Bodnant Gardens is in the Conwy valley, not very far from the A55. For anyone looking for a really plasant day out, this it.
The garden is in two parts. The upper part around the house is made up of terrace gardens and informal lawns. The lower part is formed by the Dell. Pinetum and Wild garden.
Bodnant Hall from the front lawn.
Henry Davies Ponchin, whose son-in-law was the first Lord Aberconwy bought Bodnant and it’s surrounding estate in 1874.
The house had been built in 1792 and was a typical Georgian design.
The garden, when Ponchin bought the estate consisted of Victorian shrubberies and lawns.
He first started on the Dell, reinforcing the banks and planting the great conifers in 1876.
Lily pond.
The lily terrace,containing the formal pond was designed around the two Cedars which were planted in 1875. This one, at the northern end of the pond is an Atlas Cedar.
Pin mill and Canal pond.
The Pin Mill stands at the south end of the canal. It was originally built in about 1730 as a garden house, in Gloucestershire.
In 1938 it was decaying and the 2nd Lord Aberconwy bought it and brought parts to Bodnant where he incorporated them into this new building.
Priapus with a colourful background.
Banks of wonderful spring colours.
Everywhere you look there are wonderful banks of colour.
Trees too have blazing colours.
Even some of the trees are as colourful as the flowers.
Blazing colours.
Beautiful spring colours are everywhere.
The Dell.
The Dell.
A Sequoia
Strange shapes.
One of the great Sequoias, standing at about 145 feet high.
Some of the ancient trees have strange shapes, like this one, almost lying down to grow.
View across Conway valley from Lily pond.
Everywhere there is something wonderful to see, not least the views across the Conwy valley, like this one from the Lily pond.
Bodnant is a great place to visit, in a fantastic setting in the Conwy valley. I will be going back and doing more posts during the different seasons.
