Plas Bodegroes, now an hotel (nprn 26041), is situated on flat land just north-west of Pwllheli, near the coast, facing south-west. Parkland surrounds the house and garden and was once quite extensive, probably laid out when the house was built (1780s). On maps of 1836, 1889 and 1901 the park had almost exactly the same layout.

It filled most of the large triangle between Efailnewydd to the north-west, the road junction by Pensarn farm to the south-east and the Afon Rhyd-hir to the south and west. Many of the plantations, mostly in place by 1836, survive but most of the lone parkland trees portrayed on the early OS maps have gone, giving the area the character and appearance of farmland rather than parkland. The fields around the house are remnants of the park and are now used for pasture and silage production. The remaining parkland trees, although few, are of several varieties, and ages, of deciduous trees, with at least one stand of conifers. The area north-west of the farm and kitchen garden, consisting of woodland and a small lake, does retain some of its parkland character. The drive from an entrance on the north-east sweeps round in a curve across the park, originally approaching the main south-west front of the house. A second drive, from an adjacent entrance on the north, services the farm. A lodge, Bodegroes Lodge, lies between the two.

A notable avenue of beeches leading away to the south-west is a garden feature (86283). A ha-ha at the southern boundary of the garden separates it from the park, either side of the beech avenue, and was once more extensive.

Sources:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 258-61 (ref: PGW(Gd)15(GWY)).
Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map: sheet Caernarfonshire XL.7 (1901).

RCAHMW, 16 May 2022

Site Record

Plas Bodegroes Park, Pwllheli