Hafod Estate
The National Trust is now managing the Hafod Estate under a lease agreed with the landowner Natural Resources Wales. The 200 hectares includes restored historic gardens and walking trails.
Hafod Uchtryd, 12 miles south-east of Aberystwyth, is recognised as one of the finest examples in Europe of a Picturesque landscape.
Its celebrated owner, Thomas Johnes (1748-1816), built a new house in this remote location and laid out its grounds in a manner suited to displaying its natural beauties in sympathy with the ‘Picturesque principles’ fashionable at the time, with circuit walks allowing the visitor to enjoy a succession of views and experiences. Johnes also used the land for farming, forestry, and gardening, in each case trying out new ideas and experimental methods. Hafod became an essential destination for the early tourist in Wales.
In 1990 a project began to save and restore the designed landscape of Hafod through the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust.
The Trust formed a partnership with Forestry Commission to undertake practical conservation, concentrating on the network of Johnesian paths. In 1994 a new charity was formed, Ymddiriedolaeth yr Hafod – the Hafod Trust – which operated to save this unique setting over the next nearly 30 years until the transfer to the National Trust.
This is an incredibly beautiful walking area and there are five way-marked walks, of varying length and difficulty, enable visitors to explore the Hafod landscape on foot. All are signed from the church car park, where a guide map can be purchased from a dispensing machine (takes 2 x £1 coins).
Find out more about the walks here.
Contact us
E-mail: cwmystwyth@aol.com
Lluniau/Photography: Sorcha Lewis, Heather Mitchell, Simon Boussetta, Peter Unwin.