Service Buildings including Courtyard Walls at Margam Castle

These service buildings are arranged irregularly around three courtyards. The eastern courtyard served as the mews, surrounded by stables, coach houses, and workshops, whilst the central and western courtyards contained buildings for domestic activities. The exterior walls of the complex are built of ashlar and are more architecturally embellished than the interior walls.

Western Courtyard

The western courtyard is entered through an impressive portal on the north side adjoining the main house. The portal has chamfered angles and parapets rising from a string course. A raised frieze in the centre contains a square traceried panel bearing a shield with a lion. The entrance has a four-centred chamfered archway. To the right is a short wall behind which sits a small room with a small two-light window under a continuous hoodmould. To the left, a wall with decorated crenellated parapets forms the boundary to the western courtyard and joins the square tower of the brewhouse.

The squat two-stage brewhouse tower has stepped diagonal buttresses and pronounced crenellated parapets on a corbel table decorated with trefoils. Wide ventilation openings on the first floor contain eight lights to each face with Gothic tracery: trefoiled lancets to the north, lattice design with quatrefoils to the east, and diamond and quatrefoil design to the west. A short octagonal tourelle at the northwest angle rises above the main parapets and has cross-shaped ventilation slits to alternating faces.

The exterior boundary continues southward with the east gable end of the laundry, which projects slightly beyond the brewhouse. This features an ornate stepped chimney breast with shields in relief in square panels, above and below a traceried lattice frieze. The stack has two octagonal shafts. A string course flanking the chimney breast rises over shields in square panels. From the south angle of the chimney breast, a boundary wall dog-legs round further ranges including the boiler house. The wall has parapets on a corbel table, and a setback buttress and large finial where it changes angle. To the left is a four-centred arched door under a square hoodmould leading into the gun room.

Mews Courtyard Entrance and Eastern Range

Further left is the wide entrance to the mews courtyard, flanked by two high octagonal piers with buttresses to four sides, surmounted by lions couchant. To the left (east) of the entrance are the exterior walls of the stables and coach houses. Immediately left of the entrance is the wide gable end of a stable block with moulded verges with pendant finials and a large finial on the apex. The east wall of this stable and the north wall of the coach house are continuous. The former is four-bay and the latter three-bay, each bay divided by angle buttresses surmounted by finials, with plain parapets on a corbel table.

Adjoining to the left is the north wall of a highly ornate building forming the northeast corner of the complex. This building contained the bridle room, stables, and the grooms' accommodation above. It is two storeys with an attic. The north side is five-bay with angle buttresses rising to high octagonal finials. Crenellated parapets rise over two dormer windows in the second and fourth bays, each containing a two-light window with Y-tracery. High octagonal cupolas rise from the apex of each dormer with narrow open lancets. A similar but larger cupola is corbelled out from the west gable apex of the building.

The east gable end has a stepped gable, large apex finial and short square angle piers corbelled out at parapet level. It is dominated by a large oriel attic window supported on a two-stage pier. Moulded arched braces spring outwards from the top of the pier to support the window, with a recessed traceried panel in the spandrels. The attic window has a cinquefoiled head under an ogee hoodmould with head end bosses. The oriel bay has diagonally-set flanking piers with finials. Flanking the pier are two-light windows with shallow pointed heads under square hoodmoulds.

The attic storey of the south wall is visible from the exterior and is in similar style to the north wall: ornate crenellated parapets with attic dormers to the second and fourth bays with flanking octagonal pinnacles with domed traceried caps and pendant finials. This building is joined to the south by a single-storey stable range at right angles. Its exterior east face is similar to the stables to the north: five bays divided by angle buttresses which rise to octagonal finials, with plain parapets on a corbel table. The south gable end has diagonal buttresses and a large central stepped buttress which rises as an octagonal pinnacle with decorated traceried cap. From the southwest angle runs a short length of wall with an entrance containing late 20th-century double planked gates.

Southern and Western Boundary

From the southwest gates, the wall turns westward to form the boundary to the mews courtyard. It is of plain ashlar with corbel table decorated with arched frieze, supporting plain parapets. The bays are separated by buttresses, and where the angle changes, the parapets are raised and decorated with shields. Some sections are in poor condition, with later buttressing. The wall turns northwest for a short distance and joins the southeast angle of a range which was used as a squash court in the early 20th century.

The exterior south side is seven bays separated by angle buttresses which rise as octagonal pinnacles with traceried domed caps. Each bay has a three-light window with lancet heads under a square hoodmould. Parapets are decorated with raised triangles, on a corbel table. A pointed Gothic doorway to the west gable end has several orders of mouldings and a hoodmould with head bosses, containing double planked doors. It is set in a recessed panel with pronounced frieze of pendant finials to the top. The doorway is flanked by similar but smaller recessed panels. A finial sits at the front of the gable apex.

From the southwest angle of the building, a low retaining wall with parapets runs southward and joins the garden terrace walls of Margam Castle. From the northwest angle of the building, the boundary wall runs north for one bay and then west for three bays. In the angle is a large tripartite pier set at an angle and containing a niche for a seat (heavily covered in vegetation). This wall joins the southeast angle of the house.

Interior of Western Courtyard

The western courtyard has a flagstone floor and is entered through the north portal. The main house forms its western boundary. Against the north boundary wall is a low lean-to with late 20th-century openings, now an aviary. To the east is the west face of the brewhouse which includes the entrance: a panelled door under a four-centred chamfered arch approached by stone steps. To its right is the gable end of the laundry, of rubble stone with dressed stone to the upper half. The doorway is to the right, approached by stone steps, with double planked doors under a four-centred arch. To its left is a large square window opening, infilled with rubble, with a small enclosure in front.

Left of the laundry is the projecting end wall of the single-storey bakehouse, with hipped roof and large three-light mullioned window with quarries. On the south side of the courtyard is a rubble stone dividing wall with doorways at each end which lead into a further small courtyard, with the kitchen window of the main house to the west, boundary wall to the south and larder to the east. The right doorway has a heavy stone lintel and the left doorway also leads into a short passage which provides access to the central courtyard.

Central Courtyard

The large central courtyard is bounded to the south by the former squash court. Its rear wall is plain with a 20th-century door inserted. A short length of boundary wall is to the west with a doorway with steps leading down into the western courtyard. To the north is a U-shaped range of single-storey buildings of coursed rubble stone, including the laundry and bakehouse. The laundry to the north has two large three-light mullioned windows with diamond quarries. The brewhouse tower rises behind.

On the east side is the access to the boiler house, a four-centred arched chamfered stone doorway containing a planked door. Beyond is the laundry maids' sitting room. This has a wide gable to the left and contains a doorway to the left with heavy chamfered stone lintel and wide three-light window to the right with heavy dressings and mullions, possibly enlarged. A similar window appears in the south gable end. From its southeast corner is the rear wall of the workshops, now containing a late 20th-century through-passage.

On the west side of the U-shaped range is the bakehouse and larder. The end of the bakehouse is to the right with a hipped roof and a hipped half-dormer containing a three-light window with transom. The range continues to the left at a lower level with a two-light window.

Interior of Mews Courtyard

The mews courtyard to the east is paved in cobbles. A single-storey range on the west side contains the gun room and workshops. The gun room has a gable to the north end containing a two-lancet window under a square hoodmould and with a diagonally-set finial. Rubble stone appears below the window, ashlar above. A square corbelled stack to the left angle rises to an octagonal shaft. The range continues to the left with a small two-lancet window and then a planked door to the gun room, both rising to the eaves. Three planked doors to the workshops appear to the left, all with louvres above. The central door now opens onto a through-passage to the central courtyard, and to its right is a two-light mullioned window with flat head.

A wide gabled bay at the south end has ashlar above rubble stone, with a tablet attached to the apex bearing a shield with chevrons. A wide opening offset to the left with chamfered jambs now contains a door and glazing for a gift shop.

The north side of the courtyard is bounded by the stables, bridle room and coach houses. The tall ornate range in the northeast corner is plain rubble below attic level, the doors and windows with flat heads in dressed surrounds. Two planked doors to the ground floor are flanked by two-light windows with lancet heads. A further door and window appear to the far right. The stable range at right angles forming the east boundary of the courtyard is now converted to toilets. The west wall is rendered and contains late 20th-century doors flanked by high-level windows. An original flat-headed, chamfered doorway to the left has a planked door.

Running west from the ornate northeast building is the single-storey L-shaped range containing the coach house and stables. Three bays have double planked doors under a continuous wooden lintel, the right bay infilled with a late 20th-century door and window. To the left is a wide gabled bay with two cart-shed openings with dressed jambs, now glazed. A vent in the gable apex sits in a stone surround. The west wall of the coach house has no openings, but further north is the entrance into the adjoining stable: a planked door with boarded overlight under flat chamfered stone lintel, flanked by two-light windows with lancet heads.

The south side of the courtyard is the boundary wall, against which lie the low remains of a former range, now a raised flower bed.

The interiors of the ranges have been converted to offices, exhibition space, shops, cafe and toilets.