Ewenny Priory is situated on the flood plain of the Ogmore valley, just to the south of a canalized stretch of the river, to the south of Bridgend. A Benedictine priory was founded here in about 1141. The nineteenth-century pleasure gardens occupy the monastic precinct and lie to the east, south and west of the house (Nprn 265767). The kitchen garden lies to the west of these. It is a four-sided area bounded on the north, west and south sides by the high stone medieval walls of the priory precinct (300298), and on the east side by a stone wall built to enclose the area for use as a kitchen garden in the early nineteenth century. The crenellated walls were built in the thirteenth century, soon after the gatehouses, and stand to their original height, with a wall-walk behind the battlements. The north-west corner has a round tower.

The interior is laid out with perimeter and cross grass paths like shown on the 1877 map. Near the south end of the central axis is a circular medieval stone-lined pool, with a low parapet and a flight of steps leading down to the water on the north side. A few ancient fruit trees and a large, ancient, recumbent mulberry remain. Most of the garden (in the 1990s) is in productive use for soft fruit and vegetables.

Sources:
Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan, 236-9 (ref: PGW(Gm)14(GLA)).
Ordnance Survey First Edition 25-inch map, sheet: Glamorgan XL.12 (1877).

RCAHMW, 17 May 2022