History

Sub-medieval storeyed house dated externally and internally 1596 and (unusually for this date and locality) with the parlour chimney backing on the entry; an additional late C17/early C18 range to the rear formed an L-plan and some late Georgian cosmetic work appears also to have been carried out. A John Ellis is recorded as being of Cyffdy in the second half C18; he died in 1784. Flush, continuously-roofed additions to L of the primary block and to the rear belong to the mid/third-quarter C19 and relate to a programme of 'gentrification' which also included the provision of adjacent stable and coach-house ranges.

Exterior

Storeyed house of irregular plan, constructed of rendered rubble with continuous slated roof and characteristic tall, rendered chimneys; moulded capping. Off-centre entrance (R) via early C19 open porch; flat roof with simply-moulded wooden cornice and square, fluted wooden pillars. 6-panel door with finely- carved lintel above bearing the inscription 'Anno Domini 1596' (originally from within). To the L of the entrance a pair of plain, later C19 sash windows to the ground floor with an earlier C19 12-pane sash to the first floor; beyond, a further bay with 2 windows to each floor, of similar type. To the R of the entrance, single windows to both floors, as before, with a further, modern replacement sash above the entrance. A storeyed rear range returns to the E, partly enclosing a small yard. Here there are paired C19 entrances to the primary block with partly-glazed doors beneath a long slated porch canopy; above is a C19 12-pane sash window. Further, boarded door to angle of rear L-wing with 6-and 12-pane windows to R; above, a gabled, boarded loading bay. The eastern return of the L-range terminates in an unrendered C19 storeyed bow with conical roof and paired 8-pane contemporary sash windows to the first floor; modern replacements to ground floor. Further 12-pane first-floor sash to hipped-roofed southern (garden) side, together with 3 modern ground-floor windows. That to the W is contained within a later single-storey outshut projecting westwards and adjoining flush with a later C19 garden wall. This is of rubble with slate capping, some 3-4m high. The wall steps up to the W in four shallow stages of 7m each where it returns to the N in a further four stages for a similar distance, thereby forming a walled orchard/garden enclosure to the W of the house; open brick, pointed arch to S. At the wall's angle, a further, earlier stretch of rubble walling adjoins to the S and continues for some 40m where it becomes ruinous at its termination; this probably represents a surviving section of the C18 or early C19 garden wall.

Adjoining the main front to the L and projecting forward towards the drive is a mid- or third-quarter C19 stable and coach-house block. This appears as a single-storey range to the higher ground occupied by the house, but is actually of 2 storeys and faces a service court stepped-down to the L and screened off from the forecourt by a stepped and coped rubble revettment wall, which adjoins to the N. The range is rectangular, of rubble (whitened to the ground floor) and with hipped, slated roof; central tin slatted louvre. Wide cart entrance with boarded and studded double doors to R and further, similar door to L with flanking 12-pane sash windows; slate lintels and projecting slate cills. Three further 12-pane sashes to first floor, equally-spaced; blocked opening to N side. Adjoining to the S a parapetted flight of 17 slate steps leads from the service court up to the rear yard; at the top, a 6-panel door gives access to the S end of the range.

Interior

Former parlour with exposed transverse ceiling beam bearing the carved inscription: '(D)EVM:TIME: ANNO: MUNDI: 5556: ANNO: DOMINI: 1596: GOD BLESSE THES HOVS(E)'. Former hall (to L of entrance passage) with boxed, panelled ceiling beams and moulded plaster cornice; plain later C19 white marble fireplace. Moulded architraves and 6-panel doors throughout, with boxed ceiling beams and plaster cornices as before. Panelled window reveals in rear passage. In the room beyond the hall, the walls retain their block-printed Arts and Crafts design wall paper of c1890; further traces of this appear in the entrance passage. 2 late C17 or early C18 2-panel doors to rear service range, with C19 bell rack. Early C19 dog-leg stair with pine stick balusters and mahogany rail; plain, square newels, small balustraded gallery to first floor. Five further 2-panel doors to first floor, as before and a large wall section of relocated late C17 medium-field panelling to rear range; original random-width floorboards survive in part. Later C18 4-door built-in cupboard to first-floor corridor, with shaped heads to fielded panels.

Reasons for Listing

Included at Grade II* as an unusually good example of a small-scale, multi-period country house of C16 origin and retaining good external and internal character.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17744297

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)