Dyffryn Gardens, selected by the British Tourism Association as one of the best 100 Gardens in the UK, is not just one garden but a series of gardens consisting of a number of outdoor rooms. Each room is enclosed within clipped yew hedges and has its own distinct character. The gardens rooms are set among broad sweeping lawns, a croquet lawn with an arboretum, and wild garden.

Dyffryn is located on an ancient site dating back to the 7th century. It was originally owned by the church but later acquired by the Button family in the 16th century. The name was changed to Dyffryn St. Thomas when the estate was sold to Thomas Pryce, who built the first building to be known as Dyffryn House.

John Cory bought the estate in 1891 and two years later he built the present manor house. He commissioned Thomas Mawson to landscape the gardens around it. After Cory's death in 1910, his son Reginald, a keen horticulturalist, developed the gardens and arboretum particularly through his joint sponsorship of several plant-hunting expeditions. After Reginald Cory's death in 1934, the estate was passed to his daughter Florence who died two years later. Sir Cennydd Traherne then bought it, and leased it in 1939 to Glamorgan County Council on a 999-year lease.

This popular attraction is at present undergoing a restoration programme with the aid of a £6.15m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The aim is to restore the Grade I Listed Edwardian gardens to Thomas Mawson's original design from 1904.

These are a mixture of photographs taken last Autumn and this Spring/Summer, you can figure out which are which by the colour of the trees! I hope you enjoy them!