Registered historic parks and gardens

The 2023 Historic Environment (Wales) Act places a duty upon the Welsh Ministers to compile and maintain a register of sites of special historic interest in Wales that includes:

• parks
• gardens
• designed ornamental landscapes
• places of recreation
• other designed grounds.

The statutory register came into force on 1 February 2022, and replaces the non-statutory register. It includes nearly 400 sites across Wales and continues to be an active record, incorporating new sites as they are identified.

The statutory register does not impose any new legal restrictions on Wales’ historic parks and gardens or introduce a new consent regime. Registered sites receive protection through the planning system, and planning authorities are expected to take the register into account when preparing local development plans. The effect of a proposed development on a registered site or its setting may also be a ‘material consideration’ in the determination of a planning application.

A listed building or scheduled monument within the confines of a registered historic park or garden will be subject to all relevant consent procedures.

For further information, download our best-practice guidance, Managing Change to Registered Historic Parks and Gardens in Wales.