Erddig House, West Front © Denise Startin

I have returned from the Yale Hostel at Erddig (which dates back to the 17th Century) where I  completed a 6 week Micro Residency as Artist Researcher (Interpretation) for the Archaeology Team. I will be posting the results of my time spent at Erddig and extrapolating links between art and archaeology in a series of blogs. I am currently processing the research of which there is a significant amount relating to A] Deep Mapping: Stories in the Landscape, B] The Map & The Territory, C] Documenting the Process and D] Visualising and Representing the Data. This process meant conducting research on and off site utilising the Erddig collection online, the collection in the house itself, field research in the landscape and the Erddig Archives in nearby Flintshire. In the meantime here is a brief overview of the landscape at Erddig, its archaeological monuments and the Archaeological Historic Landscape Survey.

The Landscape
The grounds at Erddig (pronounced Erthig) contain numerous features of Archaeological significance dating back to Early Medieval (5th-10thC) & Medieval times (up to 15thC). The earliest recorded man-made feature within the parkland is Wat’s Dyke which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is currently dated circa 8^th Century, although several articles I have consulted cannot seem to corroborate this. Wat’s Dyke is a linear earthwork consisting of a bank & ditch designed to erect a boundary around the land for the purpose of enclosure and defence. It is likely that natural features of the landscape were incorporated into the design of the Dyke allowing a high bank with a ditch to run along the length of a territorial boundary between Wales & England. Wat’s Dyke, approx. 64 kilometres in length, runs through the Erddig estate and along the remaining site of a Motte & Bailey Castle (circa 12th Century). The Motte & Bailey (also a Scheduled Ancient Monument) overlooks the Dyke to the north of Erddig House. The Motte, which is a raised earthwork would have consisted of a strategically placed wooden building perhaps 2 storeys high and the associated Bailey, on a different site nearby, would have served an administrative function i.e stables, outbuildings, forges etc.

Also of Archaeological significance are the Cup and Saucer Waterfall, by landscape  designer William Emes (1774). This cylindrical manmade vertical waterfall and Grade II* Listed Structure is the inflow to John Blake’s patented (1890) Hydraulic Ram Pump nearby (also a Grade II listed structure) which pumps water up to the house and gardens. Other key archaeological features include the Ridge & Furrow (signs of past agricultural use in the parkland) The Kings Mill & Mills Leats (water-mills with their “associated wiers and sluices 18th Century”) [1]. The Designed Parkland (or Pleasure Gardens), at Erddig is a Cadw “Grade I listed Parkland of international importance”. This means that the Erddig landscape is highly significant historically as well as archaeologically, Cadw state there are only approximately 10% of these sites with a Grade I listing*. The Designed Garden, is one of the finest examples (albeit an accurately and carefully reconstructed interpretation of the original design) of a formal 18th Century garden in the ‘Dutch’ style with later Victorian additions. The Archaeological Survey also includes features that have been lost from the designed landscape such as the The Dairy or China House and smaller outbuildings which were demolished due to their state of disrepair. [1]

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