No. 12 Gold Tops

Cadw's description

Location

Prominently located on the S side of Fields Road, approximately 15 metres E from the junction with Godfrey Road.

History

Dated 1856. The architect was probably R. G. Thomas of Newport, who had prepared plans for Gothic and Italianate villas at Gold Tops in 1855. No. 11 forms a pair with No. 12: unusually, both houses are not matching, with the entrance fronts and gardens facing different directions (No. 11 faces S, No. 12 faces E). Both houses formerly listed as No. 11.

Exterior

Exuberant Tudor style. Complex stuccoed elevations of two storeys plus dormers; raised quoins also to windows. Steep slate roofs with bands of fishscale patterning. Elaborately carved bargeboards of various patterns; also to dormers. Tall yellow brick chimneys on plinths, with diagonal shafts. W front has two ridge chimneys to taller middle section, the L. with six shafts, r. with two. S front has stack to ridge r. of porch; five shafts. E front with three-shaft chimney to r. gable of taller section, plain ridge stack to lower section. Windows generally are small-paned sashes with centre mullions. S front has advanced gable to right, belonging to No. 12. Canted bay window with sash above, attic roundel containing quatrefoil. The three left bays form entrance front of No. 11, which has two-storey gabled porch to centre. Four-centred doorway with moulded surround and hoodmould; datestone above, sash window above. Ground floor canted bay window to l. with battlements, large paned sashes. Sash window above with steep dormer gable. To the r. of porch, sashes to ground floor and first floor, the latter breaking the eaves, with gabled dormer above; small paned sash. W elevation (No. 11) forms into three sections. Right bay is gabled with a sash window to both floors, and small attic sash above. Centre bay has higher roofline and two-storey ashlar bay window with crenellations; three-light mullioned windows with sashes. Left section, remodelled as office premises, is lower with gable facing Fields Road narrowed to centre with mullioned window over open porch.

E front (No. 12) at right angles to Fields Road consists of two sections. Three-bay left part is taller, with single storey deeply gabled porch to centre, the pointed door facing S with a gable above. Canted bay window to r. Sashes to first floor, the centre window with dormer gable: steeply gabled attic dormers each side, sharing main ridge-line. Three bay slightly lower section to r. with sashes to ground floor, and large-paned canted bay window to first floor set in angle with taller block. N elevation consists of the two gable ends of each house, with a narrow service court between, closed off by a rubble wall with arched doorway through.

Interior

The interior was not inspected at the time of survey (May 1999)

Reason for designation

Listed as a fine mid C19 Tudor-style suburban pair of villas retaining much of their original character.