Bodorgan Mansion is located in the south-west of Anglesey, within parkland on rising ground north-west of the Malltraeth inlet and facing south-east over it (NPRNs 15579; 700172). There are garden areas near the house (265110) and others opposite, on the other side of the deer park in the eastern woodland belt where the American Garden is located, adjacent to, and west of, the kitchen garden (700175).

Formerly part of the park, it developed from the mid nineteenth century and by 1891 it had taken on its present layout, with little alteration since then. It is grass, planted with a wide variety of specimen trees, including monkey puzzle, Indian bean, sweet chestnut, pines and other conifers, and groups of mature hybrid rhododendrons. To the south is a small circular pool with dressed stone edging, sloping cobbled sides and a simple spray fountain rising from a central rock pile. Three square stone bases around it may have held figures or further waterworks.

To the north is an area of open woodland with thick undergrowth, very damp and containing two ponds, linked by a deep channel and with a raised path along the edge of the larger, which now hold little or no water. Overgrowth has largely obscured the layout, though a now free-standing chimney is visible, belonging to the boiler house for the nearby walled garden extension. In 1891 there was an estate gas works in the vicinity, which may account for various features in this area, including a ruined building attached to a kitchen garden extension, and other water channels; a tank is shown nearby on the 1922 map.

Sources:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 2-8 (ref: PGW(Gd)44(ANG)).
Ordnance Survey 25-inch map: sheet Anglesey XXI.8 & 12 (editions of 1891 & 1922).

RCAHMW, 18 May 2022

Site Record

Bodorgan American Garden, Anglesey