PGW(Gd)37(GWY)

Penmaenuchaf  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Dolgellau  

269954  

318339  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Formal terraces, lawns, woodland walks, water garden, small enclosed gardens, kitchen garden.  

Late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  

Registered for its historic interest as a well-preserved nineteenth-century terraced garden associated with Penmaenuchaf house (now a hotel) and set within a wooded park which consists almost entirely of mixed, ornamental woodlands, forming a setting for the gardens. It seems likely that an open park would have existed in the eighteenth century but by the time of the 1888 Ordnance Survey map the woodlands are in existence. There were some walks and rides within them at the end of the nineteenth century, but open space was provided by a large lawn to the south-east of the house. A few paths are shown on the 1888 map and some of the paths were probably made in the twentieth century. The present main drive (shown on the 1888 OS map) approaches from the east, rising gradually up the steep slope then swinging out in a great loop around the house which it approaches from the south-west. The rear drive approaches from the west and shares an access with the model farm, built in the 1860s as the home farm to Penmaenuchaf (LB: 5179 & various; NPRN: 403004) and the stable block. The original main approach came straight to the front (east side) of the house from the east, then passed to the south round to the stables, but was moved just before 1888 to make way for the formal terraced garden. Tracks from the areas around the house and stables lead variously to the tanks and reservoir which supplied the house with water; to the tennis court; and to estate properties in the woodland including Wood Lawn, the former keeper's cottage with kennels and pheasantry. There are other tracks now disused. The woodland near all three drives contains under-planting of rhododendron and laurel. Nearby, in the vicinity of the house, are various exotic and specimen plantings. Ponds were created and a tennis court was made, as well as recreational woodland walks. The garden now consists of several small, varied areas of different character, created fairly recently, partly out of the former kitchen garden since it was relocated. There is a gravelled terrace around the house on the north and east, with a viewing terrace, now lawned, leading off this to the north-west. The terrace around the house and the viewing terrace are shown on the 1888 25-in. Ordnance Survey map, and are thus relatively early features. The main garden terraces to the east of the house appear to have been added at the end of the nineteenth century and are shown on the 1901 OS map. The upper terrace is roughly rectangular with a central path, borders round the edge and lawns. The lower terrace is also more or less rectangular (both taper on the south side), its long axis at right-angles to that of the upper terrace. It is gravelled (replacing slate paving) with a central circular pool and fountain surrounded by an arrangement of beds. The terraces with balustrades and retaining walls, complete the intricate, formal area around the house. South of the house, on the far side of the drive and forecourt, is an irregularly-shaped pond divided by a causeway. These, both in style and by their absence from the early maps, are later additions to the garden. The woodland immediately south of the pond contains small natural streams enhanced by culverting and the creation of tiny pools and waterfalls, with narrow, stone-edged paths, and was probably part of the original nineteenth-century design. The tanks which used to provide the water supply for the house are at the top of this slope and now overflow into the streams, which ultimately join and flow into the eastern pond, over an artificial, stepped waterfall. The original kitchen garden was located immediately west of the house. At some point the garden was moved, probably in the early twentieth century, as gardens around the house were developed. Certain aspects of the landscape reveal the hand of Charles Reynolds Williams of nearby Dolmelynllyn (PGW(Gd)33(GWY)) in particular the treatment of the wooded area with small streams and slate-slab bridges, south of the ponds, and even the water supply arrangements (installed during the same period) which are reminiscent of Dolmelynllyn. But how far he went at Penmaenuchaf is, however, uncertain. Setting: Penmaenuchaf (NPRN: 28639) is situated on the south side of the Mawddach valley west of Dolgellau, with good views over the estuary. Views: There are good views over the Mawddach valley from the top of the lawn, enhanced by the specimen trees planted below the terraces, which add interest to the foreground. Views from the house and garden across the estuary. Source: Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 236-42 (ref: PGW(Gd)36(GWY).