History

House built by John Nash for Admiral Gell in 1797. Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton were friends of Gell and visited him during a tour of Wales in 1802. Gell was also associated with the construction of the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal. The house passed to the Hotchkis family in 1806 after Gell’s death. It is shown in a water-colour by J. Crane dated 1810. The house was remodelled, extended and stuccoed in Italianate style c1850. The fenestration was altered and a single storey porch was added to the advanced front gable. In 1868 the Hotchkis family sold the house to the Glanusk Estate. A range to the L of the front entrance, which included a campanile, was taken down in 1968.

Exterior

House of almost cruciform plan, the front having an offset projecting gabled bay and the rear has an in-line canted bay. Two storeys with attic and cellar. Stuccoed under slate roofs, with no surviving stacks. The detail consists of wide boarded eaves which continue across the gable ends to give pediment treatment; a string course at 1st floor level, moulded to the front and E end; and angle pilasters which include blind arches at 1st floor level. The fenestration is mid C19; generally hornless sash windows in architraves, 12-pane to the ground floor and 9-pane to the 1st floor. The front is 2-window to the E of the projecting gabled bay and 1-window to the W. To the L of the W window is a small 4-pane window in architrave with a 6-pane cellar window below. The gabled bay has round arched lights with keystones, 3-lights to the 1st floor and 2-lights to the attic. The pilaster strips to the ground floor of the gable are rusticated.

Added to this bay is a single storey flat roofed porch (against which a uPVC conservatory has been built). The original porch entrance survives inside and consists of 3 stepped round-arched opening with keystones approached by stone steps. The central opening has a fluted doorcase with overlight. The sides of the porch have 12-pane hornless sashes in architraves.

The E gable end has 3 round-arched lights to the 1st floor and 2 round-arched lights to the attic, as at the front. In the lower storey is a flat-headed tripartite window with plain glazed sashes. Each light has a keystone, the tops of which are linked by a dripstone. There is a plain window to the cellar. The W gable end has a small sash to the attic storey. At ground floor level, a flat roofed garage projects W wards, probably a surviving part of the original house. The canted bay to the rear has 15-pane sashes to the ground floor, one of them replaced by a casement window, and 9-pane sashes to the 1st floor. Cross-gable above with iron railings above the eaves resulting in a balcony, entered through a opening in the gable. This has a round arched glazed door and a multi-pane window. To the L and R of the rear wing, the fenestration matches the front, but without architraves. There is a C20 gabled roof dormer to the L. The ground slopes away to the N and there is a high plinth to the cellar which is lit by windows in semi-circular openings. French Doors lead into the basement on the R side of the rear wing.

Interior

The porch leads to the front double panelled doors, which are in a moulded doorcase with fan light containing coloured glass, flanked by side windows. The door leads to a large stair hall. The imperial stairs are located at the front, and consist of 2 flights of curved sweeping stairs flanking the entrance. These lead to a landing from which there is 1 flight to the first floor. The side walls are moulded to follow the same profile as the stairs and have wainscot panelling. The stairs have swept handrails and 2 plain balusters per tread. Decorated coving with billets to ceiling. From the hall, the dining room is to the R. It is very large with decorative coving and ceiling rose. The lounge is to the rear in the canted bay, and the kitchen to the L. The kitchen has a raised octagonal dome in the ceiling. Panelled doors and shuttered windows throughout.

Reasons for Listing

Listed grade II* as one of the few surviving documented examples in Wales of a house designed by John Nash and for its exceptionally fine interior.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17740664

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990