Goytre Hall

Goytre Hall is a Grade II listed house, primarily of the 17th century but substantially altered and extended. It is constructed of local sandstone rubble with Forest of Dean stone and red brick dressings, under Welsh and other slate roofs.

The main house is L-shaped in plan with an additional late 19th-century wing. The principal structure rises to two storeys with attics, while the 19th-century north wing and kitchen wing are two storeys only. The main entrance stands in the inner angle of the L, sheltered by a two-storey porch canted across the angle with three faces. The door itself is a 17th-century four-plank door with iron strap hinges, a shaped head and moulded jambs, presumably the original front door reset. Above it hangs a plaque dated 1447 relating to the Herbert family. A three-light leaded lattice casement sits above the door, topped by a flat coped parapet.

The left wing displays a four-light window on the ground floor and a three-light window above, both probably early 20th-century leaded lattice casements with timber mullions under elliptical red brick heads—a pattern repeated across most of the house. A steeply pitched roof rises above with two gabled dormers containing two-light casements. The right wing similarly has a three-light window on the ground floor, two two-light windows above, and matching dormers. The roofs are punctuated by a massive four-flue chimney stack behind the entrance, a twin-flue stack at the junction of main block and wing, and a single-flue stack on the wing gable; all shafts are diamond-set.

The south gable of the main block features three-light windows at ground and first floors, a smaller window on the second floor, and a two-light window in the attic; the latter two lack red brick heads and may retain more 17th-century work. The garden front of the main block comprises three bays. The outer bays have three-light windows rising to 'Cotswold' type gabled half dormers with three-light stone mullioned windows and dripmoulds; the left dormers dates to the 17th century while the right is dated 1994. The centre bay contains a staircase entrance below and a two-light window above, with the large central stack rising behind. A late 19th-century timber verandah partially masks the ground floor, glazed at its left end around 1980. The left gable mirrors the right gable except that all windows are early 20th-century work.

The 19th and 20th-century wing projects to the north with a large stone bay window of three lights, each divided by large cross-framed casements. Above are two three-light windows and one single-light window in the same style. The roof, less steeply pitched than the older sections, has a matching two-flued stack at the left gable end. Two single-light windows on each floor flank the gable-end chimney. A garden door occupies a lean-to extension behind, with a two-light window above. A projecting gable features a large black-and-white timber-framed oriel on brackets, containing a seven-light mullion-and-transom window with vertical studs in the gable above, and bargeboards. This connects to a two-storey kitchen wing, probably early 20th-century (though possibly an Evans addition), and a three-storey extension at the rear of the main house, likely by Evans, which has randomly placed windows, one small dormer and a rooflight. The circuit concludes at the east gable of the main house wing, which has a lean-to with a two-light window at ground floor and a small casement above.

Internally, the main block contains a large room on each side of the central stack. A semi-spiral oak stair with solid treads stands against the stack in the centre of the west side, featuring an heraldic newel-head figure and a section of turned balusters where it reaches the attic. Several ornate doorheads, particularly on the first floor rooms off the stair, may have been introduced by Evans, though executed in proper 17th-century character.

The Morning Room, occupying the south of the two ground floor rooms, has five chamfered ceiling beams with bar-and-ogee stops carrying wide oak floorboards, likely 18th-century. The panelling is 19th-century, probably introduced by Evans, though it incorporates earlier work possibly from Herefordshire. The fireplace has chamfered stone jambs and a Delft tile surround; the overmantel incorporates six possibly 16th-century carved panels depicting Moses and other Old Testament subjects.

The Inner Hall, the north of the two ground floor rooms, has four chamfered beams with bar-and-ogee stops. An iron fireback is inscribed WWJ 1699, indicating ownership by the Jenkins family at that time.

The Long Drawing Room occupies the north wing and was Evans's Music Room. Its ceiling was installed by the Whiteheads around 1920. The ceiling is probably late 16th-century compartmented work with three beams and joists all featuring quarter-round mouldings; these are said to have come from a house in Abergavenny. Notably, the fourth beam has a plain chamfer with ogee stops. The room contains an inglenook fireplace.

The Dining Room, located in the 17th-century wing originally serving as the service wing, has plain chamfered beams with run-out stops and a late 19th-century slate fire surround. A spiral stair in this wing is stone at the bottom and oak above. The salting stone survives in the Dairy.

The first-floor Study contains the wide oak floorboards noted elsewhere, reused and 19th-century panelling, and plain ceiling beams which have been hacked for plaster.

The two bedrooms in the north wing share the original Music Room ceiling, which was raised a storey around 1920. The ceiling originally comprised six bays with five queen post trusses and a boarded ceiling.

The attic rooms in the main block reveal the roof structure, a massive but much-altered and reinforced A-frame.