Gliffaes, a nineteenth-century Italianate house (nprn 25543), is located in the southern Brecon Beacons, on the north side of the Usk valley. The grounds are noted for their exceptional arboricultural interest, and for the later formal and terraced garden, in an extremely picturesque setting (86062).

A short distance north-west of the house is the walled kitchen garden which is probably contemporary with it (1880s). It forms two equal conjoining sections of about 1.5 acres, aligned east by west, on a gentle slope facing south towards the river. It is bounded on all sides, except the south, by partly-ornamented walls of varying height, either altered or rebuilt, and stepped uphill on the east and west. The south side is bounded by a terrace revetment wall. Early mapping suggests the west enclosure was initially trapezoidal in shape, but the west end wall was replaced with a wall at right angles to the side walls by 1900.
The north wall may have been heated. There are no formal entrances into the area. A square garden building abutting the north wall against the dividing wall, in the east compartment, is a gazebo. Just to the west of it, in the west garden, the wall bears nails and training wires, now the only evidence of the garden's purpose. Both sections are under grass without paths and are open for use by hotel guests. In the east section is a modern rose pergola. Immediately north of the garden is the site of a Frame Yard, with an abandoned glass house.

Sources:
Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 96-9 (ref: PGW (Po)4(POW)).
Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, sheet: Brecknockshire XLI.2 (second edition 1903).

RCAHMW, 7 April 2022