A CELEBRATORY tree planting ceremony to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of renowned landscape designer Lancelot "Capability" Brown has taken place at Dinefwr Park, Llandeilo.

National Trust' Director General, Dame Helen Gosh led the commemoration at the park by planting a tree to mark Brown's birth and his visit to Dinefwr in 1775.

The 800-acre parkland estate in Carmarthenshire is the only site in Wales to boast a designed landscape influenced by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown that allows public access.

Brown was the most famous landscape designer of the 18th century and between 1751 and 1783 he designed 170 gardens and estates across Britain with his innovative approach being imitated at many more sites.

Capability changed the look of gardens in the 18th century, designing country estates and mansions, moving hills and making flowing lakes and serpentine rivers to create new landscape settings.

His work also involved digging up formal gardens, draining marshland to create new lakes and streams and even moving an entire village out of sight.

He visited Dinefwr in 1775. Obviously impressed, he wrote: “I wish my journey may prove of use to the place. Nature has been truly bountiful and art has done no harm”.

National Trust Carmarthenshire general manager Jacqui Kedward said: “What visitors to Dinefwr now see today is the vision of George and Cecil Rice with Brown’s influence.

“Three-hundred years on, Brown’s influence is ever-present and its splendour is something visitors still marvel at. Last year, we had record visitor numbers, many drawn mainly by the beauty of the landscape.

“As the only publicly open area in Wales influenced by Brown, we’re sure that many more visitors will be drawn here this year in the 300th anniversary of his birth.”