Lower Dyffryn House

Lower Dyffryn House

A substantial late 16th to early 17th century Renaissance house, built in red sandstone rubble with a slate roof. The building is arranged to an E-plan, standing two storeys high with an off-centre gabled porch and gabled wings projecting at each end.

The most striking external features are the tall projecting chimney stacks that flank the centre gable of the garden front. Both have stone bases and brick flues. The left stack is buttressed and carries a moulded cap inscribed with the dates 'AD 1506' and 'AD 1846' in mid-19th century lettering. The right stack has an elegant hexagonal flue.

The porch is a two-storey gabled structure. Its upper gable contains a chamfered slit, and below is a 6-pane window with an angled dripstone. The entrance itself is a Tudor arched stone doorway with hollow chamfer, fitted with an early 17th century studded door of shaped head with fleur de lys strap hinges. To the left of the porch, ground and first floors display 2-light transom windows with small panes under segmental arches with stone voussoirs. To the right, the first floor has a 12-pane hornless sash and the ground floor a 16-pane sash. The side wall to the north-east gable includes a 19th century ogee-headed lancet and a 16-pane sash. The right wing gable has blocked openings on both floors, and a 19th century extension is attached to the right side. The left wing gable shows a 2-light transom on the first floor and a 4-light transom with segmental arched voussoirs on the ground floor.

The garden front is regular in composition, with a centre gable and gables at each end. Windows here are fitted with 19th century ovolo-moulded wooden mullions, with openings having angled dripstones with dropped and returned ends. The centre gable contains a single light in the gable head and a 2-light mullion below, with 19th century glazed double-doors with marginal panes at ground floor level. The flanking gables on each side frame the tall projecting chimneys described above. The end gables feature chamfered slits in the gable head, with 3-light and 2-light mullions on the first floor, and 4-light transoms and 3-light mullions at ground floor level.

The south elevation includes a single-storey gabled porch with a semi-circular arched doorway. To the left of this stands a broad projecting chimneystack, beyond which is a 19th century boarded door. To the right is a 17th century wooden 3-light transom with angled dripstone, and above it a similar 2-light window with segmental arched voussoirs.

The interior follows an E-plan layout. The centre porch opens into a large hall with 20th century vertical board cladding on the walls. Ground floor rooms on the south side of the hall (to the left) have 19th century 4-panel doors. A doorway from the hall leads into a staircase lobby; a passageway beyond leads to the south porch, with large service rooms on each side. Ground floor rooms on the north side of the hall (to the right) have early 19th century 6-panel doors.

A doorway from the hall opens into a second staircase lobby. To the left is a parlour with a 19th century moulded ceiling cornice and a 19th century marble fireplace surround with roundels in the angle blocks. Ahead stands a fine late 17th century dog-leg stair with closed string, splat balusters and moulded panelling. Openings off the lobby to the right lead to two ground floor rooms of the north-east wing. The larger end-room has a 19th century moulded ceiling cornice and a 19th century marble fireplace surround with round arched register grate. The first floor chamber directly above has a circa 1600 fireplace with chamfered monolithic stone jambs with broach stops and a deep wooden lintel; to the left is a blocked Tudor arched doorway of a former fireplace stair. The chamber above the parlour has a similar 19th century fireplace with angle blocks and roundels. Two chambers over the hall have 17th century 8-panel doors. The south-east wing first floor has a similar 8-panel door and an early 18th century door with four fielded panels, retaining original window fittings to the early 17th century transoms.