9622

 

II  

Designated  

25/09/1986  

25/09/1986  

Fen Hill, The Butts  

 

Carmarthenshire  

Laugharne Township  

 

 

229950  

210834  

 

Built into the hillside with views over the lower town to SE, reached by steep curved drive entered between rubble gate piers and iron gates.  

Domestic  

 

Historically one of the sites from which Laugharne Castle may have been bombarded in the October/November 1644 Parliamentarian siege. Built 1827 to 1830 by Dennis Fairchild, an amateur artist; extension to SW end dated 1865. Later said to have become the home of a Moravian Bishop, a denomination that had a relatively large following in this area.  

Regency 2-storey stucco fronts with plinths to double-pile structure; U-plan similar to Parson’s Lodge and Mapsland. Hipped slate roofs with gabled extension to left and brick chimney stacks. 3-window main front with left bay set back; recessed 12-pane sash windows, french windows to ground floor with diamond glazed fanlights; similar timber detail to trellised verandah. 2-window entrance front to left dated 1865 to gable; similar windows, pitched roof modern porch to arched doorway. Original rear range set back to left with similar detail. Blind rubble end wall of cross range set back to right with lean-to at NE end.  

The house retains an unusual water system with basement collecting rain water to be pumped up.