Bodrhyddan Hall

Bodrhyddan Hall is a Grade I listed house built primarily of brick with stone dressings, stonework to the rear, and terracotta details in later additions. It has slate roofs throughout and comprises three storeys, with an entrance wing facing west and a main hall range facing south. A single-storey dining room wing was added to the southeast between 1784 and 1810, followed by a service wing to its rear in 1872–75.

The garden front is symmetrically planned with an arrangement of 2–1–3–1–2 bays. The two outer bays on each side are additions or refacing work by Nesfield. The central section dates to the late 17th century and comprises a three-window central range with advanced outer wings to either side. These wings originally had differentiated bays in each re-entrant angle, which remain visible, though the wings themselves were first obscured by additions around 1840 and then refaced during Nesfield's remodelling. In the earlier central section, windows throughout are 12-pane sashes with heavy glazing bars and gauged brick heads. Stone entablatures surmount the brick arches of the attic storey windows. The central ground floor window, of similar type, was inserted by Nesfield to replace an earlier doorway. Stone quoins and string courses, stepped as a continuous hood-mould band to the first floor, are features of this section. A parapet with a central pedimented gable, probably resulting from alterations around 1840, crowns the composition. The outer bays added by Nesfield are executed in Queen Anne style, complementing the late 17th-century work. They are symmetrically designed with sash windows to ground and first floors of 12 and 18 panes respectively, set within broad wood surrounds and finished with finely gauged brick heads that are steeply cambered at ground floor level and flat-arched above. Wood mullioned and transomed windows appear in the attic storey. Brick aprons sit below first floor windows, with string courses between first and second storeys. A modillion eaves cornice and steep roof with pedimented dormer windows complete this elevation. Brick panelled stacks are positioned on the wings and set to the rear of the main range.

The dining room wing, added between 1784 and 1810, continues the line of the south front to the east. This single-storey, three-window range features a doorway to the left in an ornate case with a crest between a broken pediment, executed as a facsimile of the late 17th-century main entrance door in the centre of the south elevation and representing one of Nesfield's alterations. Three 15-pane sash windows light this wing.

The entrance front is entirely the work of Nesfield, dating from 1872–75. It comprises three storeys and five bays, with a four-storey central advanced porch. The detail of the outer bays follows the same scheme used on the south front, featuring cambered heads to 12-pane sash windows on the ground floor, 18-pane windows to the first floor, and mullioned and transomed windows above. The central porch displays a richly detailed doorcase with swags to the frieze and a painted crest in the broken pediment, a design based on the late 17th-century doorway that had previously occupied the centre of the south elevation. A 12-pane sash window in a stone architrave sits above. Deep fluted brackets carry a balcony with wrought iron rail to the second storey, which features a 24-pane sash window set between coupled pilasters divided by terracotta sunflower panels. Paired casements occupy the upper storey, and a sundial sits in the apex of a shaped Dutch gable surmounted by a semi-circular shell pediment and heraldic pelican. Pedimented dormer windows flank the roof on either side. The entrance front is flanked on both sides by single-storey screen walls, topped by balustrades and fitted with inserted casement windows, which originally concealed a top-lit billiards room to the left and a conservatory (now demolished) to the right.

The rear elevation follows a similar configuration to the south front, with advanced outer wings to either side. The west wing is entirely by Nesfield, while the east wing is late 17th-century and retains some original mullioned and transomed windows in its upper floors. The central section is built of stone, probably not as a single phase, and is partly roofed at right angles to the main range. A re-sited pedimented doorcase of the late 16th or early 17th century, positioned left of the present porch, provides basement access. The service wing, added by Nesfield, encloses a courtyard to the rear and east of the house. Built of stone with slate roofs, it comprises two storeys with a central advanced pavilion block facing the yard.

The main entrance hall, located in Nesfield's west entrance front, is a low room occupying the width of the house, with fireplaces at either end featuring richly coloured tilework and ornate timberwork. One fireplace incorporates a date of 1601 in marquetry panels set into the overmantle. The Great Hall faces south with a staircase opening from its northwest corner. It is largely the work of Nesfield, executed within an earlier layout. A lateral fireplace, not apparently in its original position, forms a richly decorated inglenook with beaten metal panels to the hood, a pomegranate frieze, tilework and built-in benches, complemented by wall-panelling. The billiard room, opening from the entrance hall to the north, is also by Nesfield and features tiled dado and a heavy inglenook fireplace. The drawing room, situated above the great hall, belongs to an earlier reworking and is enriched with bookcases featuring heavy foliate swags and a stylised acanthus frieze. Two fireplaces incorporate carved wood panels representing biblical scenes, one dated 1637, all probably of this period. These panels are of continental, likely ecclesiastical, origin and are set into heavy fireplace surrounds with massive overmantles ornamented with the family crest, work probably dating to around 1840. A similar fireplace exists in the dining room. The boudoir, adjacent to the drawing room, has a ribbed plaster panelled ceiling and dado panelling to the walls, which may date to the late 17th century.