Miskin Manor, including one-storey range to N, Pont-y-clun, Rhondda Cynon Taff

History

Built by David Williams in 1864 to replace an earlier house on the site, which Williams had purchased in 1857. The architect is said to have been David Vaughan of Bridgend. There has been a house on the site since at least the early medieval period, as in the late C11 a manor here was the home of Nest, daughter of the prince of Glamorgan. A 'Miskin Gate' was mentioned by John Leland in 1540, while from c1610 to 1857 the house was owned by a branch of the Bassett family of Old Beaupre. Little of the earlier house can be discerned from the present building, however. The present house was extended and improved by Judge Gwilym Williams (1839-1906) and by Sir Rhys Rhys Williams (1865-1955) after the house was badly damaged by fire in 1922. During the 1939-45 war it was used by the Red Cross as a convalescent home. The house was again badly damaged by fire in 1952 but was restored, and in 1966 was partly occupied by Sir Brandon Rhys Williams, the remainder being divided into flats. The house was sold in 1985 and is now the Miskin Manor Country House Hotel.

Exterior

A country house mainly in Tudor-Gothic style, of 2 and 3 storeys with attics and an L-shaped plan. The main elevations are of snecked rock-faced sandstone with lighter dressings and mullioned windows, while the rear (E) side is partly of rubble stone. Slate roofs were replaced after the fire of 1952 and have ridge stacks with tall octagonal shafts in groups of 2, 3 and 4. Rainwater heads bear the initials 'RW' in relief.

The 6-bay entrance front is on the W side. It is asymmetrical, having a central entrance and 2 storeys to the R side and 3 to the L, both with attics, and a plain parapet enlivened with grotesques. The doorway is Tudor-headed and above it is a tablet with the family crest in relief. Above it are 3-light mullioned windows. On the R side of the entrance are the principal rooms. The main hall immediately R is housed in a projecting bay and has a 6-light mullioned and transomed window, above which are 2 cross windows and a 2-light attic window in a gablet projecting on a corbel table. Further R is the drawing room, which has a 5-light canted bay window with grotesques on the parapet, above which are a 3-light window and a 2-light attic window in a gablet. To the L of the entrance is an advanced bay with single-light to the lower storey, 2-light and single-light to middle and upper storeys and single-light attic window in a gable projecting on a corbel table. Next L is a recessed bay with a hood-moulded window in the lower storey, then a wider advanced gabled bay with 4-light window in the middle storey, 3-light above and a single-light attic window. Set back at the L end is a single-light middle storey window and an obscured mullioned window to the cellar. In front of the L end is a free-standing rubble stone round arch, said to belong to the earlier house.

The 4-bay S garden front is asymmetrical but more regular than the entrance front. To centre R is the library in an advanced bay incorporating a full-height 3-light canted bay window. To the L of this bay are two 3-light windows in the lower storey, cross windows in the upper storey, and a single 2-light attic window to the L in a gablet. This is balanced by a gablet with attic window to the R-hand bay, which has a pair of cross windows in the lower storey and 3-light window above.

The E garden front is also asymmetrical and of 7 irregular bays, the 3 bays to the L being 2 storeys of rock-faced stone, the remainder 3 storeys of rubble stone. To the R of centre is a doorway with flanking lights. The doorway has a Tudor head and foliage to the spandrels. Above it is a 3-light window and single flanking windows, all recessed under a corbel table. The upper storey has a 2-light window. To the L of the entrance bay is a 3-light canted bay window and parapet, with 2 cross windows in the middle storey and 2-light window in the upper storey. Above it is a moulded string course, and a shaped gable with external stack and 2 shafts. Next L is a cross window in the lower storey and 3-light window above, then an external stack carried up through a shaped gable and with 3 flues (2 now without their copings). At the L end, lighting the dining room, is a cross window cut down to make a doorway, and a cross window above. To the R of the entrance is a full-height canted bay window of 3 lights, at the base of which are concrete cellar steps. On its R side is an altered link to a large Tudor-style NE wing added late C20.

The N side of the house also has late C20 additions. On the NW side the house is attached to an earlier coach house, which was subsequently altered as part of the domestic accommodation. This is a long single-storey range of rubble stone with tile roof replacing earlier stone tiles and 2 stone ridge stacks. In its S gable end is a round-headed loft doorway opening to the top of the free-standing arch at the NW end of the main house. A vertical joint in the W wall shows the building to be of 2 main phases, the S end being later. The W wall has windows with mullions of reconstituted stone. A doorway offset from the R end is under a gablet. To the centre are 2 infilled elliptical brick arches of former through passages, the R-hand of which now contains a doorway. A C20 doorway immediately to their L is crudely cut in. A lean-to against the N gable end is extended in brick. The E wall faces a courtyard and has mostly late C19 openings though much altered.

Interior

Most of the interior detail was lost in the fire of 1952 but some of the principal rooms survived sufficiently for accurate restoration. The main hall retains a Tudor-Gothic chimneypiece, panelled walls and Jacobean panelled ceilings and coving. The Tudor-Gothic doors have classical architraves. The drawing room further R has deep panelled ceiling with pendants. A Tudor-arched fireplace has a classical chimneypiece. The dining room has a similar classical chimneypiece and ceiling with pendants. The former billiard room facing the gardens to the E retains a Tudor-Gothic fireplace.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for architectural interest as a large C19 Tudor-Gothic country house retaining original character and detail.

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.