84122

 

II  

Designated  

28/02/2005  

28/02/2005  

Gate piers, gates and attached walls at N entrance to Doldowlod House  

 

Powys  

Nantmel  

 

Doldowlod  

299604  

262697  

SW  

Approximately 300m NW of the house.  

 

 

Doldowlod was purchased by the engineer James Watt of Soho, Birmingham, in 1803 and was developed as a country residence by his son James Watt junior (1769-1848) of Birmingham in the second quarter of the C19. The present house was built in the 1840s as an extension to an existing farmhouse, which was demolished when the house was extended in the 1870s. The gate piers and walls were built after James Watt Gibson-Watt (1831-91) inherited Doldowlod in 1874 and were probably designed by the architect of the house, Robert Mylne.  

Freestone panelled gate piers have broad pinnacles. The panels incorporate roundels with low-relief carvings of, on the L side, an elephant and, on the R side, a Pious Pelican and a key (said to be emblems of the Gibson and Watt families). The wooden gate has, on the R side, a similar pedestrian gate with lower panelled outer pier, and balustrade to balance the composition on the L side. The gateway is flanked by S-curve walls, comprising dwarf rock-faced walls, balustrade of quatrefoils in lozenges, and freestone coping and plain intermediate piers. Terminal piers are panelled.  

 

Listed for its special interest as well-detailed C19 gate piers and walls, and for its contribution to the overall historic character of Doldowlod.