History

Country house of 1854 by R K Penson for George Williams Parry. The Parry family had held Llidiardau from 1739 having owned Ty'nyberllan nearby since the C16. David Parry died 1763, his son Thomas Parry, attorney, (1746-1819) married a sister of John Williams who built Castle Hill nearby. His son, George Williams Parry I (1785-1838) was High Sheriff in 1823, George Williams Parry II died in 1852 and the house was built for his son George Williams Parry III (1811-74), who also promoted the restoration of the church by Penson in 1874. George Williams Parry IV (1852-1927) was High Sheriff in 1885. The estate was sold by the family in 1956. There was a cross-wing at the end of the service range, removed in later C20.
The builder in 1854 was Roderick Williams of Aberystwyth, who later designed the entrance gates. The house is interesting for its use of Victorian Gothic principles of asymmetrical design, but without any notably period detail, indeed an extreme simplicity of door and window detail prevails.

Exterior

Country house, coursed rubble stone with tooled cornerstones and red brick window dressings, steep slate roofs and stone chimneys. Two storeys, simple detail, windows all long moulded timber-mullioned with narrow sashes with horizontal glazing bars, in red brick cambered headed surrounds with flush slate sills. Asymmetrical SW garden front of three bays, the centre a long 2-light stair light to first floor, the left a slightly projected narrow gable with C20 bargeboards, first floor 2-light and ground floor 4-light (altered in C20 with French window in centre 2 lights), and to right a big canted-sided projection with 5-sided steep hipped roof and three 2-light windows each floor. End wall chimneys have external chimneybreasts and plain rubble stone square shafts. Rear wing running NE has rebuilt stone ridge stack. NE front of 2 bays has recessed left bay with broad cambered brick arch over herringbone-boarded door with side-lights. Two-light window above. To right a slightly projected gable with 2-light window over large 3-light window. Rear NW gable end has 2-light window over 3-light window. Recessed to right is a narrow bay with hipped roof, single-light each floor to left and back door to right in angle to SW rear service wing, with plaque 'Built 1854' over door. Wing has stone rebuilt ridge stack and formerly terminated in a crosswing, removed in later C20. NE front has a timber gallery across first floor, originally to give access to the cross-wing. Four C19 brackets on corbels but C20 boarding and glazing (old photograph shows a more ornate mock half-timbering), and 2 ground floor 2-light windows. Gable end has C20 render where crosswing was removed. SW side of service wing has paired doors to left then ground floor single light and 2-light, with two 2-lights above, not aligned, then a long narrow stair light to service stair, then a 2-light each floor, not aligned. Rear return of front range has inserted C20 window to ground floor in similar style.

Interior

Entrance hall leads into stair hall on left, with principal rooms each side of stair hall. Original doorcases, chamfered and stopped, the side planks finished in curved pointed tops. Six-panelled doors, panelled window reveals and panelled shutters. Centre stair hall with open-well stair with heavy roll-moulded rails, closed strings, octagonal newels with moulded finials and pendants, octagonal balusters. Room to SW, altered in C20 as kitchen, room to NE with canted bay has plain black marble fireplace and moulded cornice.
Back stairs with chamfered newel and finial. Rear wing has former kitchen and butlers pantry.
First floor landing has big rectangular frame to opening to rear landing. Main landing has 2 doors off: bedroom to front left has plain slate fireplace, that to front right has marble fireplace with roundels. Rear landing has 4 doors off. NW bedroom has grey marble fireplace moved from ground floor SW room. In servants' corridor 2 remnants from the previous house, a cupboard with 6-panel fielded-panelled doors, some ogee-headed panels (earlier to mid C18) and a curved 12-pane sash window with original very thin glass to panes (late C18 to early C19).
Basement cellars.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a Victorian country house of interesting plan form and asymmetrical elevations deriving from the Gothic revival, retaining original features within and without.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29504773

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair