Bryn Bras is located to the south-east of Llanrug, near Caernarfon. It is notable for its varied garden design largely unchanged since it was originally laid out in 1830s-40s. Its woodland, water garden, lawn and formal areas all blend into each other. Additionally, there are two 1920s garden buildings and a well-preserved system of paths.
The present house (nprn 26090) was built between 1830 and 1835 during which time the gardens were likely laid out. It is uncertain to what extent the areas outside the garden were ever parkland, but two small areas beyond the garden boundary, which must once have formed part of the park, remain. To the north-west is a small triangular paddock, now mown, and to the far south-east a rocky knoll which includes the Mountain Walk in light woodland.
The gardens lie to the east and south-east of the house and consist of three main areas, all enclosed within a wall, partly dry-stone and partly mortared (403146). The largest, to the north and east, is woodland, containing a brick look-out tower (replacing an earlier summer house), and a complex of informal paths, largely unchanged. Most of the trees were replanted after felling in 1919.
The second largest area is the water garden, between wood and house, with the stream flowing from south-east to north-west through a series of four ponds. The uppermost is the largest, with an island, and partly used for swimming. The others are much smaller and entirely ornamental. All are planted round with shrubs and damp-loving plants. There are bridges, dams, a derelict fountain in the upper pool, and a castellated tower, with a run of several small decorative waterfalls crossing the lawn just in front of the house. Its original character may have been more formal than now appears, before the plantings grew to give the present luxuriant setting; the path layout was never symmetrical. The pond on the north, overlooked from the house, is canal-like, and nearby are a pair of statues.
The third area, immediately east of the house, consists of semi-formal lawns (including a former croquet lawn) and borders, with gravel walks and many short flights of steps, and extends south-eastwards, with a rockery and more lawn and beds on the site of a former rosary. On the north boundary, close to the present kitchen garden, is a summer house. The former kitchen garden fits into the north-east corner of this area, its arched walls acting as a backdrop (700019).
The gardens formerly extended to the south-west, on the far side of the road (86343).
Sources:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 160-4 (ref: PGW(Gd)41(GWY)).
Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map: sheet Caernarfonshire XVI.3 (1899).
RCAHMW, 15 February 2022