PGW(Gd)38(GWY)

Morfa Common Park  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Caernarfon  

248531  

361638  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Small public park designed around artificial lake; tree and shrub plantings on sloping and level grassy areas.  

Nineteenth century.  

Registered as a good example of a nineteenth century public park retaining much of its original layout. Morfa Common Park occupies a small area above the north-east bank of the Afon Seiont at a point where the valley is steep-sided but wide, on a site to the south-east of the centre of Caernarfon. The park was purpose-designed as a public amenity during the nineteenth century and was fully laid out by 1888, as shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map. The former Caernarvon Union Workhouse, now Eryri Hospital, lies on its south-east edge. The park is entered from the north-west through decorative wrought iron gates. The entrance is next to the hospital entrance and drive, and between them is a lodge, which likely served both. The main, lower, part is designed around an irregularly-shaped artificial lake, formed by inflow from the river with water returning to it. Around the lake are tree and shrub plantings on sloping and level grassy areas, mostly laurel and rhododendron, large open areas broken up by looser groupings of trees and shrubs. A network of paths offers a circular walk around the lake with various additional options, including higher-level walks with views down onto the lake. The aim was to offer different glimpses of, and across, the lake at various points achieved through the careful grouping of trees and shrubs, by the creation of three artificial islands, and by the routing of the paths to best effect, thus accentuating visual interest. Also in the park is an ornate drinking fountain (pre-1918) and a children’s play area. There is now very little planting in the park other than the established trees and shrubs, but it is likely that there have been areas laid out with beds and borders full of bedding plants. To the north-east of the park, and north-west of the hospital, is an area of level, relatively high ground known as Morfa Common, formerly parkland and always open, but now used as sports grounds, and was possibly always so. Areas of grassland, surrounded by trees, remain to the south-east of the lake. Sources: Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 170-2 (ref: PGW(Gd)38(GWY)). Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map: sheet Caernarfonshire XV.8 (1899).