We were commissioned by the Vale of Glamorgan council to carry out works to these innovative Edwardian gardens, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This comprised the restoration and re-creation of gardens, structures and statuesand reinstatement of horticultural collections - fernery, heatherbank, extensive rockery and dahlias. Also the design of bedding displays over three years, from archive photos and historic research.

Dyffryn Gardens was designed by Thomas Mawson, first president of the Landscape Institute. His intention was to create a circular walk around the gardens, but there is no evidence that this was ever previously implemented. It was done as part of our work here, and provides access around the site for all, by means of new and resurfaced paths.

We worked out the Lavender Court trellis and Moorish Gateway from the archive photo and some remnants of the original structures. A prototype trellis panel was built and located; we made tiny adjustments to some of the proportions by comparing it with the archive photo on site with the Project Manager.

The trellis is designed to exactly match the look of the original whilst being easy to maintain. Painting trellis work by brush would be prohibitive so the panels can be taken out of the frames and spray painted in the workshop.