25988

4  

II  

Designated  

13/12/2001  

13/12/2001  

Bronallt  

4 Station Road  

Gwynedd  

Bala  

Bala  

 

292803  

336174  

NW  

Set back behind a narrow low-walled, railed forecourt; belonging to a terrace of 4.  

Domestic  

 

Late Victorian terrace, probably built c.1885, doubtless as a speculative development. The terrace reflects a new degree of prosperity and optimism brought to Bala, and other rural market towns, by the arrival of the railway in the third quarter of the C19; indeed, the red brick and terracotta employed in the construction of the terrace were clearly brought in by rail. This terrace provides a good illustration of the shift, in the second half of the C19, from an indigenous vernacular building tradition, dependant almost exclusively upon local materials, to a more homogenised, geographically non-specific speculative architecture of standardised materials and design.  

Belongs to a group of nos 1-4 Station Road (consec). Three-storey terrace of 4 late Victorian townhouses; of red brick construction, with terracotta dressings to eaves, labels and sills. Slate roof with tiled ridge and two 2-stage chimneys, both with pots. The terrace is in two parts, nos 3 & 4 being stepped-down slightly from nos 1 & 2. Each half of the terrace consists of a reflected pair of houses, and there are minor differences between them. The right-hand pair, nos 1 & 2, have outer entrance bays with wide segmentally-arched doorways; no 2 retains its 6-panel door and has narrow flanking lights and plain overlight; no 1 is similar, though with glazed modern door. Paired sash windows to L and R respectively, with 6-pane upper- and plain lower sections; moulded sills and returned labels. Plain 2-pane sashes to the first floors above the entrances, with similar smaller 4-pane sashes to the second floor above; segmental heads to the latter. The centre bays have large rectangular wooden oriels with supporting decorative brackets and dentilated cornices; leaded roofs. Each retains its plain tripartite glazing, with a central arched window and flanking transomed lights. The second floor has large arched sash windows within large gabled dormers; decorative bargeboards and terracotta ridge finials. The left-hand pair (nos 3 & 4) have similar upper floors, with the exception of the central oriels; instead of these, there are three plain sashes with shared label. The entrances are narrower and have flat arches; 6-panel doors and plain overlights. The ground floor windows are similarly triple sashes, though advanced as a shallow bay; leaded roofs. Low brick forecourt walls with moulded capping and surmounting decorative railings. The right-hand part (nos 16-22) is of yellow stock brick with more simplified detailing in engineering brick. The left half has two reflected pairs of units with an extra unit (no 14) on the end at the R. Each unit is of 2 bays, with its entrance paired with its neighbour (except the end one), and has a full-height canted bay window with simple decorative applied timber framing.  

The interior was not inspected at the time of survey.  

Listed as a well-preserved later C19 terrace of distinctive character. It illustrates the importance of the railway in the growth of the town, both in terms of renewed prosperity and of the introduction of new building materials and styles.