The house and gardens at Cresselly are situated in parkland towards the summit of the west-facing slopes of a small hill in rolling Pembrokeshire countryside (nprns 21833 & 700007). The garden was established and developed during the mid-late nineteenth century, and occupies the terrace which surrounds the house, though mostly to the west. The garden is mostly lawn surrounded by plantings of hardy plants and shrubs. The terrace appears to have been re-modelled several times since the tithe survey.
Photographs from 1871 show the terrace with formal circular and semicircular beds planted with annuals, revealed as parchmarks during summer aerial reconnaissance in 2004.
To the south of this terrace, at the end of the last century, was what appears to be a small circular tiered sunken garden, similar to one at Lawrenny. By the turn of the century a fountain is shown in this area, close to the circular garden. This feature has now gone but a slight circular sunken depression remains within the grass at the same location.
The stone eastern boundary wall, which separates the garden area from the road, is of variable height, but mostly just over 1m, with an irregular capping giving a castellated (cocks and hens) effect.
Around the house and between the house and the North Lodge are mature examples of Rhus typhina (Staghorn sumach), Lawson's cypress, Scots pine and rhododendrons including R. 'Boddaertianum'.
To the north of the house are the walled gardens (xxxxxx).
Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 202-5 (ref: PGW(Dy)31(PEM)).
Ordnance Survey second-edition 25-inch map: sheet Pembrokeshire XXXIV.12 (1906).
Additional notes: T.G.Driver
RCAHMW, 5 November 2020