PGW(Dy)72(CER)

Cardigan Castle  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Ceredigion  

Cardigan  

217802  

245936  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Pleasure garden; kitchen garden  

1713; about 1808; 1827-30; 1924-39  

Registered for the survival of most of the structure, and some planting, of an interesting and unusual Regency period garden, set within the medieval castle ward. The ward was extensively altered and adapted to accommodate and enhance the garden, providing a romantic setting to Castle Green House. The grounds incorporate a pleasure garden and a kitchen garden. The registered garden has group value with Castle Green House (LB: 10459), Cardigan Castle (LB: 10458; scheduled monument: CD123) and the outbuildings at the rear entrance drive to Castle Green House (LB: 10461). Castle Green House is a substantial, Regency period house in an unusual setting, situated within the ward of Cardigan Castle. The house stands on the north edge of the medieval castle, and its north end incorporates the castle’s north tower, which projects beyond the line of the curtain wall. The castle itself is situated at the southern end of the town of Cardigan, on a rocky spur overlooking the river Teifi, to the south. The first mention of Castle Green House is in 1799, when John Bowen (d. 1815) was leasing it to Thomas Colby. Samuel Meyrick, in The History and Antiquities of the County of Cardigan (1808), indicated that Bowen began the building of the house: ‘… John Bowen, Esq. who is erecting a house on the site of the keep, the dungeons now serving as his cellars’. Bowen levelled the ward, filled in the ditch around the north tower and generally raised the level of the ward quite considerably. Excavations in 1984 revealed that medieval archaeological deposits are buried under up to 2m of topsoil. The house took on its present form in 1827, when the owner, Arthur Jones, a solicitor and high-sheriff of Cardiganshire, began building a new front range; he also altered and added a storey to the north tower. The architect and master builder was David Evans of Eglwyswrw. Sale particulars of 13 July 1832 described a ‘Capital modern mansion’ and Samuel Lewis in 1833 called it ‘a handsome modern villa’. It is shown in its present form on Wood’s map of 1834. The property was bought by David Davies of Carnarchenwen, Fishguard, in 1836. Davies was a wealthy man, founder of the Cardigan Mercantile Company and high-sheriff of the county in 1841. An engraving of the house in Thomas Nicholas’s Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales, vols I and II (1872) shows the house much as it is now. The gardens of Castle Green House, situated both within and without the walls of the medieval castle of Cardigan, date from the Regency period. The house was built as a prestigious, well-appointed residence, requiring an attractive and appropriate setting of fashionable gardens, grand entrance, drives, coach house and stabling. The castle ward and its immediate surroundings were altered and adapted to provide all of these features. The resultant early nineteenth-century overlay, within the medieval castle, combines elements with two very different purposes: defensive strength and aesthetic pleasure, and so providing an informal romantic setting to the house. The first phase of landscaping within the castle seems to have been in 1713 in order to create a level terrace, used at least some of the time as a bowling green. This was followed in 1801–15 by a major phase of landscaping under the ownership of John Bowen that created most of the garden layout as it exists today. The entire former ward of the medieval castle was laid out as ornamental gardens. The curtain wall itself was adjusted, punctured, and in places demolished or rebuilt to suit the needs of the garden. The garden was laid out in a mainly informal way, with a central lawn, circuit and side paths and informal planting. An unusual feature is a whale jawbone arch. To the north, walled garden compartments of various functions were laid out just outside the ward. To the north-east and east are further compartments, including the stables courtyard. The kitchen garden lies to the north of the house. Against the east wall of this area is the Gardener’s House (Ty’r Ardd), a small, two-storey stone building built in about 1808 by John Bowen to provide staff accommodation. The entire complex fell into disrepair and ruin during the twentieth century. In 2003 the castle, including the house, was bought by Ceredigion County Council. Since 2011, a comprehensive programme of repair and restoration has taken place and the site is now open to the public. Significant Views: Fine panoramic views from the front of the house and gardens across the river Teifi and beyond. Sources: Cadw, 2007, Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Additional Entries pp.17-21 (ref: PGW(Dy)72(CER))