Pen-y-dre, No 1 Milford Terrace

Cadw's description

Location

On the W side of Milford Street, extending downhill from the corner with The Ridgeway. A row of houses behind long front gardens. Low walls with iron railings and gates facing the street. Large rear yards terminate at a back lane.

History

Two parts of a terrace of small houses were built in c.1850. It was intended to develop the whole W side of
Milford Street with 17 similar houses. These houses were built for ground leaseholders on Picton Estate
land by the Saundersfoot Building Society. The original size of each plot was ten perches. The estate map
of 1850 indicates the complete row, but its schedule shows that only five were completed at the lower (S)
end and seven at the upper (N) end at that date.

At the upper end the whole original group of seven survives. The top three plots were developed by Capt.
T. Lloyd, who occupied the first house, now called Pen-y-dre, himself (the site of which is bigger, being on the corner) and sublet No. 2, now called Coppers, to John Lloyd and No. 3, now called Penydre Cottage, to William Llewellyn. (John Lloyd was the farmer of the land immediately to the rear.) No. 4 was leaseholder-occupied, by Henry Rees. No 5 was leased to Benjamin Thomas but sublet to Elias Jones. Alex Morse was the leaseholder of Nos. 6 and 7, now Tryweryn Cottage and Ynysfach respectively, sublet to Hannah Matthias and James Llewellin. This is a typical pattern of building-society development by small investors. The larger corner house at the N end of the row was later the residence of the colliery company's doctor, Dr Pennant.

Originally the street ran directly in front of the houses (as shown on the 1859 map), so there were no front gardens; but its position was later moved to the E and there are now long front gardens.

Exterior

Belongs to a group of six small terrace-houses and one larger end-house on the W side and at the upper end of Milford Street. The larger house is at the end of the row, and the others descend to the left. Each of the terrace houses is single fronted , two windows, two rooms deep, with later rear extensions. Each has its entrance at the left and its chimney in the gable of the higher house to its right.

Rubble stone masonry, rendered and painted in a variety of pastel colours. Slate roof with tile ridges. Sash
windows, consisting of twelve panes where the original sashes survive. Doors with fanlights under
semicircular arches. The end-house is taller and wider and has 16 -pane sash windows. The rear extensions of the houses are not original.

Reason for designation

Listed as a good example of early Victorian Building Society housing contributing positively to the
character of the harbour area of the village, notwithstanding some later variation of detail. Historically
important as evidence of the intention of landowners to develop the village with housing of good status.