Hafod was one of the most important and influential picturesque landscapes of the late eighteenth century in Britain. A large area of the Ystwyth Valley was landscaped by Thomas Johnes (1748-1816) in an understated, unobtrusive way, so as to show off its rugged, wild natural features to best advantage. This style has been dubbed "The Wilderness Picturesque". Although the mansion house, by Baldwin of Bath and later Nash, has since been demolished, it was an important focus, and the character of the valley has been changed by later plantings, particularly of coniferous trees from the mid-twentieth century, nonetheless the underlying natural landscape it clothes remains largely unchanged. A number of individual features and landscape artefacts survive (ice house, obelisk, fishponds, bridges, lodges, estate cottages and Mariamne's and Mrs Johnes's Gardens), and there is a large kitchen garden now given over to conifer nursery. It has been subject to considerable research and study, particularly by local devotees, and during the 1990s the estate became subject to a controversial funding-led `restoration' programme. This resulted in the uncovering of a number of features, some of which, through lack of maintenance and wardening, are, perhaps appropriately, already reverting to the wild.

This garden is depicted on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25-inch map of Cardiganshire XI, sheet 16 (1905)

RCAHWM, January 2011