Trawsgoed House (nprn 35307) is located in the lower Ystwyth valley, 12km to the south-east of Aberystwyth. It is notable for the survival of the park and garden of one of the most important houses in west Wales.Trawsgoed belonged to the Vaughan family from the thirteenth century. In the medieval period it was just a farm but from 1547 onwards it developed into one of the largest estates in west Wales. A long period of contraction began in the early nineteenth century and continued thereafter. In 1947 the 7th Earl of Lisburne sold the house and surrounding parkland to the Government. 

A park already existed by the mid-eighteenth century but the present configuration dates from later in the century. It is a medium-sized park of simple layout to the north-east of the house. The park is bounded by farmland and belts of woodland. On the south-west, along the B4340 road, there is a boundary wall. The main drive is from an entrance on the road at Lodge Fach (417281), skirting the house and gardens beyond which it bifurcates into tracks. A former drive approaches the house from the south, also off the B4340. The park consists of large pasture fields, a few clumps, assorted plantations and a wooded backdrop. The south-west part is on level ground but rises to a partly-wooded ridge on the north-east. In the nineteenth century maps portrayed the landscape dotted with trees but  most of these have gone. The park is now entirely partitioned and in agricultural use.

Gardens surround the house at the south-west end of the park (265332).

Source:
Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire 150-8 (ref: PGW(Dy)53(CER)).

RCAHMW, 3 May 2022