Penmaenucha House is surrounded by gardens and set in wooded parkland (nprns 28639; ). The original kitchen garden was located immediately west of the house. At some point the garden was moved, probably in the early twentieth century, as gardens around the house were re-developed (301634), though greenhouses remained in their original position. The earliest Ordnance Survey maps show the local landscape almost completely wooded with the only open space north and west of the stables where the kitchen garden now is.

The garden lies to the north-west of the house on a north-west facing slope and is surrounded by woodland. It is basically square, with a kink in the southern boundary (at the gate) and the north-west chamfered off. It is enclosed by ordinary drystone walls, like field walls, except for the north wall which is a retaining wall with a row of conifers planted along it. Aside from the south entrance, a small, closed-off gateway on the west may have led to a path through the woods.
The steep slope required terracing to enable cultivation. There are four terraces in the eastern area, with an extra half-terrace at the top, stone-revetted, and they slope to the east and north. The widest terrace, in the middle, has some box on it. Otherwise there is no sign of any surviving planting on the terraces though box bushes grow below the lowest terrace. The western area was given over to fruit trees to the south, with apparently an ornamental area north of them. Apple trees have survived. The area to the north is overgrown though box and bamboo grow there, probably the remains of hedges edging a path, as well as some apple trees trained as espaliers.
South of the garden are further fruit trees and beyond them a small vegetable garden.

Source:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 236-42 (ref: PGW(Gd)36(GWY).

RCAHMW, 22 June 2022