C19 Wall Adjoining Bridge House to the E

Cadw's description

Location

On the S side of the road between Bridge House and the Gatehouse, with the Grotto beyond.

History

Portmeirion was designed and laid out by the celebrated architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) following his purchase of the estate, then called Aber Iâ, in 1926. The village evolved over several decades and was still being added to in the 1970s.

Second-quarter C19 wall and arch associated with the original house of Aber Ia, now the Portmeirion Hotel; alterations by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.

Exterior

Rubble wall with a maximum height of approximately 2.5m; this adjoins Bridge House to the E and curves gently outwards and downwards facing the estuary. There is a gap approximately a third of the way along with a plain cast iron balcony with rendered rubble flanking piers and surmounting cast iron fluted vases. The wall continues until it terminates in a circular pier at the cliff edge. In the centre of this last section, opposite a flight of steps leading down from the road in front of the Gatehouse, is a cyclopean, Tudor-arched slate entrance with walls sloped up to the L and R.

Reason for designation

Listed as a C19 wall and arch associated with the original house of Aber Ia; one of a number of buildings and structures erected or altered by the eminent architect and conservationist Sir Clough Williams-Ellis for his visionary Portmeirion villiage.

Group value with other listed items at Portmeirion.