Cors-y-gedol Hall, a sixteenth-century house (nprn 28298), is situated to the south of Dyffryn Ardudwy, on the western slope of Snowdonia. It lies at the north-east end of wooded parkland (700181) and is surrounded by gardens. Like the park, the gardens were laid out in the eighteenth century and may have a medieval predecessor (265202), the kitchen garden perhaps the original late sixteenth or early seventeenth century enclosed garden.

The large kitchen garden lies to the immediate north of the house. It is rectangular and covers an area of about 2.5 acres. It has stone walls on the north, east and west but is bounded by a box hedge, with post and wire fence, on the south. The east drystone wall is probably the only survivor of the original walls but is now collapsing. There is a central entrance in the north wall.

Against the inside west wall is a raised walk known as the 'Ladies' Walk' on a terrace running the entire length of the garden. An entrance on the west crosses this walk, with steps up and down. Aside from this there is very little trace of the nineteenth-century layout of perimeter and cross paths though aerial images reveal traces of it. Some outgrown box edging of the outer paths remains. The interior is grazed by sheep, and there is now a large wooden barn, probably used for lambing. In the south-east corner an area fenced off with a cypress hedge has become a garden for the farmhouse. In the south-west corner an area has been fenced off for use as a tree nursery.

Sources:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 180-5 (ref: PGW(Gd)27(GWY)).
Ordnance Survey first-edition six-inch map: sheet Merionethshire XXXII.NW (1887).
Additional notes: D.K.Leighton.

RCAHMNW, 19 May 2022