Wyndham Park
Peterston-super-Ely, United Kingdom
The first garden suburb in Wales was created by people who were involved in Letchworth.
| Garden City Type: | Mixed (housing association / municipality / other) |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| City: | Peterston-super-Ely |
| Years of construction: |
1913 Start construction
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| Initiator/client: | John Cory |
| Architect or related: |
Thomas Hayton Mawson Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner. Thomas Adams Thomas Adams (1871-1940) was a British architect who was a pioneer of urban planning in the UK and Canada. He served as secretary to the Garden ... |
| Heritage status: | Yes |
| Explanation: | 1–10 Pwll-y-Min Crescent in Wydham Park are listed Grade II by Cadw. The listing describes the reason or their listing as for their "architectural interest as part of a most unusual crescent of early C20 houses" and for their "strikingly original design". The architect is unknown, with Thomas Adams and Baillie Scott being probable candidates. |
| General condition of Garden City: | Reasonable condition |
General description
John Cory (18 March 1828 – 27 January 1910) was a British philanthropist, coal-owner and ship-owner. In order to built the first garden city, Letchworth, the First Garden City Ltd. was established in 1903, with Cory a member of the Board of Directors.
Cory later acquired the manor of Dyffryn, St. Nicholas, near Cowbridge (Wales), and in 1907 began laying out part of the estate, near Peterston, as a garden village under the name of Glyn Cory Garden Village. His involvement with Letchworth must have been an inspiration.
Thomas Mawson, who had worked for the Cory family before, came up with a plan, which was published under the title Glyn Cory, The Garden Village of South Wales (Western Mail Ltd, 1909). It was designed as a teetotal commuter village for businessmen and clerks who would be able to take the train into Cardiff to work each day – a clear break from the original garden city ideal, where communities would be more or less self-sustained. In the suburb there were to be villas on the heights and cheaper terraced houses on the lower slopes. About 80 acres were to be reserved for playing fields, including an 18-hole golf course. It was planned to accommodate between 5,000-6,000 people in 1,400 houses.
The original plan for Glyn Cory Garden Village, now Wyndham Park.
Since Mawson was spending much of his time in the US, Cory called in Thomas Adams, who had served as secretary to the Garden City Association and been the first manager of Letchworth. Adams made...
Sources
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Jean Reader – Reginald Cory (1871-1934) and his involvement with horticultural matters in Wales
