PGW(Gm)36(GLA)

Windsor Gardens  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Vale of Glamorgan  

Penarth  

318817  

171065  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Public urban park  

1880-85  

Registered for its historic interest as a well preserved late Victorian public park. The park was laid out not only for the benefit of the general public but also of the villas that were built adjoining it, all of which originally had private access to the gardens. The park is in a magnificent position on the cliff top and has remained substantially unaltered. Windsor Gardens, built on land originally of the Windsor Estate, occupies a long narrow strip of land at the top of the cliff above the Esplanade on the sea front of Penarth, providing extensive sea views. The gardens date to the 1880s, the northern half being completed first, in 1880, and the southern half in 1885. The northern half was laid out with a central tarmac drive running the full length of the gardens, and a parallel path along the west boundary, with cross paths dividing the garden into four sections, at the centre of one of which is the bandstand. They are laid out largely to lawn with island beds and borders. Planting appears to have been a mixture of the existing trees and shrubs, particularly hawthorn, gorse and broom, and newly planted ones. Some of the holm oaks and yews in the gardens may date to the 1880s. One of a pair of Monterey cypresses survives from this period. At the north end a low Lonicera nitida hedge backed by iron railings runs along the west boundary. Mixed trees, including oak, ilex (holm oak) and copper beech and shrubs are planted along the east side, which is bounded by a simple iron fence and an ilex hedge. Just inside the entrance at the north end is a red brick lodge, formerly the home of the garden superintendent. The southern half of the gardens is laid out and planted in the same style as the north. On the east is a short row of yews and a single tall Monterey cypress. Just inside the entrance at the south end is another red brick lodge with its own garden. The two halves of the garden are separated by a public path from Marine Parade to the Esplanade through a deep cutting across which there was once a linking bridge, only the southern footings of which remain. The gardens remained part of the Windsor estate until 1932, when they were handed over to the Urban District Council. A condition of transfer was that the villas that were built adjoining gardens, all of which originally had private access, should retain their private gates. Significant views - the park affords extensive sea views. Source: Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan (ref: PGW(Gm)36(GLA)).