Llanarth Court

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in landscaped park SE of Llanarth, entered by driveway under lodge at Pit 1 km SSW of Llanarth.

History

Country house originally of c1770 remodelled 1849-51 by W. & E. Habershon in Italianate style. An engraving of the house by the Rev. A. Gardner, of c1796, shows a neo-classical 11-bay house of which the pedimented centre of 2-3-2 bays may be older than the two wings. These are taller with an attic lunette over 3-storey bows and have hipped roofs. The centre had a 3-bay ground floor portico of coupled columns with balustrades in Gardner's view, single columns without balustrade in an engraving by J.P. Neale of 1820. The grounds were altered in the 1770s for John Jones towards a landscape design, though some formality remained. In about 1792 Samuel Lapidge designed the lake, and in 1805 J.C. Loudon altered the lake and introduced further groups of trees.
The house is on the site of an earlier house recorded back to the early medieval period. Alice Wallis of Llanarth married Thomas Huntley of Treowen, their grand-daughter Margaret married David ap Jenkin ap Howel of Hendreobaith, killed at the battle of Banbury 1469. His descendants the Jones family held Treowen and rebuilt Hendreobaith as Llanarth Court in the C17 and also owned Clytha House.
The family name was changed to Herbert in 1848. The Jones and Herbert family were Roman Catholic since recusant days and the Roman Catholic church by the house of the late C18 is among the oldest in Wales. The house was given to the Roman Catholic church by the last Herbert, Mrs Fflorens Roch, in 1948, and run as Blackfriars School by the Dominican order. Closed c1990 and eventually sold to
AMI Healthcare Group as a private hospital.

Exterior

Country house, unpainted stucco, with low slate hipped roofs and stucco corniced stacks. Three storeys, main facades to N and S with heavy dentilled cornices over ground floor and at roof level below shallow parapets, moulded second floor sill course. Windows have moulded architraves, French windows with top-lights to ground floor, long cross-windows to first floor and square casement pairs to upper floor. N entrance front of 2-2-3-2-2 bays has slightly projected centre and ends with panelled parapets, the centre parapet more elaborate, stepped at centre. Ground floor windows each side have cornices to architraves, centre 3 bays project with channelled rustication, arched window each side of arched doorway, all with keystones, the doorway with triple key, ornamental ironwork in fan apparently the letter 'A'. Cornice carried around and fine scrolled iron railing above.
S garden front has 3-2-3-2-3 bays, with centre and ends projected. Centre attached raised Ionic portico, full-height bows each end. Sandstone steps in front of centre and the 2 bows. Centre has heavy channelled piers to ground floor, entablature over, then 4 large Ionic columns above with entablature and pediment. First floor windows have curved iron balconies. Outer bows have paired Ionic columns to ground floor and entablature. Panelled curved parapets.
At E end set lower due to fall in ground is service block of basement and 2 storeys. Two-bay 2-storey link to main house, 2-1-2-bay service range with advanced pedimented centre with channelled angle piers, cornice and parapet to each side. Platband between floors and channelled basement. Windows are small-paned sashes, tripartite to centre bay. N front is 4-bay with sashes, cornice and parapet.

Interior

Interior spaces appear largely of the C19 but there may be remnants of the late C18 house in upper rooms, and of the C17 house in the cellars. Front hall has triple arch from porch, double arch each side, and back wall contains the very fine screen dated 1627 removed here from Tre-owen (proposed to be returned to Treowen 1999), between two arches. Neo-Jacobean fireplace and overmantel. Stair hall through arches to right, open-well stair rising full height with scrolled tread ends and cast-iron balusters. Library on garden front has 2 Ionic white marble columns and 2 pilasters to screen, moulded cornice, painted roundel in ceiling to right. Large Renaissance style marble fireplace. Book-cases with closed cupboards below, plaster panels above. Mahogany double doors in frames moulded to match ceiling cornice.

Reason for designation

Listed Grade II* as a large landscaped country house, elaborately remodelled in the Classical style in 1849-51 by a leading firm of local architects. Early and important history.