Slebech

Picton Castle

The estates, gardens and parkland of Picton Castle was once part of the larger Manor of Wiston, but had become a separate holding, replacing Wiston Castle by the 13th century. Picton Castle began as a motte castle and was reconstructed in stone by the Wogan family during the 13th century. In 1405 French troops supporting Owain Glyndŵr attacked and held the Castle, and it was seized again during the English Civil War in 1645 by Parliamentary forces.[5]

The Picton Castle estate was acquired by the Phillips family when Sir Thomas ap Philip of Cilsant married Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Dwnn, of Picton in the 1490s.[6] Sir John Philipps, who inherited the castle in the 15th century, remodelled the building and created a new entrance which remained until the 1820s when a new entrance was designed by Thomas Rowlands (who also designed Slebech Church).[7]

The estate remained with the Phillips family until the death of Lord Milford, in 1823, when it was inherited by his cousin (through female lines) Richard Grant, who assumed the surname Philipps and was created a Baronet in 1828 and Baron Milford in 1847. His heir was his half-brother, the Reverend James Henry Alexander Philipps (formerly Gwyther), who assumed by royal licence the surname and arms of Philipps. On his death the estate passed to his son-in-law, Charles Edward Gregg Philipps, who was created a Baronet in 1887 (see Philipps Baronets), then to Sir Richard Foley Foley-Philipps, cousin of Sir John Erasmus, and grandson of Charles Edward Gregg Philipps.[6] Now run by the Picton Castle Trust, the present owner, Jeremy Philipps, lives in a lodge in the grounds.[5]

Slebech Hall

Slebech Park developed from estates belonging to the Knights Hospitaller and their Commandery at Slebech Church. After the dissolution the Barlow family built Slebech Mansion near the site of the Commandery, and established Slebech Park.[8] The Hall is a grade II* listed building [9][10] and its stable block is grade II listed.[11]

After the death of George Barlow in 1757, having no son the land passed to his daughter Anne, who married William Trevanion of Cornwall and after his death, John Symmons of Llanstinan. Symmons sold the estate to William Knox of London, High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire for 1786, who in turn sold it to Nathaniel Phillips (High Sheriff for 1796).[12]

Nathaniel Phillips was born in England in 1733, the illegitimate son of a merchant trading between London and Kingston, Jamaica. Following his father he arrived at Kingston in April 1759 and used his father's connections to join a partnership with the Kingston merchants who owned sugar plantations which supported the slave trade to obtain workers. Over twenty five years he built a fortune and his Jamaican properties were valued £160,000 Jamaica currency, as well as ownership of 706 slaves valued at £50,000. In 1793, he bought the estate at Slebech from a bankrupt slaver. As well as Slebech Hall, which he had re-modelled by Anthony Keck,[13] Phillips bought 600 acres (2.4 km²) of park land and woodland. In 1796 he married Mary, a Philipps forty years younger than him and had two sons (Nathaniel and Edward Augustus) and two daughters (Mary Dorothea and Louisa Catharine). After his death, Phillips' heirs continued to operate the Jamaican estates but they became unprofitable after the end of slavery in 1834.[14]

Slebech Hall and Eastern Cleddau

After the death of Edward, the estate passed to Mary Dorothea and her sister, Louisa Catherine, the Countess of Lichfield, as co-heiress. In 1821 Mary Dorothea met Charles Frederick Baron de Rutzen of Germany in Rome. A Polish nobleman and descendant of Field Marshal Potemkin,[15] they married in 1822 and became Lords of the Manors of Slebech. Their eldest son, Baron Frederick Leopold Sapieha Manteuffel (High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire for 1871), died and the estate passed to his younger brother, Baron Rudolph William Henry Ehrard (High Sheriff for 1895), who was succeeded by his nephew, Alan Frederick James. Their third son, Albert Richard Francis Maximilien married Horatia Augusta Stepney Gulston, of Carmarthenshire and their eldest son, Alan Frederick James married Eleanor Etna Audley Thursby Pelham, in 1908.[16] Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Henry Archibald Anson VC MP, (5 March 1835 – 17 November 1877), recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Crimean War, was born at Slebech Hall.[17] John Frederick Foley de Rutzen married Sheila Victoria Katrin Philipps, of Picton Castle, and their only child, Victoria Anne Elizabeth Gwynne de Rutzen, married Sir Francis Dashwood of West Wycombe Park.[12]

Their descendants managed both estates and in 2003 Geoffrey and Georgina Philipps developed the large stable block into a luxury hotel. It was the first project in Pembrokeshire to attract European Objective One funding and was also funded by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and the Wales Tourist Board. The Phillips family left the estate in 2014, which continues to operate as a hotel. Slebach Hall, however, is largely abandoned.[18]