History in Structure

Penllwyn, former manor house now Penllwyn Arms public house

A Grade II* Listed Building in Pontllanfraith, Caerphilly

More Photos »
Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.653 / 51°39'10"N

Longitude: -3.1953 / 3°11'42"W

OS Eastings: 317406

OS Northings: 195592

OS Grid: ST174955

Mapcode National: GBR HX.72YZ

Mapcode Global: VH6DF.KQN4

Plus Code: 9C3RMR33+6V

Entry Name: Penllwyn, former manor house now Penllwyn Arms public house

Listing Date: 25 May 1962

Last Amended: 31 March 1999

Grade: II*

Source: Cadw

Source ID: 1881

Building Class: Commercial

Also known as: Penllwyn Arms
Penllwyn Arms, Blackwood

ID on this website: 300001881

Location: On the hillside W of the town centre, in an open space but surrounded by Penllwyn estate development.

County: Caerphilly

Community: Pontllanfraith (Pontllan-fraith)

Community: Pontllanfraith

Locality: Penllwyn

Built-Up Area: Pontllan-fraith

Traditional County: Monmouthshire

Tagged with: Pub

Find accommodation in
Mynyddislwyn

History

C16. Seat of the Morgan family. Built together with Rhos Newydd by Thomas Morgan of Machen for youngest son Edmund. Thomas Morgan fought with the Earl of Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth 1485 and was granted as reward land of the parishes of Bedwellty and Mynyddislwyn. Bradney provides family tree of Morgan family at Penllwyn Sarph, showing many members holding high office, as sheriffs, MPs, judges . Became part of Llanover Estate in 1757 when Florence Morgan conveyed estate to her husband John Jones of Llanarth. Archdeacon Coxe on his travels c 1800 reported two portraits of members of the family killed in 1670 in a duel with Charles Williams of Caerleon. Former use as convent, subsequently a welfare clinic. Also formerly known as Penllwyn Sarph and shown on first edition OS map as Penllwyn Fawr and surrounded then by garden and orchard. Sketch of rear of E-shaped wing made in 1953 is included in Bradney 1993 edition.

Exterior

Manor House. A long rectangular building of rubble with ashlar dressings and stone tile roof: large ridge stack over porch bay and twin angled stacks end right with cornices; further stacks to rear. 2 storeys and attic. 5 bays, the centre a 2-storeyed hipped roof porch. Windows have diamond mullions with ashlar surrounds, metal-framed casements with quarry glazing; some of the armatures to which the leaded lights were originally attached are still in situ. Windows to left wing have hoodmoulds, those to right have relieving arches. Central porch has 2-light window to first floor; below is the main entrance with 4-centred arch, rough voussoirs and surround; set back boarded door with grille and decorative hinges; 3-light side window; battered and with boulder footings. To left each bay has a narrow steep-pitched gable with sprocketed eaves, a single rectangular light to attic; 4-light window to first floor and 5 to ground floor. To right the gabled bays are similar though wider with 2-light windows to attic, paired double-light windows to first floor and 3-light to ground floor, with doorways to left side of each bay, square headed and deep set to right under relieiving arch now the main entrance to public house (blocked window to right) and segmental arched to left; signs of alterations to some openings . Downhill-facing gable end is a rebuild or extension with the twin stacks astride the gable and uniform small mullioned windows under relieving arches, 2 to each floor. Large external stack adjacent also with twin gabled stacks. Flat roofed extension to rear masks main building but the variation in roof pitches shows a division between the two wings and the irregular E-shaped plan of the N wing. This comprises 3 steeply gabled wings of unequal depths, that to left incorporating a stepped stack, the centre rendered with an attic light, to right a slightly lower wing with a narrower bay stepped down to rear. Seen from the side, the wing has a half dormer with windows similar to front and a further pitched roof extending over outshut from the rear bay. Extending from front left a is a short stretch of wall incorporating an archway.

Interior

Interior mostly remodelled during various occupations with fireplaces blocked. Ground floor consists of two main large rooms each extending across both bays. Stairs, replaced, rise to rear to large first floor room with chamber over porch. Main roof structure has pegged A-frame trusses with carpenters' marks, partly visible in first floor rooms.

Reasons for Listing

Listed II* as a major C16 and later manor house; group value with the surrounding wall.

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.

Recommended Books

Other nearby listed buildings

  • II Garden Wall at Penllwyn
    Surrounds the former Manor, the front section incorporating a gateway.
  • II Former Mynyddislwyn Urban District Council Offices
    In the centre of Pontllanfraith, facing the site of the former railway station and dismantled railway; standing on a walled and railed terrace a little above the roadway with steps to right and vehicu
  • II Shangri-la
    Towards W of the community, on a corner site with Hill Road, set in a sloping garden.
  • II War Memorial
    Sited in a small terraced enclosure in open ground in front of Caerphilly Borough Council Offices.
  • II Siloh Presbyterian Church
    In the small hamlet of Gelli-groes, on a side street N of the main Newport Road, set back from the road within a small walled graveyard with houses close on each side.
  • II Pair of chest tombs at Siloh Presbyterian Church
    Close to the front wall of the chapel in the small graveyard fronting the road.
  • II Heather Cottage
    In the centre of the small hamlet of Gelli-groes, on a side road leading off the main Newport Road and almost opposite Siloh chapel.
  • II* Gelli-groes Mill
    Reached by a side road running SE from Newport Road (A4048); the Mill faces the Sirhowy River and the bridge and is within a grassy enclosure which retains sluices, channelled millrace and tail race,

BritishListedBuildings.co.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact BritishListedBuildings.co.uk for any queries related to any individual listed building, planning permission related to listed buildings or the listing process itself.

British Listed Buildings is a Good Stuff website.