Roath Mill Gardens

Roath Mill Gardens takes its name from the medieval Roath Mill on the same site. The Tredegar Estate gave this land to the Cardiff Corporation in 1910, along with the ground to the west which became Roath Brook Gardens. The Tredegar Estate was developing its land here for building purposes and in 1906 offered to give the Corporation the plot beside Roath Brook, from Penylan Road to Roath Church, to create a public garden, provided that the Corporation fenced the site and paid half the cost of constructing roads. The new garden would link with Waterloo Gardens and at that time was known as Roath Brook Gardens or Penylan Brook Gardens.

In response to this offer the Parks Committee on the 23rd April 1906 instructed the City Engineer to report on the costs of fencing and road construction. Subsequently on 22nd October the Committee decided that it was willing to accept the gift but on the condition that the Tredegar Estate fenced the land. The estimate of the cost of fencing the land together with "private improvements" was £2830, and it was felt that the relatively small area of the proposed garden did not justify the cost. During 1907 after further discussion between the City Engineer and the Tredegar Estate, agreement was reached that the Council would fence the garden, while Lord Tredegar would enlarge the land to be presented and pay for the road construction. It was reported that Lord Tredegar had "also undertaken to build a 50 ft bridge over the brook."[1] The agreement was finally approved by the Cardiff Council on July 13th 1908, though not without opposition.

Ownership was transferred on 9th February 1910,[2] although some of the work to fence the ground had started previously. As in the case of Waterloo Gardens the work was undertaken by unemployed men through the Cardiff Distress Committee. On 22nd February 1909 the Parks Superintendent reported that construction of the iron fencing was about to be started, but there was a long delay before it could be erected owing to slow progress in creating the surrounding public roads. Borrowing powers had been obtained from the Local Government Board in 1908 for the £2380 required for fencing and private improvement expenses,[3] but the cost of laying out the land as a park was not included. The Superintendent submitted plans for this on November 30th 1910, estimated to cost £2000. After some delay the Local Government Board approved the borrowing of this sum[4] and preparation of the ground began with the tipping of refuse for levelling. In April 1911 the Superintendent reported that good progress was being made using unemployed labour.[5]

Roath Mill Garden (the section south east of Blenheim Road) was completed during 1912 and was officially opened on October 23rd of that year. The northern section, then known as Roath Brook Garden, was not complete and was not opened to the public at this stage.

The opening ceremony for Roath Mill Garden was performed by Ex-Alderman John Chappell, a former Chairman of the Parks Committee, after which "the Chairman and Councillor J. Robinson each planted in the gardens a Cedrus Deodara tree, and Councillors Grey and Dash a double-flowering Chinese Cherry Tree.[6]

A.A. Pettigrew quoted a description of Roath Mill Garden in 1912 from a Press report of the official opening:-

The Gardens are situated in a rapidly growing district, extending from Waterloo Gardens, which were opened some few years ago, and Roath Park....The soil is in good condition, and the plants and shrubs will mature in a short time. The Roath Brook (the mill leat) runs through the Gardens, and traces still remain of the old Roath Mill. Water from the brook has been diverted into a paddling pool for children, and adjoining the stream is a rockery containing a number of Alpine plants. No fewer than 95 varieties of trees and shrubs have been planted in the Gardens, and when these have developed, they will present a very fine show. The work of designing and laying out the gardens has been carried out in the most praiseworthy manner by Mr. W. W. Pettigrew, the Parks Superintendent.[7]

In January 1913 the Parks Committee approved the building of a shelter at Roath Mill Garden and instructed that the work be carried out as early as possible.[8] A shelter is shown on Ordnance Survey maps from 1910 to 1960 inclusive. It was located roughly half way between the foot bridge over the brook and Waterloo Road, at the mid-point along the north-south path which runs between the two east-west paths. Ordnance Survey maps also show that there were two foot bridges over the brook in the 1910s and 1920s, one in the position of the present-day bridge and another a short distance up stream. In the 1950s and 1960s there was a drinking fountain opposite the southerly end of the footbridge.

1920 map

Ordnance Survey map 1920 showing Roath Brook Gardens and Roath Mill Gardens

Although it is not labelled, the children's paddling pool can be seen on Ordnance Survey maps for the 1910s and 1920s, but not the 1940s. It is believed to have been filled in during the 1930s.[9]

The 1938 Inventory of Parks Buildings and Equipment listed the following for Roath Mill Gardens, which was named in the inventory Mill Gardens (Penylan):-

  • 1938 Buildings and Equipment Inventory: Mill Gardens
  • Caretakers Shelter
  • Public Shelter *
  • *  indicates no contents listed

A 1942 aerial photograph shows Roath Mill Gardens in 1942. Between the paths there seem to be cultivated areas, although the Parks Committee minutes apparently include no record of wartime allotments there, or of food cultivation by Council staff.

Major flood defence work was carried out at the south east end of Roath Mill Gardens in 2017 and 2018.

Sources of Information

In general, the information in this section is taken from A. A. Pettigrew, The Public Parks and Recreation Grounds of Cardiff, Volume 5.

Other sources are:

  1. Weekly Mail 28th September 1907 page 4
  2. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 23rd May 1910
  3. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 30th November 1908
  4. Meeting of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Board Sub-Committee 27th February 1911
  5. Cardiff Parks Superintendent's Report Bookpdf(pdf) A handwritten book covering the period January 1908 to October 1912 inclusive, currently in the care of the Cardiff Council's Parks Service.
  6. Meeting of the Parks, Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 23rd October 1912
  7. A. A. Pettigrew, The Public Parks and Recreation Grounds of Cardiff, Volume 5
  8. Meeting of the Parks, Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 27th January 1913
  9. Diane Brook, A short history of Roath Mill. Morgannwg, volume LVII, 2013, page 96