St. Michael's College

St. Michael’s College comprises several buildings constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exhibiting a variety of materials and architectural styles. The earliest sections, known as the Prichard building and the Kempson building, were originally designed as a private residence and offices, respectively. Both have Welsh slate roofs.

The Prichard building is constructed of polychromatic random rubble with blue brick and Radyr stone dressings, while the Kempson building is of red Radyr sandstone with Bath limestone dressings. The north-west facing gable end of Prichard’s original office is a single storey with a blue brick stack. Adjacent to this is a two-storey wing, intended as Prichard’s house. This wing features a circular turret with a conical roof, constructed in the manner of the architect John Ninian Comper. The office has two mullion-and-transom windows and a plain doorway with a stone lintel under a steeply pitched roof. Prichard’s house has a wide gable with plain bargeboards, two attic windows, first floor windows of two lights with columns, Radyr stone cills, and decorated Radyr stone lintels. The ground floor features a single light window and quatrefoil, while the turret includes a loophole at first floor level and a pointed doorway with a conical roof. Further along, two mullion-and-transom windows are present on the ground floor, with matching windows in a half dormer above. To the south of the Prichard building stands the Kempson College, constructed between 1905 and 1907 in red Radyr stone. It begins with a tall projecting wing, its right return displaying a three-light mullion-and-two-transom window on the ground floor, a single transom window above, and a tall stepped stack. The gable end features a six-light mullion-and-two-transom window under panelling, with a tall six-light pointed head window above. A porch with a two-centred arch doorway is set into the south return, above which sits a single light window. A three-storey wing of four bays extends south, featuring single, two, three, and four-light windows of a consistent design. Further detailing includes trefoiled attic windows and gables. The return wall of this wing also incorporates single light windows positioned either side of gable stacks at each level. The return of the lower rear wing uses polychromatic rubble, and the rear wall is faced with similar material; this is likely the rear wall of the previously mentioned house mentioned within Prichard’s will.

The rear elevation features a series of distinctive details, including a two-centred first floor window, a bay with a bowed window and trefoil headed lights, a projecting bay with a hipped gable, panelled parapet and cantilevered balcony, and a rounded oriel window at the south angle.

A resurvey of the property revealed a reception hall, staircase, and sitting room, which were found to be plain in character. The remaining interior spaces were not accessible for inspection.