Cefn Ila is a 83 acres (34 ha) woodland located in Llanbadoc, a mile away from Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, currently owned and run by the The Woodland Trust Wales (Coed Cadw).[1][2]
Originally developed as a hunting lodge and then medieval manor house, it was bought in the mid-Victorian era by Edward Trelawney, a friend of notable poets Byron and Shelley, who extensively redeveloped the gardens as a then modern pleasure gardens through extensive terracing. After his death, new owner Joseph Lister employed architect Alfred Waterhouse to rebuild the main house as a picturesque large cottage manor house. After his death in 1885 in a riding accident on the estate, it was bought by French-exile Gustavus Ducarel, the 4th Marquis de la Pasture.[3]
Post World War 1, with the estate virtually abandoned by the now again French-resident family, in 1925 the entire estate was annexed to Pontypool Hospital, and after development reopened on 3 October 1925 as the the "Kate Ayres Gustard Convalescent Home", providing care for up to 24 women and children.[4] Used from September 1939 as a child evacuation centre in the phoney war leading up to World War 2, it then became a war casualty convalescence unit. Post war, in 1947 it was reopened as a maternity hospital, with accommodation for up to 18 patients.[3]
During the early hours of Friday 14 September 1973,[5] only two weeks after a fire inspection, a fire consumed the entire main property. As today, only the stable block survived (now home to a protected roost of bats), and the patients transferred to County Hospital in Griffithstown near Pontypool.[3]
As the house and estate fell into ruin, the surrounding lands and resultant naturally developed wood were bought at auction in 2007 by Coed Cadw.[2] The site is located a few miles away from Wentwood Forest, which is the largest ancient woodland site in Wales.[1]
Since taking ownership, Coed Cadw have since planted an additional 36,000 broadleaf trees. The long term plan is to develop a mosaic of habitats, from grasslands through wild flower meadows to an arboretum, which will be a combination of the original Victorian planting, local heritage fruit trees, plus new broadleaf varieties. The wildlife within the parklands includes a maternity roost for bats, and habitats for a number of birds including song thrush and marsh tit. Today the site is a Cadw designated Historic Park and Garden, and a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.[6]
Coed Cadw are working with the Usk Rural Life Museum, to record and communicate the history of the site to visitors. In April 2014, the trust received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £297,700,[6] to enable formal visitor groups and educational institutes to visit a fully restored walled garden and developed woodlands, together with associated visitor facilities.[5]