Bodrhyddan Hall (nprn 35670) is located on the coastal lowlands of north Wales, between Dyserth and Rhuddlan. Located in parkland (700090) it is the seat of the Conwy family who have occupied the site since the fifteenth century. It is notable for the survival, near intact, of its fine Victorian formal garden and for its association with the noted architect W.E. Nesfield.

The gardens lie to the south and west of the house and developed over four centuries; features from all periods remain. To the west is 'The Pleasaunce', an informal woodland garden of rough grass, trees and ponds, while to the south is a formal Victorian garden of topiary and parterre.

St Mary's Well, the earliest garden feature, lies in The Pleasaunce ('The Grove' on early maps). It is an octagonal stone wellhouse located west of the house and is possibly a more ancient sacred spring (32325). Aside from St Mary’s Well little remains of the original layout but the boundaries and the general wooded character of the area. Early maps show a curving wall retaining a mound at the end of a north-south pond. This survives with a modern summerhouse on top and forms a focal point at the end of the pond. Later alterations include a Japanese 'Walk of Life', made in the 1860s, a cobbled path from the Well to a sundial to a bell. The sundial survives (35673) and the path is still visible. Trees are well-spaced ornamentals. Recent features include four informal ponds, the raising of the mound, tree and shrub planting. An area of bamboo the north of the house (the site of a formal pond) has been cleared.

The entire east boundary of the garden is formed by a ha-ha, probably dating from the second half of the eighteenth, or the beginning of the nineteenth, century. It is well preserved and is crossed by two small bridges, the southern one with commemorative iron gates fitted following the visit of Princess Margaret in 1981. To the south-east and south-west of the house the garden is laid out to lawns with a gravel cross path and planted, in the 1830s, with flanking yew topiary.

To the south of the house is the main Victorian garden which also retains the general configuration and boundaries from the later seventeenth-century layout. Estate maps of 1730 and 1756 show the axial (south) approach to the house, leading to a turning circle and cross path in front of the house. The approach is now incorporated into the garden as a grass walk flanked by rows of trees, mainly yews. In 1874-75 the drive and turning circle in front of the house were replaced by a formal rectangular parterre designed by Nesfield. It is set in gravel, with scrolling box-edged narrow beds filled with bedding plants; in the centre a circular, stone-edged pool with central fountain, the whole flanked either side by lawns. North of the fountain, also on the central axis, are two ornamental vases, and at the south end are stone steps flanked by yew bushes. In the north-west corner of this area, against the house, are the footings and backing wall of a Victorian conservatory of 1875 (nprn 35671), destroyed in 1990. At the western end of the area is a row of four ancient oaks, likely those shown here on a map of 1756, and to their west are further large oaks.

East of the house, in the south-east corner of the park, is the kitchen garden (700091).

Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 18-21 (ref: PGW(C)54(DEN)).
RCAHMW air photo: 965099/54

RCAHMW, 13 April 2022

Cofnod Safle

Bodrhyddan Hall Garden, Rhuddlan