Llanwrtyd War Memorial Institute

Llanwrtyd War Memorial Institute

A symmetrical three-storey building in free classical style, rendered with a slate roof and partly rendered brick end stacks, the right-hand stack shared with an adjoining building. The design features boarded eaves with small modillions, rusticated quoin strips, and a sill band at first floor level with rusticated banding below.

The windows throughout are horned tripartite sashes with flat heads and stone sills. Those to the first and second storeys are set in moulded architraves. The ground floor comprises three bays. The central feature is a doorcase with pilasters whose capitals are decorated with egg and dart moulding, supporting an entablature inscribed 'Llanwrtyd War Memorial'. The door itself is recessed and panelled, with panelled reveals. On either side of the entrance are moulded frames for notice boards. Flanking these are triple tripartite sash windows.

Above the entrance at first floor level, two Ionic pilasters support a broken triangular pediment with dentils. Within the pediment breaks a small round-arched recess. Below is a moulded frame with decorative scrolls at the base on each side, containing an inscription in Welsh reading 'Yn Anghof Ni Chant Fod' with dates '1914' and '1918'. A tablet bearing '1939-45' is attached to the bottom of the frame. Flanking this centrepiece are oculi with moulded surrounds and voluted keystones, each framed by festoons. To the outer side of each oculus is a tripartite sash window. The second floor has four windows, which would originally have matched the first floor arrangement.

The east gable end is of rubble stone with a tripartite sash window to the ground floor. Late twentieth century glazed doors with brick surrounds and segmental heads serve the first and second floors, attached to a metal fire-escape staircase. The west elevation is adjoined by a now modernised building. The rear elevation includes an additional basement storey with minimal architectural detail. A central planked door with top-light is flanked by late twentieth century windows, with a small light to the far left. Above this are a triple tripartite sash to the left and single sashes to the centre and right. A narrow central light serves the first floor with flanking tripartite sashes, and three tripartite sashes light the second floor.

Inside the front entrance a small lobby opens onto panelled doors to left and right. Directly ahead are three brass plaques in wooden frames fixed to the wall: the upper plaque commemorates those who fell in the First World War (1914-18), the lower left plaque honours those of the town who died in the Second World War (1939-45), and the lower right plaque commemorates former pupils of Bromsgrove School, evacuated here during the Second World War, who later died in action. Below the plaques is a wooden trough for memorial crosses, inscribed 'We will remember them'. The panelled door to the right leads to a games room. The door to the left opens onto a small lobby with a panelled door to the police station straight ahead and stairs to the right leading to the council chamber and committee rooms. The council chamber at the front features stained glass in the oculi, each bearing a crown and cross, and a picture rail. A larger room towards the west has an infilled fireplace and picture rail. A caretaker's flat occupies the top of the building.