The Gardens

Imagine having a house where this is just one of your garden gates.

The gardens are around St Fagan's Castle and the gates separate the Mulberry Grove from the parterre.

The parterre itself was looking glorious with the rather austere Elizabethan house as a backdrop.

A beautiful setting to wander and relax.

This is the actual front drive with an avenue of lime trees and actually quite discreet gates at the entrance then passing through the old castle battlements.

An impressive lead cistern dated 1616 takes pride of place in the front courtyard.

You know I can't resist a framed view and this is taken looking out through the castle's front door.

A wander around the rest of the gardens revealed glasshouses flanked by summer flowers.

This included far more successful sweet peas than my meagre offerings and plenty of dahlias.

Then a series of garden compartments.

The Rosery dating from 1899 is of particular note with a terracotta tiled circular canal and a bay hedge.

The Italian Garden is recently restored and includes pictures of how the family used to use the raised pool to bathe in and a young gardener made an improvised boat.

This side of the museum is almost a day out in itself. There is a lot to see so if you visit be sure to give yourself plenty of time.