Slate boundary wall

The slate boundary wall at Temple in Bisham is a Grade II listed structure, approximately 150 meters long, made from Welsh slate, likely sourced from the Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda, Gwynedd. It was probably erected around 1790 as part of the Temple House estate. The wall features thin sawn slate boards with roughly rounded tops, linked together by timber rails. Larger square slate uprights are positioned at intervals for support; these appear to have been machine-cut with a circular saw and may date from a later mid-19th century phase.

Temple House, which has since been demolished, was constructed in 1790 by Samuel Wyatt for Thomas Williams, a mill owner from Anglesey. Samuel Wyatt's brother was the agent for Lord Penrhyn, the owner of the main slate quarry, and the Wyatt family was known for promoting the use of Welsh slate in their architectural projects. This boundary wall represents a unique example of slate being used for fencing in an English context, illustrating the spread of this Welsh technique to England as a result of the Industrial Revolution.