St Donat's Castle (nprn 300312) is primarily known for its Tudor terraced garden (700317) attached to what originated as a medieval castle. There are also two deerparks to the east and west of the castle. These are probably medieval in origin and were recorded by
The deer-parks at St Donat’s Castle (300312) lie to the east and west of the castle. They are probably medieval in origin and were recorded by Leland in the 1530s, one park for red, the other for fallow, deer. The parks were already famous in the days of Sir Edward Stradling, in the second half of the sixteenth century, when venison from them was highly sought after. East and West Park are each associated with a possible prospect tower (23087 & 37674 respectively)
The present east park, created in the early twentieth century, occupies a roughly rectangular area of ground sloping gently down to the south-west, but may once have been considerably larger. It is bounded on the north by a rubble stone wall along the St Donat's to Llantwit Major road and by the present-day drive to the castle. The wall continues, about 2-2.2m high, along the east side. On the south the park is bounded by sea cliffs and on the west by fencing along the school grounds boundary. The park has an open, grassland centre, fringed with mixed deciduous woodland on the north and east sides (Park Wood) and in the south-west corner (Barracks Wood). Both woods are mainly of sycamore, with beech and ash. Modern staff housing has been built on the southern fringe of the woodland along the north side, accessed by a tarmac drive. The castle is approached from the east at an entrance and lodge on the minor road to Llantwit Major (19906). A second drive, from the north off the same road, is now West Drive with a lodge at the entrance (19907). A house called Summerhouse, about 1km to the east, on the same road, is a converted and extended hunting lodge to the Castle (23087).
The west park is much larger, occupying a rectangular area of flat plateau to the west of the valley west of the castle and its two branches to the north, Cwm Hancorn and Llys Weirydd. It is bounded on the south by sea cliffs, on the east by woodland and on the north and west by rubble stone walls now in use as field boundaries. The west wall, about 1.6m high, repaired in places and derelict in others, runs straight northwards from the clifftop for about 650m before turning eastwards to Parc Farm where it abutts farm outbuildings. It then continues from the north garden wall of the farmhouse eastwards past Wilde's Covert, stopping at the top of the west side of Llys Weirydd. This section is about 1.5m high, built of large blocks, with a similar top. Towards the east end it is higher (about 1.8m), with no coping. The interior is divided into large fields and is under pasture and cultivation. Wilde's Covert, created between 1886 and 1914, is a copse mainly of sycamore on very bumpy ground suggesting a former quarry. This could be linked to the site of a lime kiln just to the south-east. West Park is also associated with a possible rabbit warren (307457).
The steep-sided valley and its branches west of the castle are entirely wooded and form an integral part of the castle grounds but were not incorporated into the deer park from which they are walled and fenced.
Source:
Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 278-86 (ref: PGW(Gm)30(GLA)).
RCAHMW, 27 June 2022