Former entrance tower to Pantglas, including attached remains of house.

Cadw's description

Location

Pantglas is 2km SSW of Llanfynydd, on the W side of a minor road between Llanfynydd and Court Henry. The tower is at the S end of the modern holiday village.

History

Pantglas was begun c1850 and completed by 1854 for David Jones, banker and MP, at a cost of £30,000. The architect is not known but could have been William Wesley Jenkins of London or James Wilson of Bath, both of whom had connections in the area. The house was sold in 1919 and had various subsequent owners, and was used as a hospital until closure in 1965, when it was damaged by fire. The house was demolished by 1988, leaving only the tower and part of the portico.

Exterior

An Italianate 4-storey tower with 2-storey portico set back on its L side, of dressed masonry and roughcast walls. The lower storey of the tower is rusticated masonry and has round-headed doorways to the front and R sides. The second storey has a recessed segmental-headed window between rusticated quoin strips. Above, the rendered third storey has a blind balustrade and keyed oculus between rusticated quoins. A broad panel is between third and upper storeys. The upper storey has triple keyed round-headed windows, the central with 2-pane sash window and the outer blind, above which consoles support pedestals on the balustraded parapet.

The 2-bay portico has Tuscan columns, paired in the centre, and a balustrade in the upper storey. In the lower storey the windows in the passage have Doric architraves. Further L is a freestanding column, part of the original porch. A roughcast single-window wall is on the R side of the tower.

Reason for designation

Listed as a substantial architectural fragment of a once important C19 country house, and for group value with other surviving elements at Pantglas.