3654

 

II  

Designated  

03/03/1966  

07/03/2000  

The Old Rectory  

 

Gwynedd  

Aber  

Llanfairfechan  

Abergwyngregyn  

265425  

372621  

 

Set back from the road in extensive lawned grounds with driveway directly east of St Bodfan's Church.  

Domestic  

 

Early C17 rectory (there was a house here by the 1630s, represented in the present building by the cross-wing on the south side) substantially extended and remodelled in Gothick style by the Penrhyn Estate in c1840, one of the first buildings in Abergwyngregyn to be treated in this way as part of its recasting as "Picturesque" village en route to the increasingly popular tourist destination of Aber Falls. The building is now a private house.  

Large, sprawling 2-storey former rectory, much of it in Gothick style, the earliest part the gabled cross-wing on the south, most of the remainder, including the L-shaped service wing (the eastern range of which is in fact a continuation of the cross-wing) being a later addition. Rendered rubblestone; slate roofs, some with overhanging verges. Main entrance on west in long asymmetrical 3-bay range, possibly also of early origin, has three 4-paned sashes directly below eaves and another of larger proportions with dripstone to ground floor right; timber mullioned and transomed window, also with dripstone and trefoil-headed tracery to upper lights, on ground floor left; porch to offset centre bay has very shallow hipped slate roof and 4 fluted pilasters to front flanking half-glazed double doors; glazed inner door; rendered integral end stack to left and ridge stack to right (near junction with cross-wing) have elaborately decorated circular brick shafts with moulded plinths and capping, 2 on end stack, 3 to ridge stack. Left gable end has 2 symmetrically spaced mullioned windows on first floor and 2 tall mullioned and transomed windows below, all with trefoil-headed tracery to upper lights and dripstones. Cross-wing to right (south) has 4-paned sash on first floor of gable and 2-light casement window on ground floor of left return in angle with long range; right return has slight projection from eaves with 3 sash windows on first floor and horizontal sliding sash to left and tripartite sash window to right of C20 French window on ground floor. Slightly recessed wing at right-angles to rear of long range has 2 almost full-height mullioned and transomed windows to north wall detailed like those in long range; integral end stack to left with paired octagonal shafts. Service ranges on south and east sides of house have mixture of original sashes (4-paned and 12-paned) on first floor and mainly altered openings with C20 windows on ground floor; plain ridge and end stacks.  

Principal ground floor of cross-wing has 2 substantial cross-beams with infilled inglenook fireplace to one wall and close-studded timber-framed wall opposite; formerly had stone flag floor removed in 1960s. Main range has hall with Gothick staircase rising off it; quatrefoil decoration to string, turned balusters and carved newels; elaborately boxed ceiling beam. Dining room in range with tall mullioned and transomed windows has cornice to high ceiling; 4- and 6-panel doors and panelled window shutters throughout.  

Included as a large and essentially unaltered mid-C19 rectory in Gothick style, retaining substantial elements of an earlier building with C17 origins.