259

 

II  

Designated  

13/03/1974  

17/03/1999  

Sir Henry Jones Memorial Cottages and garden walls  

 

Conwy  

Llangernyw  

Abergele  

Llangernyw  

287440  

367191  

W  

The cottages are located on an elevated site set back from the road on the W side of the A548, approximately 300m S of Llangernyw village centre.  

Domestic  

 

The two adjoining cottages were probably built in the mid-C19. One of the cottages, "Y Cwm", was the birthplace and childhood home of Sir Henry Jones CH (1852-1922) philosopher, educationalist and founder of the Glasgow Civic Society. Henry Jones was born in Llangernyw, son of the local village shoe maker. He was apprenticed to his father when 12 years old. Despite inadequate schooling and extreme poverty he qualified as a teacher and won a scholarship to study philosophy at Glasgow University, graduating in 1878. Following a distinguished academic career he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at Glasgow University in 1894. Profoundly interested in social affairs and an ardent liberal Henry Jones contributed significantly to educational reform in Wales. He was knighted in 1912. After his death in 1922 a fund was established to honour his memory. Its President was Ramsay MacDonald (then Prime Minister) and its vice president was David Lloyd George. In 1934 the fund purchased the cottages to create a permanent museum to commemorate Sir Henry. Lloyd George officiated at the opening cermony which was attended by more than 1000 people.  

A semi-detached reflected pair of two storey one up, one down vernacular cottages with symmetrical fenestration, gabled roof and single storey extensions at either end. Built of colour-washed local stone rubble with Welsh slate roof and gable chimney stacks with thin oversailing stone cappings. Front elevation facing E has two adjacent doorways in centre with cambered arches and wood plank doors flanked by 8/8 horizontal sliding sash windows with cambered heads and slate sills to ground floor and 6/6 windows under eaves to first floor. Single storey lean-to extension adjoining S gable, the shoe maker's workshop, has boarded door to E, chimney stack over SE quoin and 4-pane casement window in S elevation. Single storey extension to N gable has gabled slate roof, boarded door and horizontal sliding sash window to E, and adjoining gabled privy with slate roof to W. There are no openings in the W elevation of the cottages. Low wall of stone rubble with boulder coping approximately 5m E of and parallel with front elevation of cottages. The front gardens slope down from this wall to a rubble boundary wall. A stone recording the association of the cottages with Sir Henry Jones stands by the gateway.  

The two cottages are interconnected by a doorway in the party wall formed after 1934. Ground floor rooms have open joisted ceilings, plastered walls and splayed window embrasures, stone flagged floors and cast iron kitchen ranges. Lean-to extension to S has C19 fireplace in SE corner. Wooden stairs with stick balusters. First floor rooms have open rafter roofs, plastered walls and splayed window embrasures, boarded floors and C19 cast iron fireplaces.  

Listed for their historical importance as the birthplace of Sir Henry Jones and for the retention of their C19 construction and character as a pair of C19 vernacular cottages.