Pontymoile Gates

The Pontymoile entrance was the original entrance to Pontypool Park house owned by the Hanbury family. There was a small lodge adjacent to the river which was demolished in the late 1950’s.

The gates themselves are Grade II* listed by CADW and are affectionately known as the Sally gates. Sally was the Duchess of Marlborough and local legend has it that they were a present to the Hanbury family for their help with the execution of her late husbands will.

Research has shown that the columns and gates are likely to have been made around 1850, but were altered in later years, as seen by the additional dog bars. This was probably done to allow larger carriages and then motorised vehicles into the Park.

A report in the December 1933 edition of the Pontypool Free Press states that Mr T E Deakin produced the specification for the gates in July 1835 and this was found amongst papers belonging to Mr Stanley Tudor Roderick, the well-known Pontypool musician and band master. (The bandstand in the Park is erected in memory of Mr Roderick and the musical contribution he made to the town.)

The gates have been restored using traditional techniques with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cadw and Torfaen County Borough Council.