History

Small country house rebuilt c. 1830 on site of a house by John Nash of 1791 built as a hunting seat for Barrington Price Esq, who renamed the site Temple Druid (previously Bwlch-y-clawdd) because of a large cromlech above the site, which he destroyed to build the farmyard. Fenton says that there were three further owners after Price before 1811, the second a hunting man like Price, then a naval officer, then the current one, newly arrived in 1811, retired from India. The original was built c. 1790 . When sold in 1824 it was described as built 'only thirty years back by the celebrated architect Nash'.
When offered for sale in 1805 it had domestic offices, coach-houses, stabling, gardens and eligible farm with complete farmhouse and every necessary outbuilding.
In 1821 the estate was offered for sale, but it failed to sell, and in 1824 the house was sold to be demolished for the materials. The detailed sale particulars make it clear that the house was much larger than the present. It had a centre hall and stone stair branching each side to the landings, two principal rooms 27' x 18' and 27' x 19', a breakfast parlour and gentleman's dressing-room, all with marble fireplaces, mahogany doors and sashes etc. There were 8 bedrooms with 3 dressing-rooms and six attic rooms. Within a month only one wing, the offices and stone staircase remained unsold.
It seems to have been bought about this time by the Barhams of Trecwn. The present house was built on the site, possibly out of a remaining part. This was offered to let in 1832 as having been in the occupation of the Rev. Lewis Davies. It then had two halls, a parlour, cellar, kitchen and 4 bedrooms. Offered to let again in 1839, rented then to Rev J. Davies. Occupied by John Nicholas, manager of the Temple Druid slate quarry in the 1870s. The house was for sale with the quarry at various times 1874-89. The quarry was idle from 1889, reopened for a short period 1919-21. A waterwheel from the quarry at one time provided electric light for the house. The house was sold in 1989. Since then the front has been restored and the rear kitchen wing rebuilt. The rear wall remains shored up (2004).
Bwlch-y-clawdd had been a gentry seat, recorded from the C15, assessed at four hearths 1670 when owned by Lewis William, his heirs the Lewis family there until the 1790s, Thomas Lewis 1786.

Exterior

House, unpainted render with slate hipped deep-eaved roof. Brackets to eaves. Two storeys, three-window range, with restored 9-pane sashes over 12-pane (old photograph shows 6-pane sashes and a C19 tripartite plate-glass sash right). Centre arched doorway with half-glazed door and fanlight with radiating bars. Raised imposts and keystone. Rebuilt Roman Doric stucco porch with two front columns, two attached column responds, entablature and cornice (old photographs show a door with two long arched panels and no porch, the doorcase comprising just the attached columns with entablature and cornice).
Raised plinth, band and eaves band. Keystones and slate sills to windows. Eaves with long brackets except where centre breaks forward slightly with a long bracket at right angles and shorter front brackets under eaves. Renewed brick left end chimney.
Attached to left is low 2-storey service wing with small brick left end stack. Two large square 6-pane first floor windows and one ground floor late C20 broad French window replacing a tripartite sash. C20 conservatory in poor condition 2004. Right end wall has eaves carried around, raised band and one window each floor, and to right the end of the rear outshut, also with one window each floor, the upper one a C19 6-pane sash. Late C19 or earlier C20 glazing.
Outshut rear wall of rubble stone with close eaves. The stonework very rough and altered for windows. Two large raking shores supporting (2004). Stone chimney stack raised in red brick on roof slope left and short stone chimney on rear wall left. Blocked door to ground floor left. Openings generally have late C19-early C20 red brick sides and concrete or metal heads. Centre stair light.
Wing running N behind lower wing to W of main house is restored c. 2000 with roof of local small thick grey slates. Rendered, two storeys with modern casement windows.

Interior

Plan of centre hall with room each side and stairs at back, detail mostly mid C19 except for sitting room to l. (SW) which has detail suggestive of Nash, though dimensions do not match any of recorded Nash rooms. Hall has 4 small niche recesses, a c. 1800 6-panel door to sitting-room to left, C19 4-panel door to right, C19 plain moulded cornice, plain elliptical arch and stick-baluster stairs with ramped thin rail, scrolled tread ends and bulbous mid to later C19 bottom newel. Room to right, unrestored, has C19 plain cornice and C20 small fireplace on N wall. There is a kitchen in the NW rear wing.
The surviving Nash-type room is fairly small, square with elliptical apse on E side, against the hall. Apse has plain plaster over a curve of doors: centre 6-panel door in deep panelled reveal, plaster wall-pier each side and then, a curved 6-panel fielded-panelled door (each to a shallow shelved cupboard) each set next to an outer narrow 2-panel door. Deep panelled reveal and 6-panel door to N. Panelled shutters to S window. Later grey marble chimneypiece on E wall flanked by two arched recesses. Kitchen in rear NW wing.

Reasons for Listing

Included for its special architectural interest as a late Georgian small country house of definite character.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Temple Druid at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7698516

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

• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living