Cyfarthfa Castle

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in its own landscaped park overlooking the Taff Valley and site of the former Cyfarthfa Ironworks.

History

1824-5. Designed by Robert Lugar, architect of London, for ironmaster William Crawshay II. Cost £30,000. Sold in 1909 to Merthyr Corporation; large extensions of 1912 for school.

Exterior

Large country house Picturesque castle style. Terraced site.

Basically rectangular in shape, with almost symmetrical entrance and garden fronts meeting at a circular corner tower. Coursed bull-nosed facings with ashlar dressings. Crenellated parapets with false machicolation to towers, weathered stringcourses to rest. Stair and outlook turret to rear of corner drum-tower, dummy arrow loops, rectangular hoodmoulds (arched to drum tower which also has 3-light mullioned windows to top floor). Cross windows (later?) to entrance front and drum, sash windows with glazing-bars to ground-floor of garden front. Central towers to both fronts with splayed angles, splayed bay with finial over porch to main entrance with round turrets and arched openings; oriel over Tudor garden doorway.

Attached to left of main building are the castellated screen-wall and towered entrances to former stable courtyard and offices (now rebuilt as school accommodation). Composition of walls with dummy loops, polygonal end turret, solid left-hand gatehouse with arched entry under 3-light window and right-hand entry between round and square turrets. Tudor-style school buildings to rear.

Interior

Interior retains main suite of state rooms including entrance hall, library, drawing room and dining room (now used as museum and art gallery). Entrance hall is baronial with ribbed ceiling, heraldic cornice, Gothic shafts and panelling to doorcases and castellated chimney-piece in library, the rest of public rooms are neo-classical in style with anthemion plaster bands, egg-and-dart cornices, wide architraves with angle paterae. Ceiling roses to drawing rooms, plus fine caryatid chimney-piece and scallop-shell niches to long drawing-room; Ionic pilasters from columned screen remain in dining-room.