Scolton Manor

Scolton Manor is a Victorian country house and country park located in Pembrokeshire, West Wales northeast of Haverfordwest and on the borders of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Built as a home, it is now a museum and is a Grade II* listed building. The stable court, some 120 m (130 yd) to the north, is also a Grade II listed building^[1] and both are owned by Pembrokeshire County Council.^[2][3] The gardens and parkland are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The house, grounds and a number of exhibits are open to the public.

Approach to Scolton Manor

History

Designed by local architects William and James Owen, Scolton Manor was built in 1840^[4] and occupied from 1842 by the Higgon family. The house replaced a former building owned by the same family, which had burned down in the mid-eighteenth century. Prominent amongst Pembrokeshire society, three Higgon family members held the position of High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire, including the last resident, Lt Col John Henry Victor Higgon (1902–1987).^[5][6][7] It is a country house built in a neo-classical style, with unpainted stucco, with a slated, hipped roofs and flat overhanging eaves.^[2]

Taken over by Pembrokeshire County Council, the grounds have become a country park and the house has been restored. Both are open to the public. Scolton Manor is home to Pembrokeshire's County Museum Service.^[8]

Exhibitions

House and outbuildings

Nursery

Dining room

Study

The exhibition hall displays the broad-ranging history of Pembrokeshire including natural history, geology, employment and trade, life during World War II and the Gwalia stores. The David Burton-Richardson Collection and Archive of paintings, drawings and artefacts relating to the artist's life is housed at Scolton Manor Museum. "From Now to Zero", a retrospective exhibition of David Burton-Richardson's works was held in 2005.

The outbuildings display collections reflecting Pembrokeshire country life, including stables and carriages,^[4][9] the traditional skills of carpenter and blacksmith, the relationship between the poacher and gamekeeper and a Gulbenkian-nominated VARDA gypsy caravan.

Grounds

The grounds include a Victorian walled garden, the Pembrokeshire Beekeeping Centre, opened in July 2014 at the same time as the inauguration of the walled garden,^[10] a pineapple house, which in 2018 produced what is believed to be the first pineapple grown in Wales for over 100 years^[11] and Margaret, a Fox Walker & Co 0-6-0 locomotive supplied to the Maenclochog and Rosebush railway in 1878.^[4] The gardens and parkland are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.^[12]