Old Rectory, Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, Denbighshire

History

Compact late C17 gentry house of considerable style and ambition, built c1680-90. Its origins are obscure, although an association with the important Thelwall family (of Bathafarn Park, Plas-y-Ward and Llanbedr Hall) is not implausible. By the C19 the house served as the rectory for the old church of St Peter, which was superseded in 1863 by the Victorian St Peter's beside the main road; the house ceased to serve as the Rectory in 1970.

Exterior

Elegant and compact Stuart country house of double-pile plan on two floors plus dormer storey and basement. Red-brick construction (English garden-wall bond) with distinctive hipped slate roof, swept out in bell-cast manner over a dentilated cornice; large brick chimney stacks with dog-tooth cornices, C19 replacements of brown brick. Symmetrical 5-bay front; small-pane, timber-framed cross windows with iron opening casements, square-headed to the first floor and camber-headed below; central gabled dormer. The two right-hand first floor windows are dummy and have very small fictive panes. Central cambered entrance with 6-panel door and 2-pane overlight. The side elevations both have two dormers, that to left faces a small service courtyard and has one window to each floor and a side door beside a blocked opening; original 2-panel door with moulded wooden architrave and exposed timber lintel. The right-hand side has two windows to each floor; 16-pane flush-set sashes to the first floor and camber-headed cross-frame windows to ground floor with a further two, similarly shaped windows, blocked to the R.

Four-window rear with early C19 (see different brickwork) polygonal bay to the L, with stone plinth and tall 20-pane unhorned sashes flanking a half-glazed garden door; reeded colonnettes and outside steps. Further doorway to right of centre inserted off-set below former window opening (see cambered voussoirs). The windows are unevenly spaced and are similarly cross-framed except for that over the bay which is a slightly recessed 16-pane sash; the central of the three first floor cross-windows has been lowered by four courses and the right-hand ground floor window is one of the ones that retains its fine iron window fittings, including curved brackets onto which the casements open. Modern paired dormers to centre.

At the front there are attached high, red brick screen walls. That to the left steps down and curves around to the entrance into the service courtyard, to the north-east of which is the dovecote, which the wall originally joined; modern arched opening at the house end. The wall to the right borders the garden and runs south-west towards the stable courtyard; this has slate copings and includes a boarded door.

Interior

Centrally-planned with raised ground floor. The entrance is onto a hall given late-Georgian remodelling with cornice and segmental archway (timber ceiling joists were exposed following the removal of the ceiling); mid C19 decorative tiled floor, said to have been reused from the medieval church when it was superseded by St Peter's in 1863. The right hand front room (originally the parlour, later the dining-room) is a fine example of a late Stuart room; it retains full-height oak wall-panelling, moulded cornice, stop-chamfered cross beam with moulded-plaster ceiling borders and bolection-moulded stone fireplace surround; beside the chimney are panelled cupboards, one with shaped shelves, the other known as the 'wig-cupboard'. Behind that is the drawing-room which has been remodelled in the C19 but retains its cornice and some original panelling, although pine not oak, and another bolection-moulded fireplace; the shutters to the bay are crudely dated 1915 which could indicate further alterations to this room. Similar fireplace to rear left room behind the kitchen, now with modern ceiling. Fine open well staircase, full-height, with bolection-moulded string, turned balusters, square-newels and broad handrail. Although it is unlikely that the stair has been repositioned, there is nevertheless an uncomfortable relationship between the stair and the rear elevation windows which has been partly overcome by the lowering of one window; there is also an oddly-positioned dog-gate fastening on the lower newel which suggests that this lower balustrade might have been moved. On balance, it is most likely that the stair is indeed in situ, but that its insertion necessitated some compromises during the building's construction. Below the stairs are steps down to a two-chambered cellar with some chamfered beams.

The main first floor bedroom is panelled, as below, and has a bolection-moulded fireplace as before, with a C19 cast-iron grate. Above the first floor the rear wall narrows. Mostly original pegged roof trusses. Many of the original leaded windows in the house, including in the attic, are of particular interest for retaining unusually decorative original fittings. The original floorboards survive largely intact, oak to the first floor (and treads and risers of the stair), and pine to the attic floor; the majority of the doors are primary, of 2-panel type.

Reasons for Listing

Listed Grade II* for its special interest as a remarkably well-preserved late Stuart house, retaining good external character and fine late C17 interiors.

External Links

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.