Clyne Gardens
Encyclopedia
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
located in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The current park was formed from the landscaped gardens created by Glynn Vivian who purchased the castle in 1860.. The estate passed to his nephew Algernon, 'The Admiral' in 1921 who owned it until his death in 1952. He had the greatest influence on the gardens as we see them today. Clyne Gardens is bordered by Mumbles road and Mayals road in Blackpill
Blackpill
Blackpill is a suburban area of Swansea, Wales. It is located beside Swansea Bay, about south west of the city centre.Blackpill falls into the Mayals ward....
and Mayals
Mayals
Mayals is a suburb of Swansea, Wales. It is located about 3 miles south west of Swansea city centre. It falls within the Mayals ward and the Mumbles community council area . The ward of Mayals lies within the constituency of Swansea West, the only MCC ward not in the Gower constituency.The suburb...
areas of Swansea with entrances off both these roads.
Attractions
The gardens consist of 19 hectareHectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s of land and include over 2,000 different plants including over 800 rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s for which the gardens are renowned. Clyne holds National Collections of Pieris, Enkianthus and Rhododendrons. Due to the cool, wet and temperate local climate many plants thrive here not normally considered hardy for its latitude. The gardens have extensive bog gardens, home to giant Elephant Rhubarb Gunnera manicata
Gunnera manicata
Gunnera manicata, or giant rhubarb, a native of Brazil, is an ornamental plant in the Gunneraceae family.The underside of the leaf and the whole stalk have spikes on them. The leaves of Gunnera grow to an impressive size...
and American skunk cabbage.
The gazebo to the right of the castle was built by the Admiral to view the incoming ships as they entered Swansea Bay. The gazebo surrounded by a stand of Monterey Pine 'Pinus radiata'. These trees have retained their lower branches which filter the prevailing winds and give greater cover (protection) to the area. A Japanese garden at the top of the gardens holds a red and white painted bridge, many bamboo and an artificial lake with waterfall passing underneath the bridge. The water which rises in Clyne Common, travels under the Japanese Bridge and through the Gardens to join the sea at Blackpill. Alongside the Bridge is a fine specimen of the Handkerchief Tree 'Davidia Involucrata var. vilmoriniana'.
The park is scattered with small dogs graves to commemorate the Admiral's family pets. Joy Cottage at the seafront entrance was built as a miniature cottage for the relaxation and education of the Admiral's daughters by nannies employed to teach reading, writing and cookery.
Clyne Chapel built by William Graham Vivian, was opened for worship in 1908. Beneath it, in a private vault, Graham Vivian, his sister Dulcie and the Admiral are buried.
Notable Trees
The tallest recorded MagnoliaMagnolia
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
'Magnolia campbellii var. alba' can be found here. The Oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
woodland is a remnant of Clyne Forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, an important Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
11th century historical land feature. Glynn Vivian planted three notable trees still alive in front of the castle - one Wellingtonia 'Sequoiadendron giganteum' and two Monterey Cypress 'Cupressus macrocarpa
Cupressus macrocarpa
Cupressus macrocarpa, commonly known as Monterey Cypress or Macrocarpa, is a species of cypress that is endemic to the Central Coast of California. In the wild, the species is confined to two small populations, near Monterey and Carmel, California. These two small populations represent what was...
', one a fastigiate form which is also one of the tallest recorded in Britain.