Gwysaney

Gwysaney

A large Jacobean house facing south, comprising an original main house on the right side, a main service wing of 1863-5 to its left, and a further western service wing of circa 1906 at the left end.

The original house comprises a main hall range with a cross wing to its left, built in three storeys of coursed stone with coped parapets featuring ball finials. The windows are ovolo-moulded, mullioned and transomed throughout, with some incorporating metal-framed casements and others diamond panes in wooden glazing bars dating from 1863. The slate roof sits above coped gables with moulded kneelers.

The five-bay main range features a moulded band between the lower and middle storeys, and an eroded band between the middle and upper storeys comprising lozenge and disc friezes. The lower and middle storeys display five cross windows each, while the upper storey contains three two-light windows. The cellar has three two-light windows. The doorway sits on the left side, accessed by stone steps, with a hood mould and shallow arch in a stop-chamfered surround. The studded door carries studs delineating '1640 RAD'.

The cross wing features five-light mullioned and transomed windows with hood moulds in each storey, and a five-light cellar window. Its right side wall contains three-light windows in the middle and upper storeys, a blocked upper storey window, and a two-light cellar window. The opposite left side wall has a cross window with hood mould in the middle storey and a blocked two-light upper storey window.

Further west is a lower two-storey, five-bay main service wing of 1863-5, built of snecked stone with a parapet and coped gable at the left end on moulded kneelers with apex ball finial. The slate roof carries a single ridge stack with four diagonal shafts. The lower storey contains two cross windows to the right, while the remaining three are similar but deeper with two transoms, all incorporating diamond glazing bars. Cross windows light the upper storey. At the left end of this wing, set back, is the western service wing, constructed of tooled stone in the upper storey above an earlier rubble stone wall. The slate roof has a single stone ridge stack. A two-storey lean-to is attached with three-light mullioned windows, and further left are two half-dormers with two-light mullioned windows and coped gables bearing ball finials.

The right gable end of the original hall range contains detail mainly from 1863-5, occupying the site of the original eastern wing. In the lower storey is an ashlar canted bay, added by Roberts in 1906, lighting the drawing room and featuring a four-light mullioned and transomed window with a four-light mullioned cellar window beneath. The middle storey contains a three-light window, and the upper storey a two-light window, both with hood moulds. Behind and set back from the angle of the main range is a single-storey projection with roof concealed by a parapet, built as a smoking room in 1906. It has a four-light mullioned window in its side wall and a similar three-light window in the rear wall. Above the rear windows is a tablet dated 1906 bearing the initials 'PT & D DC' in raised letters.

To the right of the smoking room, at the rear of the main range, is a three-storey projecting bay. The lower two storeys comprise the former priest's lodging, while the third storey was remodelled with its roof concealed by a parapet in 1863-5. It contains two two-light windows with lozenge glazing in the lower storey under a linked drip stone (probably originally forming a five-light window), a five-light mullioned and transomed window in the middle storey, and two two-light upper-storey windows. Its right side wall displays a cross window in the middle storey and a two-light window above. Attached in the lower storey is a projection with a round-headed arch to a boarded cellar door reached by concrete steps, above which sits a two-light window. The rear of the original cross wing has a four-light cellar window, with four-light lower-storey, five-light middle and upper-storey, and three-light attic windows, all with hood moulds except the cellar. An external stack in the right side wall of the cross wing has three diagonal shafts.

The rear of the main service wing contains a narrow three-storey gabled wing to the left, then a parallel wing and cross-gabled projection at the right end. A single-storey addition to the left has a boarded door in its left side wall and a five-light mullioned window facing the rear. Behind it, the left-hand gabled wing displays a coped gable and finials, a cross window in the middle storey and a two-light window above. Set well back on its left side is a single bay attached to the cross wing of the original house, which has a cross window in the lower storey and two-light windows in the middle and upper storeys. On the right side of the gabled wing are two-light windows. The parallel wing projects forward with a five-light mullioned and transomed window in each storey, though in the lower storey the two central mullions below the transom have been removed and replaced with a single large pane. The wing has a left end stack with diagonal brick shafts. Further right, behind the main service wing, is a two-storey gabled projection with a gable-end stack bearing two diagonal stone shafts and a lower two-storey projection. The side wall faces a service yard at the west end and contains four-light mullioned and transomed windows, the upper window set in a gabled half-dormer. The service yard is enclosed by a stone wall. The service wing has a single-storey boarded lean-to, a projection right of centre, beyond which stands a garage under a hipped roof. The west side wall of the service wing displays a two-light mullioned half-dormer matching the front elevation.

The house retains elements of a double-depth plan, though the original arrangement—probably comprising cross passage and a priest's lodging behind the hall—has been slightly altered. The hall and cross passage have been amalgamated and subdivided into two rooms with wood-panelled walls. The easternmost room features a fireplace with a rich Jacobean-style overmantel and two former stair newels placed in front. The main stairs were originally reached from the hall but the lower part was rebuilt at the rear of the cross wing by Roberts in 1906, with work matching the earlier style including shaped and pierced fret-cut balusters and square newels with finials. In the cross wing, originally the kitchen, is a wide chamfered fireplace, though placed before it is a heavy stone chimneypiece brought circa 1823 from the great hall. This comprises scrolled pilasters and mantel with foliage and the family crest in low relief.

The cross wing retains its original Tudor-arched doorway with mullioned overlight, through which access is gained to the main service wing. The wing has a central corridor with domestic Gothic detail including Tudor-style doorways, panelled doors and chamfered fireplaces. The former servant's hall features a wide fireplace arched to a flat centre.