PGW(Gd)62(GWY)

Glan-y-Mawddach  

II*  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Barmouth  

262924  

316665  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Woodland and formal garden with terraces and compartments.  

c. 1900-1914  

Registered for its historic interest as a good example of an interesting formal and woodland Edwardian garden consisting of secret compartments, each one of a different character, all linked by an intricate network of paths. It is also richly planted with trees, evergreen shrubs and hedges, including rhododendrons and azaleas. The gardens are also important for their group value with Glan-y-Mawddach house and associated estate buildings. Glan-y-Mawddach (LB: 15492; NPRN: 96097) was built in the early nineteenth century and altered and extended in the late nineteenth/early twentieth-century for Mr and Mrs Keithley who laid out the important terraced garden. The house occupies a picturesque position on the steep western side of the Mawddach estuary. It is situated on the hillside above the A496 road, with most of the garden above and to the north of it, affording spectacular views from both house and garden across the tidal estuary to Cader Idris. The grounds constitute an exceptionally interesting formal and woodland Edwardian garden. The main area of the garden is woodland extensively planted with rhododendrons, azaleas, specimen trees and other shrubs, laid out with a network of zigzagging paths, some more formal than others, which lead to secret garden areas each with its own special character. It is also richly planted with trees, evergreen shrubs and hedges. Panorama Walk runs alongside the upper garden boundary (PGW(Gd)26(GWY); NPRN:301626). The garden was developed by Mrs Keithley in the early years of the twentieth century (1910-14). The 1880s Ordnance Survey map shows its basic framework already in place - the drive, terrace, forecourt, a few paths in the woodland and the straight path running northwards from the garden entrance - but the main terrace by the house probably only took on its present appearance in her time (LB:15493). To this were added many more paths and the individual gardens and features, which show a strong Italian, Japanese (in the Japanese Garden) and some Arts and Crafts influence. She decorated the gardens extensively with stone and terracotta ornaments, some of which were removed in 1997. The garden was richly planted with conifers and other specimen trees, including spruces, firs, pines, the umbrella pine, cedars, wellingtonias, araucarias, cordylines and cypresses. Scots pines dominate. Beneath these were extensively planted azaleas and rhododendrons but also camellias and Japanese maples. Hedging is formal, with yew, box and rhododendron predominating. Much additional planting was done by Sir William and Lady Russon in the 1940s-1960s. At the top of the garden is a rectangular walled kitchen garden defined by high rubble stone walls. There are openings on the east and west sides, that on the east leading to a winding path. Nearby, a circular stone gazebo lies just beyond its north-east corner. Setting: Glan-y-Mawddach occupies an outstandingly beautiful and picturesque position on the steep western side of the Mawddach estuary. Significant Views: Spectacular views from the house and garden across the tidal estuary to Cader Idris. 'If there were nothing else to see this would be a fascinating place, but the prospect is made even more beautiful by the garden which alternately conceals and reveals it, now admitting only a teasing glimpse, then framing a broader view or throwing the whole scene open to an appreciating gaze' (Country Life, 1975) Source: Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 196-9 (ref: PGW(Gd)62(GWY). Hellyer, A.G.L., ‘On the edge of an estuary’, Country Life, 18 September 1975, pp. 704-06 Ordnance Survey first-edition County Series 25-inch map: Merionethshire XXXVI.7 (1889).