

Evan, one of the Bright Young Things, was renowned for his parties and for dabbling in black magic, and he blew most of the family fortune.

After his death, the house was inherited by distant relatives who promptly sold it to the Catholic Church.

The church turned it into a girls’ school, before selling it to Newport Council in 1974, which restored the house for the public. Today, it’s in the care of the National Trust.

The ground floor rooms are quite dark because of the wood panelling and the walls are adorned with the portraits of various Morgan family members.

Much of the Morgan family fortune was made in the 19th century when Sir Charles Gould Morgan leased swathes of the 40,000 acres he owned across south Wales to various mine owners, who then exploited the land for its coal.

The staff and volunteers at Tredegar House had made a real effort with the Christmas decorations and all the rooms featured nods to the festive period.

One of my favourite rooms was the nursery because it was less formal than some of the others and looked a nice, cosy place in which to curl up with a book on a cold winter’s morning.

Upstairs, the house tells the story of Evan Morgan and his wife Princess Olga Sergeivna Dolgorouky, to whom he was married for four years from 1939.

The tour takes visitors through Evan’s bedroom and bathroom, along with Olga’s bedroom and sitting room.

According to one of the volunteers I spoke to, the upstairs of the house is decorated much as it would have been during Evan and Olga’s day, as the renovaters’ consulted Princess Olga during its restoration.

Having seen all there was to see upstairs, I made my way down to the servants’ quarters via the back stairs.

The servants’ quarters include a huge kitchen (above), a game larder, a pastry room and a meat room, as well as a servants’ hall (below), which isn’t always open to the public.

Before leaving, I took a look inside the housekeeper’s cosy and inviting sitting room (below).

After exiting the house, I stopped by the small café opposite for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

As always, I enjoyed my visit to Tredegar House – it was a really pleasant and relaxing way to kick off the festive season.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful time over the festive period. Merry Christmas!

Info

Tredegar House, Pencarn Way, Newport NP10 8YW
£11 adults, £5.50 children
nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/tredegar-house