Wynnstay Park is an eighteenth to nineteenth century landscape park attached to the Williams-Wynn Estate mansion and is situated on high ground near Ruabon, east of Llangollen (nprn 35613). It extends south down to the River Dee, with views to the Berwyn mountains and the Vale of Llangollen. The core of the park lies on the rolling plateau around the house and its gardens (86654). The park has survived in its entirety except in the north-west corner where roads and housing estates have encroached upon it; the A483 trunk road has effectively cut the park in two.

A park, now untraceable, was first recorded when the deer park was enclosed in 1678 by Sir John Wynn. Linear earthworks south of the house and garden may be associated with this early enclosure (400951). Improvements had started by 1740 when the park had already been given a formal layout; much of this was retained or only modified in later landscaping. The chief features were the diagonal avenue running south-east across the park from the Ruabon gate, the double avenue flanking the entrance drive north of the house (both retained by later landscapers), and a long formal canal (already present in 1693/94) on the site of the present lake west of the house. Major alterations undertaken between 1768 and 1789, began with the building of a road and park wall (still largely intact) in 1768. The Ruabon gateway was the original main entrance to the park, but is now disused and cut off by new roads from the rest of the park. In 1777 Lancelot Brown produced designs for the pleasure grounds and the park, including a new lake in the valley north-west of the house, work that was completed after his death. The lake, in the valley to the north-west of the house formed by damming the Belan stream, has now gone though the dam partly survives along with associated features (33632; 35618). The present lake was built by Richard Woods later in the century (35618).

The park was embellished with numerous lodges and commemorative structures in a wide variety of architectural styles, most of which survive. There were ten lodges in all (including Waterloo Tower); one has now gone. The most prominent monument is the column to the north-west of the house, on the eastern edge of Bathground Wood: a tall Doric fluted column, erected in 1789 in memory of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fourth baronet, forming a prominent local landmark (23055). Just inside the wood is an ice house (405492).

Planting in the park includes some clumps, plantations, and perimeter belts, mainly of deciduous trees, around the north, east and south sides of the central core of the park. An estate map of 1800-20 shows the main areas of woodland more or less as they are now, plus narrow perimeter belts along the boundaries most of which have gone. A great straight avenue, now including fine mature limes, sweet chestnuts, horse chestnuts, and sycamores was planted before 1740 and much survives. It runs from the Ruabon entrance at the north end of the park (where an entrance arch replaced earlier lodges in 1783) to School Lodge on the south-east side of the park.

Source:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 286-91 (ref: PGW(C)64).

RCAHMW, 21 June 2022