The Old Vicarage

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in the village of Bontgoch, in sloping gardens on left side of road some 150m N of the bridge.

History

Former Elerch parish vicarage, 1874, said to be designed by John Prichard of Llandaff. Built for the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson, Vice-Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, for whom the school (1856) and church (1868) at Elerch were also built. The Gilbertson family owned Plas Cefn Gwyn, Elerch.

Exterior

Rubble stone with black brick dressings. Slate roof, half-hipped to N, crested red ridge tiles. Whitewashed roughcast to first floor of W garden front. Two stone and black brick stacks, 3-shaft and 2-shaft on W roof-slope, one roughcast N end stack, possibly added. Two-storey compact rectangular block with gables over principal windows, the window heads being above eaves. Brick surrounds except where roughcast, all ovolo-moulded. Cambered heads and flush stone sills. E entrance front is fine example of Victorian asymmetric functional design, the windows scaled to suit the rooms they light. Ground floor Gothic door towards right, ledged with ornate hinges and gabled slated hood. Long 2-pane sash to right, lighting corner study, three long 2-pane sashes to centre of varying widths, then cambered headed service door, ledged with strap hinges, and big 4-pane kitchen window to left. Upper floor has two big 4-pane windows under gables, one to left, one right of centre, and four tiny 2-pane lights, one to right and three between main windows. Gables have small brick apex loops. N end has 2 4-pane sashes each floor. W garden front has roughcast first floor above a brick band. Large gable left with blank shield plaque, 4-pane sash and narrower 4-pane sash. Centre and left 4-pane sashes under smaller gables with apex loops. Ground floor has pent roof on wooden brackets over left French window and centre 2-4-2-pane tripartite sash. Blank wall right. S end wall has large 2-4-2-pane sash below, and 4-pane sash above, both set to left.

Interior

Interior compactly planned, two stairhalls adjacent, main stair to S of front door, the service stair to N of service door. Main stair pitch-pine with simple Gothic rails, notched newels with pyramid caps. Study, dining-room and drawing-room off hall. 6-panel pine doors with overlapped plank architraves, chamfered, with plain quatrefoils on upper corners. Similar first floor plan.

Reason for designation

A good example of Victorian house planning, compactly designed, with external elevations following interior form. Of significance also as part of the group of buildings given by the Rev. L. Gilbertson, including the church and school.