Lamphey Court

Lamphey Court is a Greek Revival house built in 1823 for Charles Delamotte Mathias, a wealthy tea plantation owner from Jamaica. The date 1823 was recently discovered marked on a roof timber. It faces south over a park landscape, with wings extending to the rear. The architect is not known, but William Owen jnr. of Haverfordwest has been suggested. The house remained in the Mathias family until 1978 and was subsequently restored and extended, reopening in 1980 as a hotel.

The main elevation has seven windows and a full-height, six-column portico. The exterior is rendered with a warm-white colour, contrasted by darker colours on the cornice, frieze and plinth. A matching wing has been added to the west. The portico’s columns are set forward, and the rear wall is recessed; they are of the Ionic order with unfluted columns and a plain pediment. The cornices, friezes, and cyma of the architrave extend onto the flanking parapets. The central intercolumniation is wider than the side ones. The front features a flight of five full-width steps leading to the entrance, which has double doors with a stained-glass over-light, an architrave moulding, a cornice on consoles, and a blank panel above.

Windows throughout the house are hornless sash windows with thin glazing bars. Upper-storey windows are square with four and eight panes, while lower-storey windows are proportionally larger with six and nine panes. The lower-storey windows on the east elevation (the dining room) are wider and tripartite with mullions and narrower side sashes of two and three panes. Hipped, low-pitch slate roofs are hidden behind parapets.

The interior features a hall with a rear staircase and a Regency-style wrought-iron balustrade with a swept mahogany handrail. Rosewood double doors lead to the main reception rooms, with six-panel leaves. White-painted panelled door linings have Regency-style architraves, and restrained plasterwork adorns the ceiling perimeter.

Lamphey Court, including its original structure and its two north-facing wings, is designated a Grade II* listed building, recognizing its architectural quality as a notable and important Greek Revival house.