A SLICE of Gwent’s history with a hidden gem of an attraction is up for sale for £1.95 million.
Dewstow House and Gardens is on the market – including the stunning grottoes discovered by owners John and Lisa Harris when they bought the site in 2000.
Mr and Mrs Harris bought their Victorian home near Caldicot for £550,000, and it is now up for sale after the couple have decided to focus on their other part of the business – Dewstow Golf Club.
But Mr Harris said it wasn’t a decision that was easy to make.
He said: “It wasn’t a decision made lightly but it’s simply to allow us to refocus on the golf course and club which are part of the Dewstow complex. We just felt it was the right time to put the gardens up for sale.”
The ‘lost’ gardens were discovered after Mr and Mrs Harris began to clear up parts of the garden and came across a step at the foot of the bank.
Mr Harris said: “We began to investigate further and it became an excavation project.
It was more by accident than design.”
But the accident led to the discovery of the network of tunnels, waterfalls and underground grottoes which had been buried under thousands of tons of soil for more than 50 years after being built around 1895.
After enquiries started to come in about the gardens, the couple decided to open them up to the public.
The gardens and grottoes are currently open daily throughout the summer, attracting more than 20,000 visitors a year.
Although the couple have no definite plans in place yet as to where they will move, they plan to stay local with their three children Megan, 13, William, 11 and Molly, ten.
History of the gardens
HENRY Oakley became the owner of Dewstow Gardens in 1893.
Mr Oakley, or Squire Oakley as he was known locally, was a director of the Great Western Railway but also had an interest in growing fern, tropical flowers and plants.
This led to him commissioning London-based James Pulham and Son to create the unique garden shortly after he took over Dewstow.
The gardens were buried around the 1940s and 50s but, after excavation, although some parts needed repairing other parts remained as good as the day they were built.
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