Cleddon Hall stands in the Wye Valley, 6 mi (10 km) south of Monmouth, between the village of Trellech and the A466 at Llandogo.

The antiquarian and genealogist Joseph Bradney, in his A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time, described the couple as "possessed of views on life in strange discord to those of the simple-minded people among whom they settled".

[a][4] Religious sceptics, and supporters of women's rights and abortion, they lived in an open marriage at the hall with their children's tutor, Douglas Spalding.

[7] Although initially unconvinced when her husband suggested buying the estate, Katharine Russell came to appreciate Cleddon, becoming "quite enchanted with the wildness and beauty of the place".

[1] Cleddon is not listed by Cadw and the architectural historian John Newman does not mention the house in his Gwent/Monmouthshire volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series.