Caer Rhûn Hall (nprn 26172) is situated in the upper Conwy valley, above the west bank of the river. It is notable for the historical interest of its well-preserved terraced garden layout of the 1890s in an attractive riverside location, set in once very extensive older parkland (700102). The park includes the small medieval church of St Mary (43767) and the Roman fort and settlement of Canovium (95640) within which the church and churchyard lie. The estate also has historical association with the military figure, Major-General G.H.Gough of India.
The house is adjacent to the B5106 Conwy to Betws-y-coed road. Gardens lie around both the house and also at nearby Caerhun Farm on the opposite side of the road.  

Prior to 1892 most of the garden area, apart from a lawn south of the house, was a walled kitchen garden of irregular shape containing glasshouses and fruit trees. This was replaced by a new lay-out and a new kitchen garden (see 700103). Traces of the old walls, and some early plantings, survive. The drive approaches in a curve from the north-west, from an iron-gated entrance and lodge on the road, with two further gateways from the road into the garden, passing through lawn with ornamental trees and shrubs, and into a courtyard in front of the house.

The terraces are to the south of the house, aligned on the garden front, and are wide and shallow. The top terrace runs along the front of the house, as a broad gravel path with wide grass strips on either side. Alongside the east end is a wide border up to the house walls. Beyond the west end of the terrace is a box parterre of two squares of different box patterns, replacing areas of shrubbery. Steps down access the second terrace, below, which is lawned without plantings other than some margin conifers and others by the steps. Former paths are still visible as grassy ridges. A path down the west side, flanked by a double border, has steps from a small formal pool and a pergola of stone-built pillars in a triangular west of the top terrace; the east path is not maintained. Below the lower terrace is a large lawn with a few trees and shrubs, occasionally used as a football pitch, and terminating at a ha-ha on the south. The southern edges of the terraces are short grass slopes, the steps down shallow flights of four.
The ha-ha forms the southern boundary of the garden, and may date from before the 1890s redesign, as the boundary on the 1889 map follows exactly the same curving line for most of its length, though there is no indication of a ditch. The ha-ha consists of a dry-stone wall about 1.5 m high, with a sharp ditch on the outside.

East of the terraces, the background is a grassy area with specimen trees and shrubs, through which glimpses of the river may be obtained over the parkland. In the south-west corner of the garden is the site of an orchard, now redeveloped, and beyond it is an enclosed tree plantation with footpaths.

Within the grounds is an icehouse set within a man made mound on the edge of a small wood. It comprises a right-angled 6m long passage, once with at least two doors in this passage, leading to a conical, domed interior. 

Sources:
Cadw 1998: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Conwy, Gwynedd & the Isle of Anglesey, 74-8 (ref: PGW(Gd)12(CON)).
Sylvia P. Beaman and Susan Roaf, The Ice Houses of Britain, p.534.
Ordnance Survey first-edition 25-inch map, sheets: Caernarvonshire VIII.12 & VIII.16 (1889).

RCAHMW, 21 April 2022