The original Mount Stuart House was destroyed by far in the eighteenth century. The building was replaced with a Neo-Gothic mansion. The 2nd Earl of Bute began to lay out the grounds in 1717. His work was considerably expanded on by his son, the 3rd Earl of Bute and founder of Kew Gardens. Thomas Mawson designed the rock garden and a walk replicating the Via Dolorosa (the route Christ took to Calvary with the Cross). There is a magnificent old Lime Tree Avenue and a collection of endangered conifers.