Hendre House and its park and gardens are located on the east side of the Conwy valley on ground falling away to the valley floor. The house lies at the foot of the steepest part of the park, its eastern flank (NPRNs 27310 & 700305). The garden, contemporary with the house, lies mainly to its north, south and west. It is oval in shape and occupies a platform of more or less level ground below which, to the north and west, the ground falls steeply. To the south and west its character is informal and to the north it is formal, though initially it was all informal.

The drive enters the garden in its south-east corner and curves round to the north, passing a small shrubbery on the east and a more open area of grass on the west, with mature trees and shrubs in a broad belt along the garden boundary. The drive leads to a gravel forecourt at the west front of the house. The ground drops steeply below it, some yew trees on the slope, and a path leads down through the trees to a gate in the boundary fence and into the park beyond. Shrubbery to the south of the house, on a low mounded ridge, is now densely overgrown with laurel, yew, sycamore, cherry, and cotoneaster.

Along the north side of the house are two grass terraces, offering spectacular views over park and valley beyond. The upper terrace, 3m wide, is bounded by a steep grass bank with a flight of eight slate steps at centre flanked by low parapet walls. The main terrace, below, originally a tennis lawn, partly bounded by mortared stone revetment walls, is flanked on its west side by large oak, lime and horse chestnut trees, with more on the steep slope below. Part of the walling once supported a hooped pergola, now fallen. A flight of slate steps at the centre of the north side leads down from the terrace to an informally planted slope to the north boundary of the garden. To the north and east of the house the garden is bounded on the east side by a belt of yew and laurel.

Source:
Cadw Parks and Gardens database, ref: PGW(Gd)63(CON).

RCAHMW, 24 June 2022