Georgian House (former Stables) at Pengwern Hall

Cadw's description

Location

At Pengwern Hall, about 20m SE of the main house.

History

Georgian House and its pair the Coach House are said to be dated 1770 on their rainwater heads. They relate formally to the site of the hall, where the predecessor of the present hall evidently stood.

The estate was then the property of Sir Edward Lloyd, Bart, who rebuilt the Hall in the 1780s and died in 1795. It later came into the ownership of the Williams family, baronets Bodelwyddan; Sir William Grenville Williams, fourth baronet, lived there until his death in 1904. Under his successor, Sir William Willoughby Williams, the Bodelwyddan property was broken up and Pengwern leased to Col Parry. It was later leased by J H Wynne, and finally bought by Miss Long for a girls'' school. After the closing of the school in 1948 the property fell into decay until taken over by the Society for Mentally Handicapped Children in 1966.

In the sale particulars of 1966 Georgian House is described as the Staff Block.

Exterior

Georgian House and the Coach House are similar buildings intended to frame the forecourt of Pengwern Hall, but they are not quite parallel to each other; by being built on slightly converging lines, they were probably intended to enhance the theatrical presence of the Hall which was their contemporary (a principle of Baroque planning).
Georgian House is of 2 storeys and 5 windows, in Flemish bond brickwork with stone dressings, on a coarsely rendered and white painted plinth; a hipped slate roof with metal ridge and hip covers, and an hexagonal domed cupola. The centre bay is slighly advanced and is pedimented, with a small attic lunette. The doors and windows are fully stone dressed, the lower windows including a pulvinated frieze and cornice, the door with the same plus a pediment. Double main doors with iron studs. Six-pane hornless sash-windows above (that at centre is a 4-pane casement window), 12-pane similar below (one window is a similarly proportioned light with top-hung opener).
Three storeys at rear; the centre 3 bays slightly advanced and pedimented, with the central row of windows recessed within an arch. Lunette window in the pediment, remains of Palladian window below. Large chimney stack over gable.

Rare example of a single-hand Georgian clock at front on the plinth of the cupola.

Reason for designation

A fine late Georgian outbuilding to an important mansion, retaining many original features including a rare clock, and playing an important part in the architectural setting of the Hall.