History

Downing Hall was the seat of the Pennant family, the most famous member of which was the antiquarian and naturalist Thomas Pennant (1726-1798). Amongst his best known travel works are 'Tours in Wales', published in 1778 and 1781; 22 volumes of 'Outlines of the Globe' were written and of particular local interest, the 'History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell', published in 1796. Pennant was an internationally acclaimed writer who was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and fellow of the Royal Society as well as receiving honours from Scandinavia and America. His servant Moses Griffith travelled with him making sketches for the illustration of these works; he is an important C18 Welsh artist in his own right.

Downing Hall was enlarged or rebuilt c1627 by John Pennant. Thomas Pennant made alterations c1766, and it was enlarged c1814. T H Wyatt was the architect of further work around 1858. The house was demolished in 1953 following a major fire 30 years earlier.

Thomas Pennant inherited Downing in 1763 and soon demolished the outbuildings that adjoined the Hall to erect new ranges. This former stable courtyard building is dated 1766.

Exterior

Tall 2-storey block to centre, slightly advanced, with flanking lower wings, single-storey uphill to L and 2-storey to R. Constructed of red brick with mostly slate roofs, the R wing roughcast. The central block has a hipped roof and freestone dressings and is shown with bellcote in Moses Griffith's view of 1792. It has a stone segmental-arched entrance partly infilled with brick, with a keystone inscribed 1766, and an impost band which has been continued across the opening to form the lintel of an inserted doorway. Half-glazed door with multi-pane overlight. To the upper storey is a lunette with freestone surround and no glazing.
The uphill wing is 5-bay under a corrugated asbestos roof. The 3-bays to the L were altered in the C19 apparently for domestic use; 6-over-6-pane horned sash windows with freestone architraves flank a planked door with cambered brick head, below a blind square panel. To the R is a narrow boarded door and to the far R a 3-light casement window, both with cambered brick heads. There was formerly a barn here, as shown by 3 blocked ventilation slits. No openings to S gable end.

The 4-bay downhill wing, now converted to a house, is roughcast under a slate roof with a roughcast ridge stack offset to L and 3 lateral stacks to the rear. Two-light multi-pane casements to 1st floor. The doorway is to L of centre with a partly-glazed boarded door under a segmental head. Three-light casement window with flat head to L and 2 wide mid-late C20 windows to R. No openings to N gable end.

To the rear of the central bay is a C20 brick lean-to porch with flat roof offset to the L (and adjoining porch to house). The upper storey has a 4-pane window under a cambered brick head, with a 6-over-6-pane sash below with a similar head. Wide blocked opening with segmental brick head to centre of single-storey wing, and joist holes suggesting a former lean-to. Infilled opening to far L, probably to loft. To the rear of the house are 3 windows to the upper storey offset to the R, that to the L a multi-pane 2-light casement, the others late C20. Set below is a C20 brick lean-to porch with flat roof.

Interior

Small fireplace, probably C19, in S wall of central block.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a late C18 stable range, the last surviving building at Downing to have direct associations with Thomas Pennant, and for group value with the coach house.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29481152

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)