TODAY we look at the history and architecture of one of Pembrokeshire’s beloved attractions.
Scolton Manor in Spittal near Haverfordwest, is a Victorian manor house and gardens which is popular with local residents and visitors alike.
Here we take a look at the origins of the building, its architecture and how it has gone from a private family home to popular tourist attraction and education facility.
The history of Scolton Manor
Scolton Manor was built in 1840 and was designed by William and James Owen.
It was built for the Higgon family who had resided on the land since the 16th century. It is believed to have cost £3,000.
The first Higgon to live in the manor was said to be James Higgon who died in 1732.
He had married Porthelly woman Elinor Harries and the manor passed through their male descendants until John Donald George Higgon.
The Higgon family was prominent in Pembrokeshire, with three members having held the position of High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire.
It is said that the original property had burnt down – believed to have been caused by lightning – in the mid-18th century, and the family moved to Haverfordwest where they lived until the new manor was ready in 1841.
The aforementioned John Higgon was one of the first to move into the newly built Scolton Manor in the 1840s and on his death in 1898.
His wife Edith Emily Higgon (nee Thompson) inherited the estate until her death in 1937.
Their son John Higgon was due to inherit the estate, but he died in France during the First World War. There is a portrait of him in the manor house to this day.
It is said that in the Second World War, the home was used as a convalescent hospital
In 1972, the couple’s grandson Colonel John Henry Victor Higgon – who was a prisoner of war during the Second World War - sold the estate to Pembrokeshire County Council, who converted it into Scolton Manor Museum and Country Park as many know it today.
The manor house is a Grade II* listed building, and the stable court is a Grade II listed building.
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What is the building’s architecture?
The Victorian manor house currently has 11 period rooms on show as part of the museum, with thousands of artifacts relating to life in Pembrokeshire across the ages.
The exterior is in a restrained neo-classical style with unpainted stucco, lined as ashlar with slate hipped roofs and flat overhanging eaves.
There is rendered chimney stacks, a number of windows with raised plinths, sill band at first floor and band under eaves.
The house’s floor plan had a stone flagged vestibule and broad hall which has a cantilever staircase made of Bath stone and one of the surviving pieces of furniture from the Higgon’s ownership of the manor is a mahogany cupboard and secretaire which was made by the Owens who designed the manor.
There is a drawing room with a foliage and flower ceiling border and ornate gilded pelmets to window matching a big mirror on side table and white marble neo-Grecian fireplace, centre library with four inset small bookcases, and dining room with lotus-leaf rose to ceiling and white marble fireplace with paterae and fine iron grate.
There is a service wing with cellar, servant’s stair, butler’s pantry, servants’ hall and kitchen. The first floor has three bedrooms, two dressing rooms, six panel doors and panelled shutters.
Scolton Manor has a number of activities on and is open to the public.
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