St John's Gardens, Cardiff

Gravestones in the Gardens

St. John's Gardens (Welsh: Gerddi Sant Ioan) are a small public garden in the centre of the Welsh capital Cardiff in United Kingdom. It is located between St John's Church and the Old Library. The park is around 1000 m²[citation needed] in size and is enclosed by cast iron railings. The gardens have some old trees (including a large magnolia tree),[1] some flower beds, a central hut and several benches.

Originally part of the graveyard of St John's Church, which stretched south from the church to the library building, the area was separated when the Cardiff Corporation built a public path between Working Street and Cardiff Central Market during the 1890s. As part of the agreement with the church, the Corporation agreed to take responsibility for the area which is now St John's Gardens.[2] The Gardens still contain tombs and gravestones.

The railings and gates (dating from the 1890s) are Grade II listed.[3] The wooden hut at the centre of the gardens is also Grade II listed.[4]

The gardens were closed for six months in 2018 because of anti-social behaviour in the area.[5]

  1. ^ "Share your pictures of spring as parks and gardens across Wales come to life", Wales Online, 27 March 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  2. ^ "The macabre reason for the numbers on these paving slabs in Cardiff city centre", Wales Online, 6 March 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  3. ^ Railings, Gates and Dwarf Wall to St John's Churchyard (S Section), Castle, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  4. ^ Hut in St John's gardens, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  5. ^ "St Johns Gardens has re-opened", It's On Cardiff, 12 November 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2020.