Penmaenuchaf - CADW Reg No. PGW (Gd) 37 (GWY) |
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Changes continued to be made after the estate was acquired by Leigh Taylor,
but whether by him or his successors is not clear. At some point the kitchen
garden was moved, the ponds were created and a tennis court was made, as well
as recreational walks in the woodland. The informal ponds and the tennis court
may perhaps be the latest of these alterations, but it is equally likely that
all the changes were made by one enterprising owner at around the same time.
The earliest Ordnance Survey maps show the site as almost completely wooded,
with open space only north and west of the stables (where the kitchen garden now is),
to the south-east (the large lawn) and immediately west of the house, the site
of the original kitchen garden. Previous to Charles Williams' ownership, from 1865,
there seems to have been little attempt to create a garden, although the first
plantings of exotic trees may be earlier.
The treatment of the wooded area with small streams and slate slab bridges, south of the ponds, and even the water supply arrangements (installed during the same period) are again very reminiscent of Dolmelynllyn. Given the coincidence of a similar site, though rotated through ninety degrees (Dolmelynllyn is on an east-facing slope, Penmaenuchaf a north-facing one), it is clear that the two gardens have been given similar treatment. All that is lacking is the photographic record of progress at Penmaenuchaf which exists at Dolmelynllyn. The garden now consists of several small, interesting areas of different character, created fairly recently out of the old kitchen garden; a short viewing terrace on the north which seems to be one of the oldest elements; and the two main terraces on the east, which complete the intricate, formal area around the house. In addition there is the steep bank between the house and the drive, formerly wooded but now cleared and being replanted; the large lawn and tennis court to the south east; the wooded area with streams to the south, and the ponds, which are between this and the house. A small lawn and areas with recent plantings adjoining the house on tile south side, together with the car park, replace a Victorian shrubbery in this area. The main drive enters the garden west of the house, and almost immediately widens to form a forecourt used for parking, partly tarmac surfaced and partly gravelled. It continues, gravelled, back to the east beyond this and merges into the house terrace. The paths within the garden vary from the very informal, like those in the woods south of the ponds (which nevertheless have some stone edging), to the formal, such as the slate slab path across the upper garden terrace.
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 Ponds at Penmaenuchaf (2007) and giant sequoia in background. |
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