History

House, mostly late C19 to early C20, known as Dovey Bank until earlier C20. Part of Glandyfi Castle estate of Jeffreys family until 1906.
On the site of Melin y Garreg mill, possibly of C17 origins, disused in 1787, leased 1791 by Edward Jeffreys of Shrewsbury to Francis Chalmer, owner of a snuff-mill just upstream (now Mill House). By 1794 Chalmer had built a range 'intended to be made into a mill or manufactory' and there was a 'dwelling-house and counting-house or office' adjoining. By the 1845 tithe map, the site had a large rectangular building, apparently used as dwellings, but a mill only on the snuff-mill site. The 1841-61 census returns show labourers living on the site. The gentry house, Dovey Bank, was presumably remodelled from existing buildings in the late C19 as the outline is not very different in 1888 from 1845. At the 1871 census, occupied by Christina Jones, aged 72, gentlewoman, and in 1881, by Harriet B. Manley, aged 50, from Warwick.
It was probably remodelled after that for the agent to Glandyfi Castle, in mildly Gothic style consonant with the castle and Ranger Lodge. Shown in 1906 photograph as a basically three-bay house, without the SE block or so large a service range.
In 1906 described as recently enlarged and improved: with hall, good dining-room, drawing-room recently redecorated, small study, pantry, large kitchen, larder and offices. A part of the ground floor had not yet been restored but could be converted to three other rooms with bedrooms and dressing-rooms over. There were 4 bedrooms, store, boxroom, incomplete bathroom and a large and handsome drawing room upstairs. The house had been let from 1897 to C.R. Kenyon at low rent as he had covenanted to put the dwelling-house into fit and tenantable repair at his own expense.
The Glandyfi estate was sold in 1906 to Lewis Pugh Pugh of Abermad, who sold on the principal houses, Glandyfi Castle and Dovey Bank. Dovey Bank was sold to Percy W. Boughton-Leigh, who probably altered the interiors, and added the large SE block and a gabled addition to the service range, all before 1916. Then sold to Rowland Pugh, a younger son of L.P. Pugh. He renamed it Voelas and lived there to 1946.
The front range with three ground floor rooms of average size may be the original mill, but with no obvious blocked openings. It has a large N end chimney and front right lateral chimney. The narrower parallel rear range with entrance hall and stairs is probably late C19. Aligned with this, to N, is the kitchen range. The stonework is continuous, but the large kitchen chimney suggests some earlier range incorporated here. The former stable yard is to W of the kitchen range, it had loose-box, stable and outhouses, altered to domestic use after 1906.
The SE block added c. 1906-16, with inglenook lounge under three bedrooms, is in matching style. The E side porch, and a bed-room built over the service yard may also be of 1906-16. The whole building has a uniform character with big tooled slate lintels and timber windows with Gothic top lights.

Exterior

House, rubble stone with slated eaves roofs overhanging at gables, and numerous rubble stone stacks with slate caps and dripstones. Irregular plan essentially of two parallel ranges, the entrance front facing the rock-face to E. Two storeys, with windows square-headed with big tooled-slate flat lintels and slate sills. Timber paired or triple casement windows with Gothic Y-tracery top-lights, generally.
Garden front has main house in centre, service range to left, and set back to right, the big matching early C20 SE addition. Main part has stone right end stack, larger stone left end stack at original left end, slightly lower one-bay roof to left with smaller end stack, added after 1906, eaves continuous. Square lateral stone stack on a wall-face gable to right. The added left bay, with lower ridge, has half-length Gothic triple casement over lean-to. Next three bays have standard 3-light windows each floor, but there are glazed doors to right of first bay, and in the third bay, with slate steps. Third ground floor three-light window is to extreme right, beyond the chimney. S end-wall has 2-light to first floor left, and ground floor centre. Two of the first floor windows are C20 near-copies.
To left of facade service court projects with early C20 first floor added gable to right, with two first floor 2-light windows and casement pair below to left. Then coped rear wall of service yard, with window and door, wall returned to N with bellcote over service yard entry.
Set back to right is early C20 two-storey, three-bay S end block with parallel gabled roofs. Stone end stacks, W side has two 2-light windows under shallow gables, the left one over a matching glazed door, the right one over a similar 2-light, and a 3-light to ground floor centre. Left end has paired gables each with 2-light window, over timber 5-sided canted bay to ground floor centre, glazed door to right (inserted in late C20). E side has chimney-gable with lean-to against (containing inglenook at ground floor), window each floor to left, one to first floor right. N return has window each floor.

Rear of main range has stone end stacks, casement-pair window to left, each floor, then three-bay open porch with stone square piers and lean-to roof, gabled to wider centre bay. Half-glazed door with pointed glass panels and overlight with three pointed oval glazed panels. Window each side. Slate paving. Above porch centre is a casement pair, and to right is a large first floor mullion-and-transom timber stair light, and then a three-light each floor, (each with inserted small window adjoining).
Service range has continuous stonework, slightly lower eaves. Stone ridge stack, four bays, casement-pair windows generally, but two smaller windows in first floor left, and a smaller casement pair in ground floor right bay. N end gable has C20 3-light at first floor.

Interior

Interior has an Edwardian character, partly from work for C.R. Kenyon after 1897, mostly from work for P. Boughton-Leigh after 1906. Narrow entrance hall with plain earlier C20 stairs behind 3 front rooms of moderate size: library with lateral fireplace, small centre room and dining-room, library and dining-room with later C20 panelling and altered fireplaces. Dining-room has oak beam. At S end of hall entrance to large added parlour with inglenook fireplace. Panelled walls and inglenook, green tiles to fireplace, shelf over. Two beams. N of hall and staircase is service area with kitchen clad in late C20 boarding. Deep chimneybreast all encased. Bedrooms have small earlier C20 chimneypieces.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a large late C19 to early C20 house with Gothic window detail, part of an estate group with Glandyfi Castle and Ranger Lodge. Built on the site of and probably incorporating a late C18 mill.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29488571

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

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  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
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  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
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  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)