4776

 

II  

Designated  

28/04/1952  

25/02/2005  

The Old Rectory  

 

Gwynedd  

Maentwrog  

 

Maentwrog  

266476  

340671  

W  

Set along the W side of Bull Street (A496) at the N end of the village of Maentwrog; located to NE of the Church of St. Twrog.  

Domestic  

 

Early C19 house, extended and improved in later C19. The house is marked on the tithe map of the parish, 1840, on a plot of land named as Glan William, owned by Maria Shaw and occupied by William Jones Esq. William Gruffyd Oakeley (1790-1835) was only 21 when he inherited the Plas Tan-y-bwlch estate and set about an ambitious programme of improving the estate. This entailed new building in the village of Maentwrog and rebuilding or improving the existing buildings. In order to do so he opened a quarry near Gelli Grin from which was quarried the large lengths of brown stone present in so many of the village buildings. The Old Rectory was one of the buildings to be built at this time, then known as 'The Lodge'. Offered up for sale in the auction of the Plas Tan-y-bwlch estate, 1910, in Lot 12 'The Picturesque Rural Village of Maentwrog'. The property was then described as Glanwilliam Cottage etc, occupied by Daniel Harries, for an annual rent of £4-5s-0d.(£4.25)  

Substantial house in the Georgian tradition. It was for a time a rectory and is now a hotel. Built of coursed and dressed masonry of long stone slabs. Hipped slate roof with tiled ridge and deep bracketed eaves; central pediment has a bulls eye window and is flanked by small gable dormers with slate hung cheeks. Paired rectangular ridge stacks with dripcourse and capping and linked by arches. The principal elevation faces the road to E, the house was originally a 3 window range which was then extended by the addition of flanking wings in alignment. The main doorway is to R (N) of the central block under a gabled porch; flanking wings have round headed doorways with single first floor windows above; the LH doorway is raised by an external flight of 5 steps and has a small window abutting the left side, the doorway to R (N) is blocked. The windows are horned sashes, ground floor has 12-pane lights and the first floor smaller, 8-pane windows. At the L (S) end is a 3-window extension set at a lower level, the sills of the 12-pane horned sash windows at ground level. The rear elevation incorporates a basement storey and has has a central advanced bay with flanking verandas and timber casement windows throughout.  

The interior was not inspected at the time of the survey (June/July 2003).  

Listed as a fine Georgian building representing considerable investment by the estate. Forms a group with the nearby contemporary buildings in the estate village of Maentwrog.