Cae'r Lan Castle

Cadw's description

Location

Situated some 250m WSW of Cae'r Llan, alongside bed of former Swansea Canal, and some 100m N of Castle Bridge, Cae'r Bont.

History

Inn, now house, built for the former Swansea Canal c 1800 and extended in later C19. In use as an inn until c1990.

Exterior

House former inn, painted stucco with slate roofs overhanging at gables, and brick end stacks. Two storeys and attic. N front has flat eaves with paired minimal brackets. Four widely-spaced bays with 3 hornless 12-pane sash windows and thin stone sills: 2-window range to left of door and one-window range to right. Door is later C19 6-panel with shallow triangular head in painted timber surround with cornice raised as pediment in centre, on big console brackets. Fine later C19 cast-iron porch of unusual size and delicacy, the flat top above height of first floor sills. Two thin cast-iron Gothic columns with ornate capitals, quatrefoil shafts with bosses at mid-height and bulbous bases on octagonal plinths carry pierced cast-iron spandrel brackets making arches to front and each side. Spandrels have five-petal flower and scroll motifs. Stone steps up to door. Two C19 corbels above porch, perhaps for former inn sign.
Left end wall has later C19 4-pane sash to attic and to first floor left, with tooled stone sills. Small cellar vent. Right end has similar attic window, but earlier 12-pane ground floor sash.
Two parallel rear wings, that to roadside (E) late C19 in detail, 3-window with 4-pane sashes above and tripartite 2-4-2-pane sash each side of big timber doorcase to double panelled doors with 3-pane overlight. Doorcase has plinth, fluted pilaster strips, big console brackets and heavy modillion cornice. W rear range, to canal, is perhaps original or earlier C19. Set back, with 3 big 16-pane hornless sashes to first floor, offset to left, over ground floor later C19 pair of sashes to left, with cambered head, 2 doors to centre, one blocked, and later C19 small 4-pane sash right.

Interior

Interior said to have panelled doors, steep centre stairs, and stone barrel-vaulted cellars. Late C18 to early C19 fielded panelled shutters to ground floor left window.

Reason for designation

Included as a substantial late Georgian house with unusual Victorian and finely detailed cast-iron large porch, and for connection with the Swansea Canal.