Plas Madoc occupies a site on the undulating, sheltered, east side of the Conwy valley just north of Llanrwst, a site both interesting and intrinsically beautiful, with panoramic views westwards across the Afon Conwy towards Snowdonia. The layout is simple, relying on the natural advantages of the site; its design may reflect the work of Edward Milner.

The garden at Plas Madoc lies almost in the centre of the park (700302), surrounding the house site (27748) which is almost central to the garden. The basic layout of the area around the house appears on an estate map of the 1850s, and may pre-date this. The detailed layout dates from the nineteenth century when there was also some expansion, and there are twentieth-century additions. Aside from the walled kitchen garden, the area seems always to have been mainly woodland and shrubberies. The network of paths is in the process of being cleared (1990s).

The garden site was levelled by cutting into the hillside to construct a terrace which was extended far enough to give a garden terrace on the west side of the house. The main entrance was on the north but the west front had the benefit of the views; there was a verandah all along this side. On its south-west corner the terrace was built to incorporate a pre-existing mature oak tree.
West of the house site lay the kitchen garden (700301), surrounded by woodland, in an area falling away to the west and crossed by terracing walls to support level paths. East of the house site the land rises steeply, an area known as the Rookery, again wooded but without formal paths aside from access steps from the drive. To the north is an ornamental pond dammed by a wall and with three terraces below it, and between pond and Rookery an open landscaped area includes a tennis court. In the garden area south-west of the house a carpet of daffodils survives in woodland. The old forecourt, on the north, is flanked on the east by a rockery and other small rockeries lie amongst the shrubberies around the house site.

Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 128-131 (ref: PGW(Gd)2(CON).

RCAHMW, 23 June 2022

Site Record

Plas Madoc Garden, Llanrwst