Ewenny Priory is situated on the flood plain of the Ogmore valley (NPRNs 143 & 308), just to the south of a canalized stretch of the river, south of Bridgend. A Benedictine priory was founded here in about 1141. Following the Dissolution, the park, known then as the Buckcourt, was first a deer park dating to the second half of the sixteenth century. Writing in about 1578 Rice Merrick noted two deer parks at Ewenny, one for fallow deer and one for red deer. This park is likely to be the fallow deer park; the whereabouts of the red deer park is not known.

A small park, it became a landscape park in the early nineteenth century when a new house was built, achieved its present layout by 1877, and little altered since. It lies mostly to the south of the house, gardens (265767) and church (309098), on ground falling gently to the south. It is enclosed within rubble stone walls up to 3m high along its east, west and south sides. The entrance, flanked by gate piers and a lodge (Top Lodge, 20080), is near the west end of the south side, through a Gothic archway and castellated gatehouse. A drive, now grassed over but still in use, runs north towards the garden.

The park interior is open grassland, with perimeter belts of mixed deciduous trees and a large clump near the north-west corner. In the north-east segment is a clump with earthwork tree ring (86924). A few isolated deciduous trees of mixed age, oak, plane and horse chestnut, ornament the remainder of the park. Planting probably took place in the early nineteenth century when the monastic precinct wall to the south of the house was demolished and replaced by a ha-ha to open up the view from the house and garden towards the park. A row of large pines was planted in the late nineteenth century along the northern end of the east side and there are also some on the west side. The hill to the south, beyond the Corntown road, which is part of the estate, was planted ornamentally with a large clump of deciduous trees visible on the skyline.

At the north end of the park, in front of the garden, a canalized stream runs across it east to west. Between it and the the ha-ha bounding the garden is the former archery lawn, a rectangular levelled grass area with box bushes at its east end.

Sources:
Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 236-9 (ref: PGW(Gm)14(GLA)).
Ordnance Survey Second Edition 25-inch map, sheet: Glamorgan XL.12 (1878).

RCAHMW, 17 May 2022