Penmaenuchaf - CADW Reg No. PGW (Gd) 37 (GWY) |
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The park now consists almost entirely of mixed, ornamental woodlands, which form
a setting for the garden. There were some walks and rides within them at the end
of the nineteenth century, but open space was provided by a large lawn to the
south-east of the house, and the recreational aspect of the park seems to have
been a secondary consideration. It seems likely that an open park would have
existed in the eighteenth century, and although the woodland looks like natural
woodland with added conifers, no really, mature trees were noted and it could
all have been planted in the nineteenth century: it was in existence by the
time of the 1888 Ordnance Survey map. A few paths are shown on the 1888 map
and some of the paths now visible were probably made in the twentieth century.
West of the stable block and kitchen garden, which seems itself to have been part of the same enclosure before it was made into a garden, is one small sloping field which, although it is bare of trees, looks like a remnant of parkland. It certainly is not cultivated and has not even been grazed for a while. The old maps show it almost without trees, although there was a strip of shrubbery alongside the drive (the rhododendron remains). This field is not in view from the house and may have been retained, when the rest of the area was planted over with trees, for practical reasons, as somewhere to turn out the horses. The main drive approaches from the east. The entrance gate piers are built of stone dressed with a 'rustic' finish, massive and square sectioned, with heavy stone caps. A wall in similar style revets the bank along the south side of the entrance curve, diminishing in height towards the west and eventually disappearing. On the road side the wall has a coping of large, flat slate slabs; this wall continues alongside the drive all the way up. The drive rises gradually up the steep slope then swings our in a great loop around the house, eventually approaching from the south-west. It is tarmac surfaced and has a low stone wall with slate slab coping on the downhill side, which is the top of a retaining wall. On the other side it is cut into the slope, except immediately below the house, where there is a wall with a hedge above. Tiled gutters are visible both sides in places, where not covered by tarmac. This drive was not the original approach, although it is shown on the first edition 25 in. Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1888. The rear drive shares an access with the model farm belonging to the estate at Penmaenpool on the west, and comes up straight to the stable block. It is a little shorter than the main drive. It too is tarmac surfaced, but is fenced rather than walled on the down slope side.
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 The large lawn to the south-east of the house.
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