History

Late C18 and early C19 country house, now hotel, the home of the Adams of Paterchurch from the C18. The Adams family of Buckspool, Bosherston, moved to Paterchurch in the early C15 and were at Holyland c. 1710 until c. 1950. The present house was said by Fenton in 1811 to have been built for Joseph Adams using stones from the nearby medieval Marlan's Chapel. The family had owned the land from at least 1629, and there was a house on the site before the present one, possibly partly incorporated. The house appears to the present outline on an estate map of 1814. A letter of 1829 refers to a new drawing-room, dining-room and library built that year, but possibly refitted as the writer concludes 'all looked as if they had been untouched these three years'. These works would have been for Lt-Gen Alexander Adams, died 1834, as also the stable block. Plans exist for a neo-Jacobean recasing of 1844 by James Wilson of Bath, unexecuted. Said to have had three carved wood chimneypieces carved by a family member, Hermione Barclay, c1910, two with hunting scenes, one of Sleeping Beauty (not seen 2004).

Exterior

Country house, painted stucco with slate hipped roofs with moulded wood eaves to garden front. Stuccoed chimneys, mostly removed. Two storeys., with irregular long entrance front and Regency style SW garden front. This has a full-height bow of three windows to left and a two bays to right, flat roof over bay, hipped main roof. Long 12-pane hornless sashes, those to ground floor full-length. Three windows each floor to bow, two each floor to right. Central ground floor of bow has modern French casement with tall 3-pane overlight.
Long SE front elevation of two storeys to left, three to right under same roof, with hipped three-storey projection at far right. Modern flat-roofed single-storey projection against ground floor. Above, left half has one 12-pane stair light set towards right, ridge chimney above, and right half has two-window range of broad sashes, square 12-pane to top floor and 16-pane to first floor. Ground floor addition has modern broad doors and square 16-pane sash windows, one to left of door, two to right. The projecting block to right has tall chimney in valley to main roof, and 12-pane sash to top and first floors in SW return elevation, windowless SE end.
NW side is mostly windowless with hipped roof, ground floor left modern lean-to with 12-pane sash each floor above. Plain parallel gabled lower service wing against left end with 12-pane sash at mid height in gable facing garden.
Rear NE is much altered with modern windows, gable end of service addition to right. A high garden wall of stone rubble runs E from the NE angle of the house.

Interior

Inside, vestibule has two early to mid C19 doorways with reeded architraves and roundels to angle blocks. Staircase with straight balusters and open scroll string in centre of house. Bowed room has reeded recess with roundels at angles to NE wall and matching doorcase in corner of SE wall, to corner garden front room which has 6-panel fielded-panelled door on NE wall in similar reeded surround.

Reasons for Listing

Included for its special interest as a smaller Regency style country house of definite quality.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29485597

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

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)