Back Lodge

Cadw's description

Location

Located approximately 1.6km S of Leighton church, on the E side of the B4388 at its junction with a minor road.

History

Early 1850s and probably by the Liverpool architect W.H. Gee for John Naylor. Naylor, a Liverpool banker, had acquired the Leighton Estate in 1846-47 and embarked on an ambitious programme of building, notably Leighton Hall, church and Leighton Farm, all designed by Gee and completed by the mid 1850s. Leighton Hall was constructed 1850-56. Naylor continued to extend and improve the Estate until his death in 1889, during which time a number of lodges were built, all of which use similar materials but have subtle differences in their design, and which contrast with the plainer brick labourers’ cottages. Naylor’s grandson, Captain J.M. Naylor, sold Leighton Hall and the Estate in 1931.

Exterior

A small simple Tudor-Gothic lodge of one-and-a-half storeys, consisting of a main gabled range with wings to L and R. The wing to R is set further back and has a porch at the angle with the main range. Of coursed, rock-faced Cefn stone with ashlar dressings and coped gables on moulded kneelers. The slate roof has axial stacks on the wings, which have tall octagonal moulded flues (2 flues on the R wing, one on the L wing). The main elevations have 2-light mullioned windows incorporating sashes, with small single-light windows in the gables. The porch has a boarded door. (Behind the wing to L is a walled yard with an added lean-to.)

Interior

Not inspected (November 1996).

Reason for designation

The Leighton Estate is an exceptional example of high-Victorian estate development. It is remarkable for the scale and ambition of its conception and planning, the consistency of its design, the extent of its survival, and is the most complete example of its type in Wales. Back Lodge is an important element of this whole ensemble at Leighton. It is one of a series of lodges, all subtly different, which makes an important contribution to the architectural character of the Estate, and in contrast with the plainer brick labourers’ dwellings, expresses the hierarchy of estate buildings.