Dyffryn Gardens

Park

Explorer Tom

At Dyffryn Gardens, an Edwardian grand design keeps opening little doors inside the bigger one. One turn brings a formal lawn, another a walled kitchen garden, and another an exotic glasshouse beside the Vale of Glamorgan countryside. Tom has asked for the garden's floor plan; the hedges have voted to keep him guessing. Coal merchant John Cory bought the estate in 1891 and built the present house soon afterwards. His son Reginald loved plants, financed collecting trips and worked with garden designer Thomas Mawson to create the garden rooms. The Paved Court and Pompeian Garden show their taste for a carefully arranged scene, while the arboretum preserves trees from an older part of the estate. The place grew from industrial wealth, a fact worth remembering among the flowers. It also grew from serious curiosity about plants, and that curiosity still gives each space a different character. Walk from broad lawns into smaller enclosures, then compare the shapes and textures of trees in the arboretum. The glasshouse and productive kitchen garden change with the seasons, so a second visit will not repeat the first. Restoration continues, and parts of the gardens or house can be closed while work is under way. Tom claims the cacti are rehearsing a guard of honour; give those sharp fellows a little room. The National Trust runs Dyffryn as a public garden near St Nicholas, with admission charges and visiting arrangements on its own page. The Victorian house is mostly closed for restoration, though its exhibition may be open; check before planning around it. Stay for the small garden rooms, where a turn of the path can make an ambitious estate feel wonderfully personal.