Walls, steps and gates to forecourt of Church House

The building comprises walls, steps, and gates forming the forecourt of Church House. Erected in 1893 by public subscription in memory of Edward James, Third Earl of Powis, it was designed by T.E. Price.

The exterior consists of three distinct elements: a hall, a stage area, and a service/entrance range to the rear. The construction is primarily of roughly coursed and squared local green granite. The hall and stage area are covered by a graded slate roof with a slightly swept profile, and a stepped coped gable at the southwest corner. The north elevation, facing the street, is symmetrically arranged, with three-light wood mullioned and transomed windows, featuring segmental voussoir heads, either side of the inscription plate. Outer doorways have paired doors with glazed upper panels in segmental archways, also with segmental voussoir heads and etiolated keystones. A secondary entrance to the left has a battened plank door recessed in a shallow archway. The inscription plate features low-relief carvings of the Powis arms, and a wrought-iron bracketed lamp hangs above it. Paired windows are visible in the right-hand gable, featuring three-tier, two-light red-sandstone mullioned and transomed windows with segmentally pedimented heads; these are said to have come from Powis Castle. The stage area projects as a recessed gabled cross-wing, set back behind an earlier building to the left. The rear elevation showcases three-by-three-light wood mullioned and transomed windows with leaded panes, and two side wall stacks that break through the moulded eaves cornice. The stage area is expressed as a recessed gabled cross wing with tile hanging in the gable, and paired three-tier wood mullioned and transomed windows with some leaded glazing. Projecting to the right is a flat-roofed, single-storeyed range with a canted angle housing the entrance; a plank doorway sits within a stepped voussoir arch beneath a steep pedimented gable.

The interior hall has five bays and features stylised hammer-beam trusses. Curved window embrasures alternate with arched fireplace recesses in the south wall, which have strongly moulded surrounds reminiscent of the 18th century. A Neo-classical proscenium arch is present, along with dado panelling to the platform, and an arched recess to its rear, housing a further fireplace in the 18th-century style.

A small forecourt to the front of the building is enclosed by a rusticated rubble wall that steps in height. The forecourt is bordered by terminal piers at either end, and gate piers towards the centre, topped with ball finials. Paired cast-iron gates provide access with steps leading to the doorways.

The building represents an excellent example of simplified Arts and Crafts design, utilising local materials, expressive planning, and detail.

Reference: Richard Haslam, Powys, Buildings of Wales series, 1979, p.210.