History

The present house is the result of a re-modelling of 1825 by Charles James Mathews a little known pupil of A C Pugin and for a time worked in John Nash's London office. It is Mathews only known work. It is known that there was an earlier house on the site and a date-stone of 1702 is incorporated in the main NW elevation of the Hall, at ground level. The estate was owned by the Lloyd family in the eighteenth century and it is probable that the family was responsible for an early C18 structure which appears to have been modified in the late C18. By the turn of the C19 the house was the property of Colonel Wardell and at some time in the early decades of the C19 the house became half ruined. A sale catalogue of 1819 describes Hartsheath as newly built and the parts of the masonry style are reminiscent of Thomas Harrison's design for the Shire Hall at Chester. Mathews was employed by the Welsh Iron and Coal Mining Company to survey the building and to enlarge and adapt the structure to form a residence for the company's Director. It is probably that Mathews adapted some of the previous structure into a service wing and built new polite/reception rooms. £5,000 was spent on the building works and largely as a result of this large financial expenditure the Company failed. It appears that although Mathews was responsible for the new building work some of the internal decoration, especially that in the Drawing Room was carried out after he left. The house was bought by the Jones family in 1829. The Hall was requisitioned during the war and used as a drawing office by cartographers preparing for the Normandy landings.

Exterior

Rock-faced stone Neo-Classical house of 2 storeys with cellars. Main wing has NW elevation of 5 bays, rusticated stone stringcourses at ground floor voussoir and first floor cill levels. Dentil eaves cornice and blocking course, hipped slate roof. Ground floor windows 18-pane sash windows those to upper storey 12-pane sash windows. Tetrastyle Doric porch, originally open, with inserted late C19 glazing; half-glazed panelled doors and overlight in rear wall. To NE an ashlar 2 bay receded link leads to a 3 bay projecting wing which contains the services. SE elevation, 3 bay link with centre French casement with margin lights leads to 1 bay projecting wing at NE and 5- window elevation at right hand of main block.

Interior

Entrance Hall with moulded cornice, later C19 black marble fireplace. 6-panelled early C19 doors with Regency oak architraves, wooden boarded floor. Drawing Room retains restored tromp d'oeil painted panels with corner pineapple motifs. The style of the painted panels is highly unusual and is a striking contrast to the restrained neo-Classicism of the rest of the room. White marble fireplace with anthemion motif supplied by Liverpool firm. The room contains several examples of graffiti giving the various dates of redecoration and wallpapering. Dining Room contains similar white marble fireplace with anthemion motif again supplied by Liverpool firm. Smaller drawing room contains original early C19 Neo-Classical cornice but later 1840s fireplace. Staircase Hall; wooden staircase with scrolled string and straight balusters. A solid slate staircase similar to that of Penrhyn Castle had originally been planned. Square ceiling of Staircase Hall is pierced by circular glazed domed toplight. Service area contains former Servants Hall, Butler's Pantry and former Kitchen with late C19 Cambrian cast-iron range. Bedrooms very plain with only limited sections of cornice, one room contains extremely fine imported Rococo wooden fireplace. Cellars under main house only, stone with brick barrel vaulted ceilings, stone flags throughout.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as an exceptionally well preserved Neo-Classical small country house with earlier origins.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Hartsheath Hall official website
• Wikidata Q17743201

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)