Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens

Three different gardens have been discovered, including an unusual walled garden with curving walls and pool, a secret valley garden with three waterfalls and river, and an upper woodland garden with stone outcrops and the remains of a 19c. folly.

Restoration

The first stage was to rescue the house and lodges, and to carefully restore the outbuildings and gardener’s cottage using traditional techniques and materials; these are now let as holiday accommodation to provide some supporting income.

Work started on restoring the gardens and grounds in 1997, this was a huge undertaking as large areas had not been maintained for over seventy years. In 1998 the area immediately behind the main house became a ‘herb garden’. The following year the sheltered courtyard between the cottages was planted as a garden.

History

Gardening essentially began at Cadnant in 1804 when John Price chose a highly scenic position for his new georgian house, the walled garden was used as a kitchen garden and orchard, and the pleasure grounds had their path systems. The estate continued well maintained under the Price’s until after the First World War. In 1928 the estate was split and sold to various owners.

The penultimate owner was a keen gardener and plant enthusiast but had to contend with dwindling staff, resources and energies, the areas maintained were reduced to a small area around the main house and a small section in a corner of the walled garden.

The present owner has been restoring the estate and gardens since 1996, by this time the gardens had been long neglected and almost completely overgrown with sizeable self-sown tree seedlings, cherry laurel and ponticum.

The Future

It is our intention, as restoration and development continues, to open the gardens to more visitors, as it is our pleasure to share this piece of paradise with the many people that share our aspirations for the future of this beautiful valley.