The Valley Inheritance Museum

The Valley Inheritance Museum

A stable block in restrained classical style arranged on a quadrangular plan, with buildings of different sizes and uses positioned around a paved courtyard.

The entrance front comprises a central two-storey block with a tall entrance arch and one window on each side, flanked by a lower recessed single-storey wing. The wing has two windows on the left and a plain doorway on the right. The building is rendered and painted except for the centrepiece, which is ashlar stone with imposts and keystone. The roofs are hipped Welsh slate. The main block features a plat band at first-floor level that becomes an eaves band on the wing, with impost blocks on the arch. Ground-floor windows are ten over twelve pane sashes; upper-floor windows are eight over eight. The facade includes a listel frieze, parapets, and a central attic block above the arch with a secondary cornice.

The left return elevation, facing into the grounds of St Alban's School, has a two-storey rendered block with a tall dressed stone archway on the left side, featuring imposts and keystone. To the right are three bays of blind panels with a central arch-headed doorway. A plat band separates the floors, with cornice and parapet above. A blind single-storey block extends to the right. A single storey block is also present with two windows with ten over fifteen pane sashes, and a two-storey block with non-blind windows—ten over fifteen sashes on the ground floor with central arched doorway, five over ten sashes above, and cornice and parapet over all, with a tall ashlar arch to the right.

The river elevation has three doorways: two with squashed arch heads (double doors) and a small door with a round head between them. Above are three windows—one eight over eight pane sash on the left and two six over six to the right. The roof is hipped.

The right return elevation is hidden by Park Cottages.

The courtyard entrance elevation is largely as the exterior, except the plat band between storeys is absent and the ashlar centrepiece rises into a gable with plain bargeboards. The archway is flanked by a ten over fifteen pane sash on the ground floor and a ten over ten above.

The right-hand courtyard range is two storeys. The ground floor has eight pairs of coach doors separated by slim cast iron columns supporting almost flat stone arches with keystones. Above are eight windows with ten over ten pane sashes, with the second window from the left incorporating a part-glazed door. The roof is hipped.

The rear courtyard block is single storey with a plain door under a hood on the left and an arched door on the right, with three ten over fifteen pane sash windows between. The roof is hipped.

The courtyard is paved throughout with cobbles. In the centre stands a circular pond with an iron rim that served as a horse trough.

The building is now used as a heritage centre and museum for the Torfaen valley and County Borough. Exhibits on the ground floor substantially obscure the original building interior, while the upper floor has been converted into offices.