Hafod is located in the Ystwyth valley, occupying a five-kilometre stretch of the valley between the villages of Cwmystwyth at the east end and Pontrhydygroes at the west. It is noted for its exceptional historic interest as one of the most important and influential Picturesque landscapes of the late eighteenth century in Britain. This referred to an ideal type of landscape that has an artistic appeal, in that it is beautiful but also with some elements of wildness. Hafod became a byeword for the Picturesque - well known, visited and written about. Between 1780 and 1816 a large area of the Ystwyth valley - already well wooded - was landscaped by Thomas Johnes in an understated, unobtrusive way, to portray the natural landscape and its spectacular features to best advantage, in a style dubbed the ‘wilderness Picturesque’. This was achieved through planting, clearing and a carefully contrived system of walks, viewpoints and rides from which to view picturesque scenes. Built structures were few and were mostly simple.

The focal point of the demesne, the mansion house above the north side of the river (Hafod-uchtryd, nprn 5577), has now gone (demolished in 1958), though some ancillary buildings remain. The character of the demesne has been altered by conifer plantations but the natural landscape, so important to this style of landscaping, is largely intact. The natural features that formed the focal points of Thomas Johnes’s walks remain much as they were in the late eighteenth century. A number of individual features and landscape artefacts also survive: ice house (31504), obelisk (32630), fishponds (24412-3), bridges, lodges, estate cottages, and Mariamne's and Mrs Johnes's Gardens (5584 & 5580); there is also a large kitchen garden (79036) now given over to conifer nursery.

The landscaped area is essentially one of an upland river valley - the Ystwyth valley - and several important smaller tributaries, the ground rising more steeply on the south side of the valley but more varied on the north. At the eastern end is a more open, gently-sloping part of the valley below the village of Cwmystwyth. The scenery then changes dramatically as the river plunges through a deeply-cut, narrow gorge which extends for about 500m. At the end of the gorge the river is joined by several tributaries, in particular Nant Gau, Nant Melyn and Nant Bwlchgwallter, which play an important role in the picturesque landscaping. They and their tributaries cascade down narrow, steep-sided valleys, their pools, waterfalls and smaller gorges contributing to the drama of the landscape. Below the house the flood plain disappears, the ground to the north sloping gradually down to the river. The western boundary of the site, south of the river, is another steeply dropping tributary valley, that of the Nant Ffin, which includes a spectacular waterfall. 

Historically there were four approaches to the Hafod mansion, one from Pontrhydygroes to the west, one from Cwmystwyth (now defunct) to the east and two from the Cwmystwyth road, by Hafod Church (Eglwys Newydd , 743), adjacent to Upper Lodge. The track from here follows the line of one of the earliest carriage drives, established by 1796, running south-west and passing over a stone bridge on a tributary stream before dividing to the house and to join the west drive.The three drives remaining are in use as forestry and access tracks. The west entrance is notable for Lower Lodge (5696) dating to the 1870s. The site of an earlier lodge lies nearby, and further east the site of the first lodge here, possibly designed by John Nash, in place by 1796. The drive runs along the flood plain of the river Ystwyth. The last drive built by Johnes, in 1814, is from Cwmystwyth with an entrance lodge that became a school. It retains its original built formation, running down valley from Cwmystwyth. It crossed the river Peiran at Pont Newydd, now only two massive abutments, then continued westwards around the contour of a steep slope to join the Upper Lodge drive at an acute angle.

Several picturesque walks were laid out through the demesne by Johnes. Paths were generally well drained and surfaced with stony material found nearby. The two main walks are the Ladies’ Walk and the Gentlemen’s Walk, much of which survive. They adopt a range of formations according to local topography. The Ladies’ Walk, a circular walk from the house site (about 3 miles) was confined to the north side of the valley. It took in the main (Upper Lodge) drive, the former estate sawmill (40859), Pont Dologau (23912), the Peiran valley with its cascade (275661) and bridge, a gazebo (the Mossy Seat, 23027), Eglwys Newydd churchyard (419270), and Pendre Farm, Johnes’s new model farm.
The Gentleman’s Walk (about 6 miles) runs south from the house to the south side of the valley, across the Alpine Bridge over the Ystwyth (23874). It takes in the Nant Bwlchgwallter valley, the rocky Nant Gau valley with its cascades, rapids and pools, Pant Melyn hill, and on to the Cavern Cascade above the Nant Gau, a rock-cut tunnel terminating in a curtain of water plunging into a deep, cauldron-like pool (23026). The walk then returns to Pant Melyn before it descends the Nant Bwlchgwallter valley, crossing the Ystwyth at a suspension bridge (now gone), and on to the kitchen garden and the house.

The New Walk, completed in 1805, runs north-east from Pont Dologau, a route up one side of the Ystwyth gorge and down the other. It takes in a restored chain bridge across the gorge with nearby Gothick Arcade (probably an eyecatcher, 305653) and the remains of a summerhouse (23029). 
A number of former estate cottages, mostly of nineteenth-century date, are scattered across the Hafod demesne, and those close to walks would have formed incidents of interest in the picturesque landscape.   

The Hafod landscape 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.

Sources:
Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 114-23 (ref: PGW(Dy)50(CER)).
https://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/wp/discovery/projects/hafod-picturesque-landscape/

RCAHMW, 4 May 2022