Hay Castle

Hay Castle is a large house dating to the 17th century, with earlier origins. The main front of the building faces northwest and is three storeys high with seven windows. It is constructed of rubble stone with freestone window dressings, featuring Jacobean-style gables with finials (the central two are missing). A stone tile roof, shaped like an “M”, remains on the right side, while the hipped end is thought to be a restoration by Caroe. A roofless hall is located to the left. The chimneys are large and made of brick. The windows are mainly small-paned sash windows, or dummy windows resembling sashes, with some missing. A tall, central window is positioned above what was formerly the main entrance, now accessed by modern steps; it is flanked by a pair of decorative console brackets. A truncated chimney stack sits above this, alongside paired, horned sashes. Decorative iron brace plates are located towards the centre right of the facade.

A former keep is set back at an angle to the left end, and is characterised by massive corner buttresses. A late Romanesque window is present on the ground floor, with paired Tudor-style lights above, and a broken wallhead. An attached outer wall, belonging to a former gatehouse, was refaced in 1233, featuring a segmental outer arch and a slot for a portcullis. A pointed, two-order arched entrance with studded timber doors, one cross-braced on the inner side, provides access. A battered rubble wall continues to the left. A segmental arch on the inner side of the gateway contains a rere arch supporting a stone staircase leading to a wallwalk, and into the now floorless keep, which has a basement at the front. The southeast face of the keep retains a late Romanesque twin opening under an arch; dove holes are located below. A linking bay projects to the left, with irregularly shaped gables, cross-frame windows and diamond-leaded glazing under Tudor labels, which originally illuminated the main staircase. The southeast (garden) front has five windows over three storeys, again with similar gables, and quatrefoil panels blocking what were once attic windows. This front includes a mixture of sash and casement windows, and a small rubble porch with a pointed arch entrance.

The interior has been partly gutted, but retains spinal corridors with largely replaced massive studded partitions, pointed Jacobethan-style openings, and timber mullioned internal windows. New A-frame trusses are in place, along with panelled shutters and doors. The second floor features chamfered crossbeams. Remnants of a spiral staircase, a dog-leg back stair, and an openwell timber staircase with a swept-up handrail remain; a fine Jacobean staircase was lost in a fire. A projecting stone fireplace is found on the first floor, and a late medieval fireplace is in the kitchen. Late Romanesque quarter-round jambs mark the pointed arch entrance to the spinal passage. Carved head corbels are present in the southwest part of the building.