Coomb Cheshire Home, Llangynog, Carmarthenshire

History

A large mansion of 1864 built for William Morris, of the Carmarthen banking family that had bought Cwm in 1806, the house then being an early C18 gentry house built by Morgan Davies (d 1728), of some size, having 8 bedrooms. The rebuilding may incorporate some of this house, which was L-plan. The new house is a large scale design in the mid Victorian 'Domestic Gothic' manner, asymmetrical with entrance tower on one corner balanced against a gable at the other, and with very large outlying octagonal billiard-room. The entrance tower has lost a steep wedge-shaped slate roof with iron cresting, the chimneys have been removed and single-storey late C20 ranges obscure the billiard room.
The Morris heir was killed in the Boer War and the estate passed to his sister, married to Sir Owen C. Philipps of Amroth Castle, Pembs, chairman of Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, created Lord Kylsant in 1923. The house was redone for him in 1920-1 by Trollope & Colls, London building firm, including a new staircase and gallery. E.V. Collier was the local architect employed at the time for minor additions to the house, gardens and farm, but apparently not for this interior work which was very extensive. £16,322 was spent on the building, £8,248 on decorating and £9,135 on upholstery. The staircase cost £4,890 with new roof above and panelling. Included in the accounts were enriched ceiling in the inner hall and adapted old panelling with new carving; new ceiling, teak overdoors and adapted antique panelling (from Ipswich) in the dining-room; fibrous plaster ceiling and 'old Adam inlaid marble fireplace' in the morning room; Louis XVI marble fireplace with carved panel and fluted and carved columns in the drawing room. Chimney pieces from the dining-room and drawing-room were moved to the study and billiard-room. Coomb was a children's home 1940-55 and then from 1961 one of the group of residential homes set up by Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire.

Exterior

Country house, rock-faced squared rubble stone with ashlar dressings and slate or imitation slate roofs with coped shouldered gables, formerly with stone finials, the copings clad in lead in late C20. Stone corbels to iron eaves gutters. Windows are generally with shouldered heads to lights, coved lintels, chamfered mullions, and relieving arches over. Between lintels and relieving arches are small quatrefoil or trefoil panels. Plate glass sashes. There is much variety in the stone used, the main walling a grey to purple stone, possibly Pennant, the quoins, window surrounds, relieving arches, plinth and flush bands generally a greenish to brown sandstone, the tympana between the window lintels and the relieving arches have diagonally-set coloured stones, probably Pennant, and some of the principal window surrounds and mullions are pale grey limestone. Lintels and sills are of a pale sandstone.
Roughly L-plan with S and E main fronts. E entrance front has tower to left with bracketted cornice to flat roof (formerly with steep slate roof above), the roof redone in 2001 to slightly pitched profile. The tower has big grey limestone arched doorway with angle shafts, hoodmould, double panelled doors, arched tympanum pierced with cinquefoil flanked by diagonally set stonework. Two-light first floor window with pointed relieving arch and similar single light to tower top stage. Centre has 2 2-light windows to ante-hall with grey stone surrounds, monolith sandstone column-shaft mullions and pierced quatrefoil in each head, 3 first-floor single lights with arched relieving arches, and eaves stone dormer has 2-light window. Large gable to right has 2-light window to attic and first floor, with pointed relieving arches, and broad 3-light to ground floor. Grey limestone mullions. N gable end is rendered and altered.
S facade has entrance tower at right corner and gable at left corner, the lower range between with big ashlar canted bay window. The tower has 3-light window to ground floor, 2-light window to first floor and single light window to top stage. The middle section has single light each side of bay, which has 1-2-1 lights and quatrefoil piercings in corbelled parapet, and similar single light each side of first floor window (originally 3-light but mullions removed). Central stone dormer on eaves with similar 2-light window. Gable to left is flush, the end of a 3 bay cross-wing. Ground floor 4-light (of 2x2-light windows close-spaced with thicker mullion between) with pair of relieving arches, first floor 3-light and attic 2-light, both with roundel under relieving arch. W side 3-window range has 3x2-light windows with cambered relieving arches to main floors and 3 stone eaves dormers with single lights, but ground floor centre and left windows blocked for C20 addition.
A lower rear service range has attached to W side a very large billiard-room originally almost free-standing but now surrounded by late C20 single storey accommodation. Elongated octagon plan with longer sides and shorter front and back. Plate-glass sash windows with moulded shouldered heads and blank roundels to S and W sides. Rear lean-to with curved NW corner. The roof is in two sections divided by a clerestorey, the clerestorey with sloping glazing and detached colonnetes at angles. Above second roof is a louvred lantern with canted ends, slate roof and iron cross finials.
The service ranges between the main house and the hill behind are rendered and generally altered. L-plan main part with a hipped end roof facing E over entrance court and various eaves-breaking windows, and a steeper hip to the NW corner.

Interior

Planned around a top-lit stair hall. Corner SE entrance hall gives onto E inner hall with NE dining-room beyond, and W arch through to stair hall. S of stair hall is morning-room and passage to W gives onto SW room. Decoration is mostly of 1920-2 but with some heavy ribbed ceilings of 1864 in the entrance hall and both S rooms. The upper bedrooms are plain.
Entrance hall has diagonally-intersecting moulded plaster ribs to ceiling and inserted lift. E ante-hall is mostly of 1920 including C17 style plaster leaf cornice and thick inner ceiling border. Walls are oak-panelled in vertical panels over a panelled dado, the upper panels with affixed carved work: paired cherub heads above and rosette motif to centre within applied frames of complex rebated outline. Leaf pattern to cornice. The accounts suggest that this is antique panelling, but if so it is much restyled. One wall, to left of arch to stair hall has simpler panelling without the applied detail. Panelled depressed arch to the stair hall with Ionic pilasters, panelled reveals and top cornice. Dining-room to NE is plainer, opened out to W in late C20. Neo-Adam ornament to ceiling with ribs in Union Jack pattern and painted wood dado rails and frames to wall panels. Painted wood neo-C18 surround to pink marble fireplace.
Stair hall is rectangular with clerestoried roof light of 3 bays with leaded lights and 2 arched trusses. The sloping panels below the clerestorey and corner triangular panels have C17 style ornate plasterwork. Jacobean style woodwork, walls panelled to picture-rail height with Ionic pilasters ornamented with strapwork. Panelling and pilasters also under stair. Pierced strapwork balustrades to the stair rising on the N wall in 2 flights with a half-landing, then short return on E to a first-floor landing on 2 sides with similar balustrades. Panels are separated by newels with strapwork decoration and Ionic scroll capitals, similar newels also on stair dado.
Centre S room has a very ornate early C19 white marble fireplace with tapering fluted columns and plaque carved with classical figures of the Sciences. Contemporary iron grate. Panelled ceiling of the 1860s with diagonal boarding in panels, 1920 plaster wall panels and panelled double doors in white-painted early C18 style frame with broken pediment. SW room has ornate ribbed ceiling of the 1860s and much oak panelling of 1920 with strapwork pilasters. The stone fireplace appears to be genuine re-used early C17 work, Tudor arched, and the ornate oak overmantel in Jacobean style may incorporate genuine work. The billiard room was not available for inspection at time of survey.

Reasons for Listing

Included as one of the most substantial Victorian country houses in the county, in domestic gothic style with elaborate interiors of 1920.

External Links

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