Rumney Hill Gardens

Rumney Hill Gardens was developed in the mid 1950s. Part of the space had formerly been designated a burial ground and it was shown on the 1940s Ordnance Survey map as Rumney Cemetery, though it was apparently never actually used as such. In March 1940[1] the Cemeteries Superintendent reported that the Rumney Burial Ground, comprising 0.75 acre, had come under the control of his department in April 1938 and no burials had yet taken place. As the ground could not be extended without purchase of additional land, and as the Council was already negotiating for a plot in Caerphilly Road for a new cemetery, the Superintendent asked the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee to consider handing the ground to the Parks Department to develop as an ornamental garden, or as wartime allotments. The Committee decided to take no action, but the wartime aerial photograph below shows that on March 1st 1941 the ground was being used for allotments. The small building at the entrance to the cemetery is still present. The site to the left of the Gardens was a bakery and later became a police station. At the bottom of the picture is the Rhymney River.

 
compass

The brick building at the entrance to the site was originally to be the cemetery mortuary. During the war the Rumney Allotment Holders Association sought to use it for storage of fertilizers, etc.[2] In 1942 a static water supply basin for the use of the Fire Service was placed at Rumney Cemetery.[3]

In 1946 the Rumney Ratepayers Protection Association made a formal request for the Council to appropriate the burial ground as an open space, and the Parks Committee agreed that the Town Clerk be asked to take the necessary steps.[4] The Town Clerk reported to the Committee in July 1947 that "a Petition of the Corporation to the Lord Bishop of Monmouth for the use of Rumney Burial Ground as a public recreation ground and open space would shortly be submitted to the Chancellor of the Diocese."[5]

Development began in 1952 with the decision to provide tennis courts and a bowling green at Rumney Cemetery. At that time the site was occupied by allotment holders, who were to be given notice to quit by September 1953.[6] The bowling green was put down on the land which had previously been the cemetery.

On the 1950s Ordnance Survey map the cemetery area, along with additional land to the south and the south-west, was shown as Rumney Hill Gardens, and tennis courts, bowling green and paths were marked on the map.

In November 1955 the Cardiff Council received offers of government grants for the development of various recreational spaces, including £780 for Rumney Hill Gardens, towards a total cost of £2,600.[7] Construction of a bowling green was already in progress, having been agreed earlier, in November 1954.[8]

In October 1956 the Parks Committee approved a scheme to provide a bowling pavilion, at a cost of £3,375.[9] At the same meeting the Committee received a request from the Rumney and St Mellons (British Legion) Bowling Club for permission to play on the bowling green when it opened. A decision was deferred while enquiries were made to discover whether a local club was likely to be formed to make regular use of the green.[10] In February 1957 the newly formed Rumney Bowling Club applied for permission to use the green on Wednesdays,Thursdays and Saturdays in the coming season. The Committee also learned that the Rumney and St Mellons Club had joined in the newly formed club, and permission was granted for use of the green on same terms as for other clubs using district greens.[11] A book detailing history of the Rumney Bowling Club has been researched and written by Bob Watson.[12]

The following month the Director of Parks reported that no changing facilities existed for the tennis courts and bowling green, which were due to open in the summer of 1957. The proposal to provide such facilities had been deleted from the estimates and therefore he was considering options for temporary accommodation.[13] No progress had been made when the Director reported again in May that a Ladies Bowling Club had been formed and was using the new green, but there was no lavatory accommodation.[14]

In September 1957 the Committee approved provision of a sign directing the public to Rumney Hill Gardens.[15]

It was not until 1958 that a new proposal was approved for a bowls pavilion - it was included, at a cost of £5,800, as a high priority in the parks building schemes for 1958/59.[16] A tender for the work costing £5,397 was awarded in March 1959 to Blakemore & Knight Ltd.[17] Building work began on May 11th[18] and was completed at the end of the year. The Parks Committee congratulated the City Architect and the Director of Parks on the layout of the pavilion and the gardens.[19] The Lord Mayor accepted an invitation to open the pavilion officially on April 30th 1960, and to mark the occasion the Parks Committee granted a request from the Bowling Club for the installation of a flagpole on the site, and the addition to the pavilion of a clock with a suitable inscription.[20]

The 1960s Ordnance Survey map shows the pavilion to have been built between the tennis courts and bowling green, and tree planting to have taken place since the 1950s.

The photograph below dated 1962 shows at its extreme right edge the former mortuary building, used as the Superintendent's office by the 1960s.

Rumney Hill Gardens bedding 1962

Rumney Hill Gardens spring bedding 1962, just inside the entrance
By kind permission, © Tom & John Wiltshire Collection

Rumney Hill Gardens pavilion c.1963

Rumney Hill Gardens pavilion c.1963[21]
 

Rumney Hill Gardens bowling c.1963

Rumney Hill Gardens bowling c.1963[21]
 

Rumney Hill Gardens

Rumney Hill Gardens in spring c.2005[22]
© Cardiff Parks Service

Rumney Hill Gardens

Rumney Hill Gardens in summer c.2005[22]
© Cardiff Parks Service

In the 1960s Rumney Hill Gardens was noted for its rockery section.[23] Former Parks Horticultural Officer Terry Davies, who worked there as an apprentice in the 1960s, recalled that the rock garden was its exceptional feature. There was also a short border between the tennis courts and the pavilion with standard Buddleja davidii 'Royal Blue', flowers covered in multi-coloured butterflies. Under these were some spectacular herbaceous plants including Dierama pulcherrimum with nine foot Angels Fishing Rods. Terry also remembered that in the grass verge opposite the tennis courts were three elliptical beds containg Hybrid Tea Roses - "'Violinista Costa', 'Grandmere Jenny', 'Wendy Cussons', each spactacular in its own way: 'Violinista Costa' had apricot blooms, buds opening like jewels, long waisted vases tipped with a colourful vortex of expanding petals; 'Grandmere Jenny' had huge blooms of yellow and magenta, like 'Peace' with colours reversed; and 'Wendy Cussons' beautiful, large, pinkish red and carrying a heavy scent."[24]

The herbaceous borders won an award - the Cambrian News Challenge Cup - in the Wales in Bloom competition in 1980.[25]

The modern Gardens contain a short, pleasant wooded walk, a well kept bowling green, a pavilion and tennis courts. In recent years, economies have resulted in simplified planting schemes. In the north east corner beyond the bowling green is a gated area where originally the parks department kept equipment and there was a nursery growing bedding plants for the parks. It is now a rest garden with a lawn and a few small trees. From the western boundary a woodland path gives access to the river Rhymney flood plain and Riverside Playing Fields.

The Rhymney Trail passes through the park.

In spring 2024, 18 trees were planted in Rhymney Hill Gardens by the Parks Service:-

Name Number Notes
Acer palmatum 'Disectum Garnet' 1 Entrance (multi-stem)
Amelanchier arborea 'Robin Hill' 1 West of tennis courts (multi-stem)
Betula ermanii 2 South & west of tennis courts
Betula utilis jacquemontii 'Doorenbos' 3 Entrance (multi-stem)
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' 1 North of tennis courts
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Golden Sun' 1 West side of bowling green
Malus 'Profusion' 1 West of tennis courts
Prunus 'Umineko' 1 North of tennis courts
Prunus 'Pandora' 5 West side of bowling green
Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' 1 West of tennis courts
Pyrus calleryana 'Redspire' 1 South-west corner of Gardens

Other links

Sources of information

  1. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 5th March 1940
  2. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 14 March 1944 & Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 11 September 1945
  3. Meeting of the Air Raid Precautions Committee 13th February 1942
  4. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 10th September 1946
  5. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 8th July 1947
  6. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 10th April 1952
  7. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 17th November 1955
  8. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 11th November 1954
  9. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 11th October 1956
  10. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 13th December 1956
  11. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 14th February 1957
  12. Rumney Bowling Club 1957-2007 by Bob Watson, available for reference use in Rumney Library and Cardiff Central Library
  13. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 14th March 1957
  14. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 23rd May 1957
  15. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 19th September 1957
  16. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 18th July 1958
  17. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 23rd March 1959
  18. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 22nd June 1959
  19. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 26th October 1959
  20. Meeting of the Parks, Baths and Cemeteries Committee 21st December 1959
  21. >The City and Port of Cardiff: the Official Handbook ("Cardiff Blue Book") of the Cardiff City Council. c.1963
  22. Cardiff Council Horticultural Database (2003-2010)
  23. South Wales Echo Saturday 18th June 1966 page 5, Rumney's rock gardens
  24. Personal communication (TD)
  25. South Wales Echo Thursday 4th September 1980 page 3