History

The house was built for Arthur Davies Berrington, a lawyer of Abergavenny, who owned property in the Swansea area. The house is dated 1861 and was constructed by Edward Morgan of Berthlwyd, a local master builder. It was a shooting lodge or country retreat where Berrington could entertain his friends after shoots. Arthur Berrington and his son, Charles, had business interests in Burma, and teak was brought back via Pembroke docks for the panelling and fireplace surrounds. The house was sold by Sir Charles Berrington in 1886 to Richard Hopkin James. In 1914 it became the home of David Williams, a local colliery owner, and subsequently his son, Daniel, at which time it was known as The Park.

Exterior

Symmetrical 2-storey 5-window house with advanced central gabled bay in Tudor-Gothic style. Double-depth and constructed of snecked dressed stone under slate roofs with clustered octagonal stone chimney shafts. Quoins, string course and plinth. Gablets over upper storey windows. Cusped openwork barge boards to gables and gablets. Lancet windows containing sashes, grouped and mainly under flat heads with square hoodmoulds. The central front entrance has a pointed moulded arch containing planked and ribbed double doors, flanked by narrow trefoil-headed lancets. These contain small diamond quarries and stained glass including roundels bearing the initials CJB (Charles Berrington). Above the entrance arch, the string course rises above a stone tablet with 3 recessed panels bearing shields. In the upper storey is a 3-light window under a square hoodmould, and a moulded quatrefoil in the gable apex. Fronting the entrance bay is later stone balustrading with square Gothic piers supporting vases, and caryatids. The central bay is flanked by 2-light windows, beyond which are 4-light windows. The upper storey has 2-light windows aligned with those below, under gablets and with shouldered heads.
The E and W sides of the house each have 2 gables with cusped openwork barge boards and large finials. Two 4-light windows under square hoodmoulds to lower storey and 3-light windows aligned above. The apex of each gable contains a moulded quatrefoil. A wall runs off to the E with narrow lancets and fronts a flat-roofed cold store. The rear has 2 advanced gables, to the centre and R, with barge boards and finials as elsewhere. The central gable has a 3-light window to each storey under a hoodmould, and a tablet in the apex bearing a date of 1861. Two-window to L of central bay. The lower storey has a 4-light window and a 2-light window to its R with an inserted doorway beneath. It contains a half-lit door in front of which is later stone balustrading. The upper storey has 2-light windows under gablets. Between the 2 gables is a 2-light window above a single light. The R advanced gable is lower and contains the service rooms. Two-light window above and C20 lean-to below. A boundary wall enclosing the service yard runs S from the SW angle of the bay and returns towards the E side of the house. It includes an entrance under a segmental head near the angle of the bay.

Interior

Inside the entrance is a fine full-height stairhall with steeply pitched 5-bay hammer-beam roof. First floor wooden gallery to rear with returns to sides. Openwork lancet balustrading supported on a plinth bearing a quatrefoil frieze and with square newel posts. Beneath is full-height wooden panelling with blind lancets. Simple narrow dog-leg staircase running off to E of hall, almost hidden from view. Gallery to front of hall, also with lancet balustrading, above a glazed Gothic screen with double doors. The quatrefoil in the gable apex contains stained glass. Stone fireplace to W with Tudor arch and flat-headed mantelpiece, under which is a frieze of cinquefoiled lancets. Detail in the house includes teak panelled doors and window shutters, and teak fireplace surrounds.
From the stairhall, the drawing room and morning room are to the R with a small study to the rear. Some of the original doors have been replaced by fire-doors. The dining room is to the L beyond a glazed Tudor archway. Behind and to the L is a passageway leading to the service areas, with a line of 8 original bells. Modernised kitchen. The drawing room to the front R has a teak fireplace with jambs surmounted by Buddhas. The front depicts 2 cupids hunting with a dog, and scrollwork. Beneath the moulded ceiling coving is a frieze of cornucopia and urns. Foliate ceiling rose. The morning room has a teak fireplace with large barley twist jambs and foliate decoration, while the large mantelpiece is richly carved with hunting scenes. The study has a decorated ceiling rose and a frieze of urns and swags beneath the coving. Small fireplace to E wall decorated with cupids, lions, dragons and foliage.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its architectural interest as a Victorian country retreat with fine internal detail.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29499947

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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  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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