Do you love Carmarthenshire? Do you care about our heritage, landscape and the environment? Would you like to be involved at the start of something new and exciting?

Ymddiriedolaeth Drws i’r Dyffryn – The Tywi Gateway Trust (now Parc yr Esgob Trust) was set up to support the community based redevelopment of the Bishop’s Park at Abergwili, and was fortunate to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to make this happen. The Grade II registered park, with its pleasure and walled gardens, is notable for its cultural and archaeological history, and also for landscape features like the Great Meadow, the Bishop’s Pond (a Site of Special Scientific Interest) or the famous ‘ha-ha’. At its heart is the former Palace of the Bishops of St Davids, a listed building, which is now the Carmarthenshire County Museum.

Our vision is to create a place that we can all be proud of – for enjoyment, recreation, learning, participation and fun. Our new visitor facilities will be integrated with those of the Museum to help assure the future of both – a truly unique partnership. Two new members of staff have recently started work – the Trust Manager and Head Gardener – who will give the project new impetus.

At the end of the development phase some of our current Trustees are retiring shortly, and we are looking for a maximum of 5 new trustees to join the Board to deliver and sustain the project in the long term. The role of our Trustees is to ensure that the organisation functions within legal and financial requirements of a charity, and to be responsible through teamwork for overall governance, leadership and strategic direction.

We are particularly looking for people with managerial experience in finance (our current Treasurer is leaving in November), as well as fund-raising, education, heritage attractions, marketing and social media. However, skills in business, horticulture, the built and natural environment and the arts would be of interest. We would also like to see more Welsh speakers on the Board, as well as people with experience of working in or with membership organisations in the charitable sector.

Find out more on (CC3) The Essential Trustee https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essential-trustee-what-you-need-to-know-cc3

For further details and to express an interest, please contact: enquiries@tywigateway.org.uk

The Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with voting Members other than its Charity Trustees. CIO Registered No. 1167244. 

The Board of Trustees are delighted to announce that Piers Lunt has been appointed as Prif Arddwr-Head Gardener and will take up this new post on September 3^rd 2018.

Piers was the Botanical Horticulturist/Arborist at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) and has a wide knowledge of, and deep enthusiasm for, plants and gardens. His special interest is in the blending of horticultural craft with natural features – with a keen eye for sensitive design.

Piers feels very strongly that “parks and gardens are of paramount importance to the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve and for the continued, safe enjoyment of all visitors”. As at NBGW he will be working with teams of volunteers.

pierslunt@tywigateway.org.uk

The Board of Trustees are delighted to announce that Louise Austin has been appointed as the Ymddiriedolaeth Drws i’r Dyffryn – Tywi Gateway Trust Manager and will take up this new post on August 20^th 2018.

Her primary role is as project manager and budget holder for the exciting redevelopment of the Bishop’s Park. An archaeologist by profession she worked for several years at Dyfed Archaeological Trust managing major projects, before becoming Heritage Officer at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, delivering and developing the parkland regeneration project.

Louise believes that her new post here “is a fantastic opportunity, to achieve the conservation and protection of this important historic park and garden. It will also benefit the county museum, the local community of the Tywi Valley and the broader region through greater use and enjoyment of the site”.

Louise can be contacted on louiseaustin@tywigateway.org.uk

There will be monthly guided walks to explain and discuss our plans for the project, including in the walled garden.

They will take place on the following Saturdays, starting from the car-park at 2.15 pm

May 5^th, June 2^nd, July 7^th, August 4^th, September 1^st, October 6^th November 3^rd and December 1^st.

Other guided walks may be organised and these will be publicised separately.

Please note that some paths are uneven and may be slippery, so stout footwear is recommended.  Dogs are welcome, on short leads.

Please join us and have a say on the future of your Park!

The gardens in autumn

We are all very excited about what the future holds for the Bishop’s Park. In looking to return the park to its previous grandeur, one of the big decisions has been through examining all available evidence deciding on what time period the park is going to be restored to.

After a lot of research the inspiration for the restoration will be how the park looked at the time when Dr John Jenkinson was the Bishop of St Davids in the early nineteenth century.

When he became bishop in 1825 both the palace and grounds had fallen into decay.  The palace was rebuilt and the grounds redesigned in a style where the plants were the centre of attention, all paid for by Bishop Jenkinson. This was to be the last time the Bishop’s Park had any major landscaping works undertaken.

Bishop Jenkinson died in 1840 but his legacy at Abergwili was already secured as in the same year his palace was described as being a ‘noble mansion’ and it was acknowledged that much beauty had been added to the grounds through his work.

It’s exciting to think that nearly 200 years later working with the community, our partners and the Heritage Lottery Fund our project can help restore his much loved lost garden, bringing it to back to life for the community and future generations to enjoy.

The palace and lawns seen from the south east towards the end of the nineteenth century
Courtesy of Carmarthenshire Museums