Caldey Island, off the coast of south Pembrokeshire, has been home to a religious establishment since the sixth century, and a Benedictine priory was founded in 1136 (nprn 245). Following the Dissolution, developments culminated in a mansion built on the north side of the priory complex in the early nineteenth-century (311).

The gardens associated with the priory and the mansion house lie to the north and east of the priory complex. They occupy the level ground in the immediate vicinity of the buildings and a small, narrow valley running down north from them, the former gardens here tapering to a point about 200m north of the priory. There are two distinct phases of development: first, the medieval garden linked to the priory; secondly the nineteenth-century garden that was partly overlain on them (700149).This is a complex site occupied over a very long period and it is hard to be certain what has been restored and what is original.

The medieval remains consist of a small walled garden attached to the priory buildings, a series of ponds and the ruins of a mill. The walled garden, immediately to the east of the east range of the priory, is a rectangular area enclosed by rubble stone walls about 2.5m high on the north, south and east sides. An entrance opens in the middle of the south side, probably inserted later. There are three ponds, probably of medieval origin, in the valley to the east and north of the priory. The uppermost, and largest, is rectangular and lies to the east of the priory and walled garden. The second to the north, lower down the valley, is a smaller, overgrown D-shaped boggy area, dammed on the north side. To the north is the smallest pond, given a concrete dam in the twentieth century. The ponds were incorporated into the nineteenth-century gardens.

Sources:
Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 168-71 (ref: PGW(Dy)60(PEM)).
Ordnance Survey First-Edition six-inch map: sheet: Pembrokeshire XLIV.NE (1887).
Additional notes: C.S.Briggs

RCAHMW, 11 May 2022

Site Record

Caldey Priory Medieval Garden, Caldey Island