Bryn Glas gardens and pleasure grounds lie to the south and east of Bryn Glas house and were laid out in the late nineteenth century when the house was built (nprn 403521). Originally set in open countryside they are now surrounded by housing. Covering an area of 8.4 hectares (21 acres) the estate includes both formal and informal gardens, `pleasure grounds' and the remains of a walled kitchen garden. It preserves remarkable exotic shrubs and trees.

The front of the house is flanked on the east by a broad terrace, a lawn below it on gently sloping ground, and below this the ‘wilderness’. This is an area of unmanaged deciduous woodland with a canopy of mature oaks and some underplanting of rhododendrons and laurels, originally criss-crossed with paths, but now partly destroyed in its lower reaches through road development. Some fine mature coniferous and deciduous trees of the original planting survive in the gardens. On the edge of the lawn east of the house are a wellingtonia, a coast redwood, an evergreen oak and a cut-leaf beech. The lawn to the north is flanked on its west side by a row of six wellingtonias and a Japanese red cedar.

The walled kitchen garden lies immediately to the north of the house, on gentle east-facing ground. Formerly divided by gravel paths, this layout has now gone along with glasshouses and sheds. The interior has been redeveloped and is otherwise overgrown. The gardener’s house, to the north, is now a private dwelling (36535).

Sale particulars of 1890 describe the pleasure grounds as ‘…beautifully laid out with great taste.’ ‘Beautiful clumps of rhododendrons’ and other shrubs are mentioned, as is the wilderness which was 'laid out in numberless zig-zag walks’.

Sources:
Cadw 1994: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Gwent (ref: PGW(Gt)20.
Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map of Monmouthshire, XXVIII.12 (1901).

RCAHMW, 8 July 2022

Site Record

Bryn Glas Garden, Newport