Plas-yn-Dre, Including Railings to Forecourt

Cadw's description

Location

Set back from the street behind a partly-railed forecourt.

History

Plas-yn-Dre, Bala, was the seat of a branch of the Lloyds of Rhiwaedog, one of Meirionethshire's principal gentry families; it was described by Edward Lhuyd (c.1690) as the largest house in the town. Plas-yn-Dre was the home of Simon Lloyd (1756-1836), Methodist Cleric, and from 1870-1886 housed the Bala Congregationalist College before its transferal to Bangor in 1886. Its present external appearence is largely the result of Edwardian alterations.

Exterior

Large, two-and-a-half storey former town house; of rendered local rubble construction with raised stucco quoins and window surrounds; tall, hipped slate roof with tiled ridge; chimneys removed. Symmetrical 3-bay facade, the central, entrance bay slightly advanced; tripartite entrance group with central doorway flanked and surmounted by small-pane windows; 6-panel door. Projecting in front of this is a large, canted open porch, with bracketed wooden supports carrying a balcony with flat, shaped balusters and plain rail. The first-floor of the central bay has a cross-window with small-pane upper lights and plain lower lights; similar window to the second floor above, placed under the eaves. The outer bays have 2-storey canted bay windows with moulded cornices and 3-light transmullioned wooden windows, as before. The upper floor has hipped, gabled dormers arising out of the canted, storeyed bays; cross-windows within, breaking the eaves.

Two-storey central projection to the rear, with hipped roof; 4-pane and 2-pane plain sashes. Modern single-storey additions flank this projection on both sides; 6-pane C19 sashes to the upper floors of the primary block, those to the first floor with segmental heads. The NE elevation (R side) has external railed steps leading to a first-floor porch with smallpane glazing and hiped roof. Low slatestone forecourt walls to the front and L return, with surmounting spear-headed railings.

Interior

Entrance hall with polychromed tiled floor. At the end is stairwell, with a Regency well stair, having stick balusters and (painted) rail with scrolled end. The entrance hall has doorways to L and R with wide, moulded Regency architraves; panelled reveals and 6-panel doors. The left-hand room has a small exposed fireplace with rough stone voussoirs to a segmental arch; to the L of this is a window with panelled shutters and window seat; architrave as before. To the R of the fireplace is a late Georgian segmentally-arched niche with fluted pilasters and archivolt. The remainder has been modernised.

Reason for designation

Listed as a town-house with C17 origins, of special significance in the town for its part in the history of Methodism and Congregationalism in Bala; the home of Simon Lloyd (1756-1836), Methodist Cleric.