History

Main house was built to designs of Robert Adam for Peter Birt in 1776-7; it was mostly demolished in C20 though the surviving E pavilion forms the centre bay of the present club-house for Wenvoe Castle Golf Club. The stable courtyard, N of the house and attached to the rear of the former E pavilion, is attributed to Henry Holland, who was working at Cardiff Castle in the late 1770s and is contemporary with the Adam house of 1776-7. The whole property was taken over by the Golf Club in 1930s and has been adapted to its use since. The cobbled stable yard survives under later tarmac.

Exterior

A quadrangular stable yard with buildings on 3 sides and an alcoved terrace built into the hillside on the fourth. Built of coursed dressed stone with ashlar dressings; mainly artificial slate roof with modillion eaves. Main entrance on the E downhill side. This has a central rectangular tower with wide and high carriage arch; shallow -pitched pyramidal roof with modillion eaves cornice; this is surmounted by a leaded clock tower, the clock faces in arched recesses, open above, with a bell-shaped roof and weathervane. All glazing replaced in UPVC ; openings are mainly unaltered though some are blocked or blind. Outer frontage consists of a long near-symmetrical 2-storey range with slightly projecting bays at each end and at centre: each bay except the centre has a 3-window range: small wide rectangular openings with sills to upper level under modillion eaves cornice; ground floor, below a dividing moulded string-course, has tall rectangular windows, tall round-arched openings at right end; tall centre archway reaching to just below eaves level with keystone and impost band has similar flanking windows to each floor; shallow plinth.

Inner face of this main entrance frontage, which also projects slightly, has a blind oculus flanked by blind/blocked rectangular windows to upper level. Tall carriage arch below with voussoirs and keystone and continuous impost band; upper loft openings across the range are small and wide; similar arches to each side, wider but altered to right, with blocked tympanum, tall flanking ground floor windows to each arch. The left range has a projecting pedimented central entrance bay with blind oculus; imposts and keystone to the carriage arch which has a part-glazed head and double boarded doors. Upper openings are similarly horizontal; on ground floor the section to left has an archway with semi-circular head flanked by rectangular windows; similar to right though the segmental-headed arch is lower; similar windows either side of the central carriage arch; extended at end to form shop at upper level. The right range is similar to left which it faces; both side arches have cambered heads; the central high arch now houses the club entrance, with modern coloured glass in pediment oculus. The terrace range, a revetment wall to the bank, has a series of segmental, round or basket-arched alcoves in the slope, some blind, blocked or altered, with a double flight of steps flanking the central projecting section leading to the higher parkland beyond.

Interior

Interior has been converted to golf-club use but some basic original fabric survives including roof trusses, stable floors, plaster etc .

Reasons for Listing

Listed notwithstanding alterations as a neo-classical building by a nationally important British architect. Group value with the Castle and the kitchen garden wall.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29503854

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

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas