Twyn yr Hydd

Twyn yr Hydd

An asymmetrical L-shaped house of two storeys, constructed of snecked rock-faced masonry under red tile roofs, designed in Old English style with a main double-depth range, an eastern entrance front, and a western garden front. Stone stacks feature polygonal clustered shafts. The building incorporates a plinth, moulded string course, gabled half-dormers, and Tudor windows with mullions and transoms. A lower service wing extends to the north, running towards the east with timber-framed gables.

The eastern entrance front is dominated by an ornate entrance set within a two-storey advanced gabled bay. A round-headed archway of dressed sandstone sits beneath a square head, with foliate decoration in the spandrels. Substantial jambs have moulded imposts that rise as pilasters to support a cornice featuring a blind lancet frieze above which stands an ornate stepped heraldic emblem. The four-tier panelled door is slightly recessed beneath a lower arch, with a mosaic floor in the entrance way. A half-dormer cross-window occupies the upper storey. Kneelers support a string course and ornate angle finials, while a small oval window in the apex has a cable moulded surround with keystones to each quadrant and foliate decoration. To the right of the entrance bay sits a large four-light window flanked by irregular single-light windows. Above this large window is a gabled half-dormer containing a cross-window under a relieving arch, flanked by small two-light windows with a small single light to the far right.

The service wing's southern front features a wide advanced gabled bay at centre with timber-framed gable. A long six-light window extends partly into the gable, with horizontal glazing bars and quarries, beneath a high corbelled rooflet. Three single lights below also have horizontal glazing bars and quarries. To the left of this advanced bay are two single lights above which sit two timber-framed gabled half-dormers with cross-windows. To the right is a single-light window to each storey, with a three-light window at ground floor level beside the advanced bay. A side stack is corbelled from first floor level. The wall to the right recesses slightly, and a stone sun-dial is set into it. The eastern gable end of the service range has timber-framing to the upper storey wrapping round the southern wall, with two tiers of vertical panels with diagonal struts in the gable apex above a four-light window. At ground floor level the wall continues eastward as a boundary to a yard beyond the gable, topped with stone tiled coping. On the northern side of the yard stands a single storey range with half-hipped roof and two small lights with segmental heads in the gable end, together with a further opening for a pump or water outlet to the left.

The southern side of the house incorporates the gable end of the eastern range and has a half-hipped roof to the west relating to the western range. In the right gable end is a first floor canted oriel window supported on a square pier, with foliate bosses beneath the corbel. It contains a cross-window under a hipped stone-tiled roof with foliate bosses to the eaves. The pier is flanked by lancet windows with transoms. A further lancet lies to the left, beyond a corbelled stack rising from first floor level. Above the lancet is a bay window faced in ashlar that rises as a half-dormer containing a cross-window, with the roof hipped to the left adjoining the stack to the right and featuring a dentilled cornice. To the left side is a large three-light canted bay window under a hipped roof at ground floor level, with a three-light gabled half-dormer above containing a cross-window under a relieving arch and a string course on kneelers.

The western front, overlooking grassland and a ha-ha, is relatively plain and contains five windows, although a butt joint and the termination of the string course suggest that the left bay is an addition. A half-hipped roof covers the right section, with a tall cross-window and two-light window above. An octagonal turret stands as the second bay from the right, surmounted by a swept tiled spire and weather vane. Ashlar facing at ground floor level contains single lights with transoms on each side. Upper level windows are two-lights with lancet heads forming continuous glazing. A small bay in the left angle of the turret contains a panelled door under a flat lintel and a two-light casement above. The roofline is lower to the left. Two tall cross-windows occupy the ground floor beyond which is a three-light window, with late twentieth century two- or three-light casement windows above.

The long asymmetrical northern wall faces enclosed gardens and features three gabled bays, the pair to the right belonging to the main house range. The gable end of an additional bay to the right has a three-light window to each storey, the upper mullioned and the lower under a segmental head. To the left and set apart is the gable end of the eastern range with a half-hipped roof. Centred on each storey are two-light casements under segmental heads with voussoirs, flanked by single lights at first floor and to the right of ground floor. A short linking wall between the gable ends features a full-width opening under a flat lintel, with a recessed half-lit door under a segmental head with flanking lights. Set back above is a four-light window under a small hipped roof. A gabled dormer window to the eastern range faces west. The bay to the left of the gables has three single lights under segmental heads with voussoirs and a gabled half-dormer above centre, half-timbered with a two-light casement of twentieth century glazing. A further two-light casement to the left has similar glazing. A porch to the far left has a stone-tiled roof containing a panelled door. Immediately to the left is an advanced gabled bay. A ground floor lean-to with hipped tiled roof contains narrow sash windows to either end. A chimney breast rises at centre from first floor level, passing behind the barge boards and rising as an octagonal shaft, flanked by two-light casements under segmental voussoir heads. To the west side is a door in a flat-headed projection and a two-light casement above. The bay to the left has a small vent in a heavy surround and a single light beyond, with a single light to the upper storey and a timber-framed dormer to the left containing a late twentieth century window. A low single storey range projects to the left.

The interior is accessed from the porch through a moulded round arch leading to the entrance hall, dominated by an unusual semi-circular stone fireplace with cable moulding and foliate frieze (an original feature). Red margin glazing flanks lancet windows, and a large segmental moulded arch spans the hall beneath a timber-panelled ceiling. Panelled doors appear throughout. The drawing room lies straight ahead, featuring a deep cornice decorated with festoons and egg and dart moulding, large foliate bosses to the ceiling, and a wooden fireplace decorated with scrolls and foliage with a recess to its right containing shelves with a segmental head. A moulded round arch in the far angle leads to the octagonal bay. The dining room opens to the right of the entrance hall and has moulded coving and a wooden fireplace. To the left of this doorway is a stair-passage containing a staircase framed by a wide wooden arch on wooden posts. The open well stair features open balustrades turned above a midrail, moulded handrail, and square newel posts surmounted by foliage finials. A passage at right angles at the staircase's base leads left to the library, which also has a wooden fireplace and arched recesses. The stair-passage turns right into a service passage with round arches and red, black and yellow quarry tiles.

On the first floor, the area straight ahead north of the staircase is higher. The northern bedrooms, now offices, have timber panelled ceilings with a raised ridge light above the staircase. To the south are two round arches over the passage, with rooms to left, right and straight ahead, featuring moulded coving and segmentally arched recesses. At the northeast, a small staircase leads to two small attic rooms, one used for laundry. Plain bedrooms for servants occupy the area partly in the attic, above the service area.