Sources: Rosie Humphreys, CADW
All images © Rosie Humphreys
Llanwern Park, an old though relatively small estate to the east of Llanwern village, was purchased by Lewis Van in about 1630. The house was built around 1760 for Charles Van
Charles Van had married into the Morgan family of Tredegar. The father and three brothers of his wife, Catherine, were all MPs - something that Van, after several embarrassingly unsuccessful attempts, eventually himself managed to emulate in 1772
Charles Van's daughter, also named Catherine, married Sir Robert Salusbury, 1st Baronet, who also became an MP, and High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, before being jailed for bankruptcy in 1816
In the late 19th Century the estate was leased, and eventually purchased, by the industrialist (and MP)
David Alfred Thomas (later Viscount Rhondda).
The house was restored, with terraced ornamental gardens and a kitchen garden
The watercolours shown here were painted by DA Thomas's sister-in-law
Charlotte W Haig in 1907
A water channel ran the length of the garden
Neither of the ornamental and kitchen gardens survive in any form, having been turned over to agricultural use
The house itself was demolished around 1950.
All that remains is a brick-lined underground ice house.
A bungalow was later built at the site