The Secret Garden…revealed

Anne May, an Engagement Officer for the Walled Garden at the Bishop's Park in Abergwili, relates the background to an exciting restoration project

In 2018 the Tywi Gateway Trust charity signed 30-year leases with Carmarthenshire County Council and the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, for the management and maintenance of the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and the Walled Garden.

Since 2023, the main aim of the post has been to try to ascertain what will attract new and diverse audiences to the garden. It is a privilege to work in such a delightful place with local groups and organisations. Many thanks to our volunteers and other groups such as Elidyr College, Ysgol Maes y Gwendraeth, the Ethnic Youth Support Team (EYST) and Dr Mz. to name just a few.

The half-acre walled garden is a magical place, which has been hidden behind high walls for a long time.

The link between the Bishops of St Davids and Abergwili goes back over 700 years. Bishop Thomas Bek established an ecclesiastical college in Abergwili at the end of the thirteenth century. It was the home of the bishop from the mid-16th century until 1974. The palace and park have played a significant role in the history of the Welsh language. Here William Salesbury wrote the first Welsh translation of the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer.

With records dating back to the 1790s, many people still refer to it as the ‘secret’ garden, as it is hidden on the western side of the Park. Once the heart of the estate, the garden was vital in the production of fruit and vegetables for the Bishop's table from the eighteenth century to the 1970s.

Gwenonwy Owen (1887-1981) was the eldest daughter of Bishop John Owen. There are two stacks of her diaries in the National Library of Wales which contain memories of her childhood in Bishop's Park. During this period, her father's private garden was probably her refuge from the hustle and bustle of the palace:

“We had three gardens,” she writes. “The small one and an exceptionally large one which had been well cultivated, whereas the greenhouses and a large garden near the station were for potatoes and fruit. There was a lovely summer house and a rather lovely arbour, covered with honeysuckle.”

Unfortunately, while restoration work is underway, the walled garden is closed to the public. Tywi Gateway Trust recently submitted an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund which, If successful, will enable us to provide tours of the walled garden and an exciting schedule of activities.

Picture: Anne May with her jobshare partner Teresa Walters