Offwell House Including Stables Adjoining To North

Offwell House, built in the 1820s (either 1828 or 1830), was constructed as a rectory for the Reverend E. Coppleston, Bishop of Llandaff and Dean of St Paul’s. It is a largely stone rubble building, possibly with some brick, featuring stone rubble stacks with probable late 19th-century cream-coloured brick chimneyshafts and a slate roof. The house follows a basic L-shaped plan, with the principal rooms facing south. It is a double-depth design, featuring two front rooms, the left (west) one projecting slightly. The main entrance is located on the left side, with an entrance hall and main staircase behind the left-hand front room. A double-depth service wing projects at a right angle from the rear centre of the main block. A corridor connects the two rear blocks; the eastern block is longer than the western one, containing four rooms and three rooms respectively. Most rooms are heated by a series of axial stacks.

The south front has a 1:2-window arrangement. The left-hand section, with one window, breaks forward, featuring stucco-panelled pilasters at the corners. The ground floor has a bay window with three 8-pane sashes and a moulded entablature. Above is a 12-pane sash. To the right are further 12-pane sashes and ground floor French windows at the right end of the front block. A tented roof verandah, supported by timber trellis posts, surrounds the right section of the front and the right end. The left (west) end of the front has a 2-window arrangement of 12-pane sashes, with the main doorway to the left. The stuccoed porch has a plain outer arch, panelled pilasters, and a moulded entablature, containing part-glazed double doors. The main roof is hipped at both ends with deep, plain eaves. The service wing is slightly lower and has regular, though asymmetrical, arrangements of 12-pane sashes on both sides.

The interior retains original joinery and details, including a large main staircase with shaped newel posts bearing pendants, an open string, and turned balusters. Behind the house, to the north, is a service courtyard enclosed by a tall plastered wall, along with various service buildings. The north side includes a stable and coach house with a large central elliptical arch. The roof of the stable and coach house (hipped at both ends) is topped by a small dovecote with a wrought iron weather vane. The courtyard also features a small game larder, insulated by a double roof. The building reflects the presence of Bishop Copleston, who oversaw substantial building work in the parish during the early 19th century.