PGW(Gm)72(CDF)

Grange Gardens  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Cardiff  

Grangetown  

317962  

174895  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Urban public park  

1891-1895  

Grange Gardens is registered for its historic interest as a small but well-preserved Victorian urban public park retaining much of its original layout and for its group value with other park structures, some of which are listed. The park was restored in 2000 with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The park is located in the Grangetown area of west Cardiff. Triangular in form it covers an area of 1.25 hectares and is bound on each side by residential streets. Its low-lying location, on former salt marshes between the rivers Taff and Ely, meant the ground level had to be raised and reens were infilled with town refuse. The park was created on land donated by Lord Bute and Lord Windsor in 1892. Grange Gardens was the first of Cardiff’s public parks to have a bandstand, here standing in a central, circular area of the park, with straight radial footpaths leading from it towards each of the five entrances. The current bandstand is a copy manufactured by Saracen Castings from the original Lion Foundry design drawing. It was opened in 2000 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore Grange Gardens. Other notable features include the 1920s war memorial, designed by sculptor H.C Fehr in the form of winged victory bearing laurel wreath and sword. The war memorial is grade II listed (Cadw Ref.19088, grade II). A Caretaker’s Shelter stands just inside the Holmesdale Street entrance. It is contemporary with the original park layout, being erected in 1894. An ornate cast iron fountain canopy is located on the footpath that bisects the grassed area in the northeast of the park between the Corporation Road entrance and the bandstand. The original fountain was unveiled on 13th July 1909 and was dedicated to the memory of Louis Samuel. The Samuel family were local benefactors who had previously donated Macfarlane Foundry drinking fountains to the Corporation for Victoria Park and Splott Park, Cardiff. The original fountain was removed when the Public Works and Wages Committee of 9th March 1943 recommended such canopies were donated for the war effort. The current fountain canopy was re-manufactured to a design based on early photographs and was re-installed in October 2000 as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund grant-aided restoration scheme. The modern replacement is decorative but early photographs show that the original had two splash bowls. A rustic octagonal shelter of tree trunks and branches with a slate roof, stands outside the park boundary but is possibly contemporary with it. The shelter is a grade II listed structure (Cadw ref.19089). The wider west side of the park is given over to play and sports areas and includes a bowling green with pavilion. In 2020, a new community building, Grange Pavilion, was built around the bowling green area. Setting - Grange Gardens is located in the Grangetown area of Cardiff. The setting is urban and there are views into the park from the surrounding streets. It is bound on each side by a public highway; Pentrebane Street (north), Corporation Road (north-east), Holmsdale Street (east), St Fagan’s Street (south) and Grange Gardens (west). The surrounding residential area consists mainly of Victorian housing with some commercial properties on Corporation Road. Primary Sources City of Cardiff Proceedings of the Council and the Several Committees of the Council. Cardiff: Western Mail Ltd. (various dates). Cardiff County Council Archives: Doc 530 Detail and line of fencing at Grange Gardens (1892) Doc 360 Details of Railings and Gardens for Ely Common and Grange Gardens Doc 354 Grange Gardens Bowling Green (c.1906) Doc 527 Proposed Ladies Shelter (1911) Doc 526 Proposed Shelter to Bowling Green, Grange Gardens (1912) Secondary Sources Cardiff County Council (1998) Grange Gardens Grangetown, Cardiff. Historic Landscape Survey and Restoration Management Plan. Cardiff County Council (2011) Grange Gardens Management Plan (2011-16) Pettigrew, A. (1926) ‘The public parks and recreation grounds of Cardiff’ Vols. 2, 4 & 6, (unpublished typescript), ref. 948.2 (241).