Bryn Eisteddfod (nprn 26848) occupies an elevated site on the east side of the Conwy valley, overlooking the Conwy estuary and the town and castle of Conwy. The name, adopted in the eighteenth century, arises from supposed druidic connections of the site.
The garden and grounds lie on sloping ground with exceptional views to south and west across the Conwy Valley and the mountains beyond. The principal features are the well preserved eighteenth-century formal garden (700266), east of the house, and nineteenth-century walled kitchen garden (700267), to its north. Also its woodland and outstanding views, and the long carriage drive between two lodges.

The house is located at the north-east end of the site, with the kitchen and formal gardens behind, and the lawn and woodlands stretching away to the south-west, into the view, which has been a guiding principle in the laying out of the grounds, both contemporary and later. An estate plan of 1776 shows the main elements of the garden much as they are today: a large area to the south-west of the house partly planted with trees but partly open to the view, a walled garden east of the house, and woodland (less extensive than today) south and west of this; the kitchen garden and drives are not shown on this plan.

There are two drives (replacing an earlier one, before 1833), each with a lodge, one from the north-east and one from the south-west, meeting and entering the grounds just to the north-west of the house.
The main lawn, to the south-west of the house, terminates in a ha-ha, possibly an early feature original to the eighteenth-century garden. The lawn includes the croquet lawn, formerly a bowling green. A former tennis court at the south-west corner, has been levelled, creating low grass terraces.

The views to the south-west are drawn into the garden by the framework of plantations to right and left. Both these areas were planted by 1776, but have been added to, thinned and altered since. More or less due south of the house, part of the eastern plantation has been cleared and is now maintained as a wild flower meadow.  A group of oaks by the eastern plantation are probably original plantings. In the 1920s the northern part of this area was developed as an arboretum of exotic conifers, most of the existing hardwoods removed aside from a large horse chestnut and a sycamore, the latter now being one of the largest of this species in Britain. A small enclosure to the south-west is now used as a nursery.

Source:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 66-9 (ref: PGW(Gd)8(CON)).

RCAHMW, 18 June 2022