Cestyll Cemaes | Cemaes Castles

Cemaes, Wales, United Kingdom

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Cestyll Cemaes refers to Cestyll Garden, a secluded Grade II-registered historic park and garden near Cemaes on the northwest coast of Anglesey in North Wales, United Kingdom, rather than a castle or castles as the phrasing might suggest.

The garden features picturesque sea views and was transformed from rugged landscape into a fine plant collection beginning in 1922 by Violet Mary Vivian, who designed most of it herself while her friend Princess Victoria (daughter of King Edward VII) designed part of it. It contains white rhododendrons, Japanese Maples, yellow Witch Hazel, and Azaleas, reaching its best display in late May.

The site includes a 19th-century walled kitchen garden, the valley garden with family memorials, and the disused Cafnan corn mill at its north end beside the Wales Coast Path. Cestyll House, once the garden's centerpiece, was demolished in 1991 after becoming unsafe, and the garden now forms part of the grounds of the former Wylfa nuclear power station. The garden is open to the general public during the Spring Bank Holiday and may be visited by special arrangement.