The Hawys

Cadw's description

Location

Located approximately 1.1km SSW of Leighton church on W side of B4388 and on S side of junction with a farm road to Gwyn's Barn.

History

Later C19, possibly designed 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

Picturesque simple Tudor-Gothic lodge of one-and-a-half storeys, consisting of main range with cross-gables to front and rear, forming a cruciform plan. Of rock-faced, snecked Cefn stone with larger quoins and window surrounds; slate roof with trailed barge boards, spike finials, crested ridge and a central stone stack. In cross-gable to front is a 2-light mullioned window incorporating sashes and a sash window in the gable. To L of cross-gable is doorway which has a boarded door with iron studs and fake strap hinges in a shallow Tudor arch. (To R of cross-gable is top-hung casement window.) In L gable end and rear cross-gable are windows similar to front. Gable end to R has C20 wing added.

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. The Hawys 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.