PGW(Gm)71(CDF)

Thompson's Park (Sir David's Field)  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Cardiff  

Canton  

316127  

177084  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Urban public park  

c. 1891; 1895  

Thompson’s Park, historically known as Sir David’s Field, is registered for its historic interest as a well-preserved Victorian urban public park situated in the community of Canton in Cardiff. The park has historical associations with Charles Thompson of Spillers & Co, and with well-known garden designer, William Goldring. Thompson's Park has an unusual history in being a privately-owned and managed garden opened to the people of Cardiff, in 1891, by a prominent local philanthropic businessman, Charles Thompson of the corn and flour merchants, Spillers & Co. Later enlarged, the park freehold was conveyed to Cardiff Council in 1912. The site’s historic name originates from its association with the Mathew family of Llandaff: Sir David Mathew is believed to have owned the land during the fifteenth century. The gardens were enlarged in about 1895 to the plans and under the direction of the well-known garden designer, William Goldring. It retains many of the original landscape features and much of its original layout and tree planting. The park is polygonal and occupies an area of 5.2 hectares. The northern two thirds occupy a level plateau which drops steeply at the southern edge, by approximately nine metres, to the lower third. The upper level is a large, informal playing field encircled by a tarmac path. A double avenue of deciduous and coniferous trees traverses the top third of the field separating it from a smaller, rougher grassed area to the north; some of the trees pre-date the park but were incorporated into the design. The upper level of the park affords wide views to the southwest towards the Leckwith Hills. The lower, southern third of the park is ornamental and partly formal, laid out with grassed areas, a small lake, a circular pool and fountain, mixed deciduous and coniferous trees, herbaceous borders and ornamental plantings. A central path leads from the entrance gate to a circular, concrete lined pool and four jet fountain, the focal point of the lower level. The pool is bordered by a circular flowerbed, seasonally planted with flowering annuals and edged with a low iron fence. Ordnance Survey maps, (1901, 1920 and 1947), show the flower bed was once fan shaped. At the centre of the pool is a bronze statue, ‘Joyance’, by Welsh sculptor William Goscombe John, (1860-1952). The statue was commissioned by the landowner, Mr Charles Thompson, in 1899. The present statue is a copy. To the west of the pool is a small, roughly oval lake. The lake has a natural appearance, is edged with large stones and enclosed by a short iron fence. Early photographs show the Thompson children boating on the lake. The lake is evident on the first edition OS map and was therefore incorporated into the park’s design. The steep bank behind the lake is planted with mixed deciduous and evergreen plants. On the eastern side of the lower level, the tarmac path encircles a grassed area, planted with mixed deciduous trees, mainly beech. A tennis court once stood within the central grassed area. The path passes between a herbaceous border, originally the rock garden, which still contains some substantial rocks, and a seasonally planted bed, formerly a concrete-lined pond. An article in Gardener’s Chronicle (1911) reported the pond as being planted with aquatics. The area known as The Dell incorporates the northern third of the lake, the bank behind the lake, and the path and steps that lead to the upper level on the eastern side of the park. Stone-edged terracing exists on the bank and a further disused path can be discerned near the top of the bank. The planting on the bank includes yew, oak, ferns, butcher’s broom and native wild flowers. The bank is topped with a holly hedge. There is an excellent view from here southwards across the Dell and the eastern part of the lower level. Setting – Thompson’s Park is located in the Canton area of Cardiff. The park is surrounded by the predominantly Victorian residential streets of Pencisely Road to the north, Llandaff Road to the east, Romilly Road to the south and Clive Road to the west. The Thompson family home at Preswylfa on Clive Road was demolished in about 2003 and has been replaced with a housing development, Maes yr Annedd. Housing has also been built on the site of the bowling green located adjacent to the Pencisely Road entrance gate. The small building just inside the main park entrance on Romilly Road is now in use as a coffee shop. Significant view – an excellent view is afforded from the upper part of the park towards the Leckwith Hills in the southwest. Primary Sources Thompson family of Cardiff papers. Glamorgan Records Office, GB 0214 DTC A Survey of the manor of Llandaff in the county of Glamorgan belonging to Geo: Mathew Esq, taken by Edw. Moore, 1740. Glamorgan Records Office, D/D MAT 137 Llandaff Tithe Apportionment, (1844) Glamorgan Records Office, P/53/2 Ordnance Survey first edition map sheet (1882), Glamorgan Records Office, D/D 43.10 Early twentieth century photographic collection for Thompson’s Park, nos 1773 to 1791, Cardiff Central Library Microfiche plans of Thompson’s Park, nos 364, 178, 254, 261, 310, 331, 287, 402, 404 and 412. Cardiff Central Library. Secondary Sources ‘The Gift of a Park to Cardiff’, Gardener’s Chronicle (1911), p.315. Pettigrew, A., ‘The Public Parks and Recreation Grounds of Cardiff’, (unpublished typescript, 1926), Cardiff Central Library, ref 948.2 (241) Cadw Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in Wales - ref: PGW(Gm)71(CDF)