Gardens & possible landscaping features associated with Llawhaden Castle (NPRN 94109).
A survey of 1326 (see CADW guide (2000 edition), 32-3) records two gardens at Llawhaden Castle; one of an acre on the east side and 'the Park', of four acres, on the north-east side. The first of these can be fitted into the part of the field on the east and south-east where the ground falls away to the east between the castle moat & Churchill Wood. 'The Park' may have lain on, or below, steep slopes below the north-east side of the castle.

Possible fishponds lie in the dell some 300m north-west of the castle (NPRN 400224).

Two earthwork features can be idetified outside the castle moat:
1. A rectilinear platform, roughly 40m north-west to south-east by 10-15m & up to about 4.0m high. This is terraced out from the steep slopes on the north-east side of the castle. This could be a viewing platform associated with 'the Park garden' and possibly with 'the wooden buildings outside the walls' also mentioned in 1326. However, it is perhaps more likely that it is a spoilheap dating from the clearance of the castle ruins - there are no indications of this substantial feature on the 1st edition OS County series (Pembroke. XXIX.1 1889);
2. Abutting the castle ditch on the north-west is a roughly D-shaped enclosure, about 43m north-south by 30m. This has been much mutilated by recent quarrying/digging. The bank around this enclosure appears more substantal than those of the adjoining hedgebanks.

John Wiles 05.12.07