The house and landscape park at Peniarth occupy a low-lying site on the north side of the Afon Dysynni to the east of Llanegryn. The house and gardens (NPRNs 28633 & 265216) lie towards the southern edge of the park on a site which affords magnificent views across the park to Cadair Idris.

The early history of the park and garden is unknown. By 1418 there was a house on the site grand enough to be called 'Plas', and the then owners are likely to have had a garden if not a park. The existing park was probably laid out from 1700 onwards. It once occupied a roughly triangular area mostly to the north of the house, the apex to the south being truncated by the river and extending north to the minor public road. It is likely that some of the area south of the river was also parkland; there are still plantations in this area which is now agricultural. Only four or five enclosures remain north of the river, the rest having been taken over and built on during the Second World War. Of the areas not affected by the camp, only one, to the north-east of the house, is of note. In 1901, the Ordnance Survey map shows it dotted with trees at the end nearest the house, the rest of the park north of the river being mostly bare of trees. It still retains a park-like look and is separated from the lawn in front of the house by a ha-ha, though most of the specimen trees have now gone.

Some of the camp buildings have been adapted to agricultural use, and some completely cleared and the land returned to agriculture. The main drive from the south no longer gives access to the house over the river, but it appears to be still in use as a farm track. It leads from the lodge, north of Bryncrug, to the north-west, straight at first and then curving slowly towards the north. The main drive, flanked by grass verges and hedges, is the former service drive from the north-west, running in a straight line from the gate and (modern) lodge to the pleasure grounds entrance (265216).

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

Site Record

Peniarth Park, Llanegryn