Dyffryn Gardens

The story of Dyffryn Estate dates back to the 7th century A.D. when the then Manor of Worlton was given to Bishop Oudoceous of Llandaf. In the 16th century the manor was acquired by the Button family and the first house was built. The family occupied the estate for a number generations and it is said that they still do to this day as the ghost of Admiral Sir Thomas Button haunts the grounds of the estate!

The name was changed to Dyffryn St. Nicholas in the 18th century when the estate was sold to Thomas Pryce, who built the first building to be known as Dyffryn House. In 1891 the estate was sold to John Cory, who built the present house in 1893. Later Thomas Mawson, a well known landscape architect, (and first president of the Institute of Landscape Architecture), was commissioned to design a garden to complement this magnificent new house.

After John Cory's death in 1910, the estate went to his third son Reginald, a leading figure in the RHS. He was a keen horticulturalist and plant collector who during the early 1900s jointly sponsored several world-wide plant hunting expeditions. Many of the plants on display at Dyffryn exist as a direct result of these forays, the most outstanding being Acer griseum (Paper Bark Maple) grown from seed brought back from China by the famous plant hunter Ernest Wilson.

In 1939 the then owner Sir Cennydd Traherne leased the estate on a 999 year lease to Glamorgan County Council. These Grade 1 listed gardens are now owned and managed by the Vale of Glamorgan Council and are being restored with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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