Aberystwyth University of Wales was founded in 1872. It was the first university institution to be established in Wales. Originally based on the sea front in the "Old College", it is now situated on Penglais hill.

The modern university campus is located above the town, its main entrance off the A487 road. The Penglais site was obtained for the university in a sequence of land purchases by benefactors in the period 1897-1946. Building began in the early 1960s and landscaping of the site was an integral part of its development. The whole campus is extensively landscaped with planting that has been carefully chosen to complement the modern buildings, to suit the sloping site, to tolerate the salt-laden air and to take advantage of the mild, seaside location. The proximity to the sea, facing the prevailing south-westerly winds, make the campus one of the most exposed in Britain and severely limits the choice of plant material.

The overall plan of the campus was established in 1965, buildings roughly grouped in several tiers down the slope. Both buildings and layout were influenced by ideas from Scandinavia, where buildings and landscape were being designed and integrated in a manner sensitive to the character of the site. Planting was mainly the responsibility of the Botany Department but the overall plan was guided by the landscape architect John Ingleby who advised the commissioned architects, the Percy Thomas Partnership. The design also features the work of Brenda Colvin (1963), on the slope above Pantycelyn Hall on the western edge of the campus, and is one of the very few of her designs to have survived.

Source:

Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 86, 89-90 (ref: PGW Dy47(CER)).

Includes/associated with:

Penglais Campus designed landscape (NPRN 700000)
Old College (Nprn23303)
Botanic gardens (Nprn301589)
Arts Centre (Nprn23264)
Plas Penglais (Nprn35126).

Updated by T. Driver, RCAHMW, March 2024