Garden wall and House Ruins at Flemingston Manor

Cadw's description

Location

On the north boundary of Flemingston Court between it and the Churchyard of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel.

History

The date of this building is probably contemporary with the main house and is from the first half of the C16, and the secondary building also appears to be C16 or possibly early C17. There is no evidence of any new building after that date. If the house part was indeed a pre-Reformation rectory it may have been downgraded at that time or perhaps became something like the steward or farm manager's house. It is not known when the process of ruination and stone robbing began, but it was clearly long ago, and it seems unlikely that it continued as the Rectory until the C19. The Rectory previous to the Victorian one may not have been this house, but its situation and appearance similar to other such rectories (e.g. Church Farm, Porthkerry, see Rhoose Community) strongly suggests that it was originally built as such. RCAHMW consider the attached walling to be C17 but it is difficult to imagine why it should be necessary at that time.

Exterior

Local lias limestone rubble with dressed quoins and some ashlar features; Welsh slate roof on part. Castellated wall about 3.5m in height running on the boundary between Flemingston Manor and the churchyard of the Church of St. Mark (qv). The wall incorporates an arched doorway with a stile into the churchyard and the remains of an early C16 building, possibly a pre-Reformation rectory. This building is in two sections with a straight joint between. The older section is in a very ruined state and only the rear wall backing onto the churchyard survives reasonably complete. The external face, which is about 4m high, has a small dressed window and two small square vents. The inner face has a large roughly finished fireplace on the ground floor and to the left is a window through the remaining fragment of walling, but this looks into the later building, see below. On the floor above is a 2-centred doorway with the window visible behind, presumably a garderobe and to the right of this is a very large dressed stone fireplace hidden by ivy but demonstrating that this room was an Upper Hall.
The secondary building, which is still roofed, has a pointed arch dooway with hollow chamfers on the gable end and a 2-light window with a single light one above on the main wall. Both these windows are insertions and the walling shows evidence of other past openings. The rear wall is blind, but has a projection for the staircase.

Interior

Interior not inspected at resurvey. The later section is known to have a corner stone stair and a bread oven.

Reason for designation

Included for its special interest as the remains of a late medieval house and for its group value with the closely adjacent buildings of Flemingston Court and the Church of St. Michael the Archangel.