Cyncoed Gardens

The site that became Cyncoed Gardens was acquired by the Council from the Roath Court Estate in 1897 for the construction the following year of a waterworks and reservoir for the Penylan district. The waterworks, including a 50 foot castellated water tower, occupied less than half of the six acre site. The remaining 3 acres were for extension of the works, should this in time be found necessary. The reservoir was to be 315 x 130 feet and 12 feet deep giving a capacity of some 3 million gallons.[1]

In the mid 1900s the Cardiff Corporation meteorological station and the Cardiff City observatory were both opened to the public at the Penylan reservoir site. A seismograph was added in 1909.

Cardiff Metoerological Station and Observatory

Cardiff Metoerological Station and Observatory c.1911[2]

In the 1920s a new and much larger reservoir was provided at the Wenallt, rendering the Penylan one practically redundant, and with no likely use for the spare three acres of land. In 1927 it was agreed that the land be transferred to the Parks Committee for recreational use, along with responsibility for the observatory.

On 12th July 1927 the Parks Committee instructed the Chief Parks Officer to prepare a plan for the layout of the site, to include the construction of a bowling green, twelve hard tennis courts, fencing and seats. The Committee also decided to seek a financial contribution from the University for the upkeep of the observatory.[3] In the event the estimated cost of the proposed layout approached £5000, owing to the nature of the ground which required costly terracing and excavation, so the work was later reduced to fencing, flower border and twelve garden seats at a total cost £206.[4]

The Penylan reservoir land was formally designated a recreation ground by the Council on 12th December 1927. In June 1928 the Parks Committee decided that the site would be called Cyncoed Gardens and Recreation Ground,[5] and it was officially re-opened to the public on 30th July 1928 by Alderman Snook, the Chairman of the Parks Committee.[6] The recreation ground consisted of a grass field of irregular shape, along with seats and a path with ornamental borders running parallel to the public road. In the winter of 1930-31 a putting green was created and was formally opened for play on 16th May 1931.[7 It proved to be exceedingly popular, with income of £152 for the first season.

In 1938 the Parks Committee approved a proposal to construct a roof over the reservoir and to create six hard tennis courts on it.[8] Ordnance Survey maps for the 1940s show that the tennis courts had been built above the reservoir.

The Parks Department Inventory of Parks Buildings and Equipment, compiled for insurance purposes in April 1938, included the following information for Cyncoed Gardens:

In the 1950s Cyncoed Gardens still included the observatory and meteorological instruments, as well as other features as shown below.

 

Ordnance Survey map c.1950 Plan ST 1979

Sadly, the observatory closed in 1979. The water tower has survived and has been incorporated into a private residence. There is housing development in the space once occupied by the reservoir and tennis courts. The modern day Cyncoed Gardens, now reduced in size, includes a play area for children as well as a small green space surrounded by a footpath.

Sources of Information

In general, the information in this section is taken from A. A. Pettigrew, The Public Parks and Recreation Grounds of Cardiff Volumes 4 (Chapter on Putting Greens) & 5 (Chapter on Cyncoed Gardens).

Other sources are:

  1. Cardiff Times and South Wales Weekly News 11th December 1897 page 3
  2. Photograph from E.Walford. The Cardiff Seismograph. Reports and transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society Vol. 44 (1911) pages 19-22 (available from Welsh Journals Online)
  3. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee (held at Penylan Reservoir) 12th July 1927
  4. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 14th November 1927
  5. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 26th June 1928
  6. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 30th July 1928
  7. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 27th May 1931
  8. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 21st February 1938