Trewyn House, Crucorney (Crucornau Fawr), Monmouthshire

History

A manor house rebuilt by the Delahaye family in 1692. This area was Herefordshire at the time the house was built. There is a survey of 1726 which shows the buildings and grounds at that time. The house belonged to the Shaw family by the mid-C18. The rough rubble walls suggest that the house would have been rendered; at some stage in the late C18 it was fronted with Portland stone ashlar and given all sash windows (the garden elevation had a Venetian window on the ground floor). The owner was Jeremiah Rosher from 1772. The house was again altered by the Roshers in the 1840's and the 1870's, there is said to be a fireplace dated 1871. The 1870's work may have been designed by the family architect Isobel Bernadette Rosher who worked on the estate at that time. There were further changes in c1900 of an Arts and Crafts character, especially the new entrance door and staircase within. At this time it was changed back to a 1692 appearance with all new windows and the ashlar removed. The current owner has restored the house in 1990-5 and has strengthened the 1692 appearance with new dormers, cross-framed casements etc.

Exterior

Roughly coursed red sandstone rubble with Welsh slate and stone tile roofs. It is built on a high terrace to give it a level site on the steeply falling land, Welsh slate to inner slopes and east wing. Two storeys and attics; an E plan with the wings at the rear, the centre one being the staircase, the bottom one along the road projecting further than the top.
Main elevation : This is seven windows wide with the centre three set closer together than the others. All windows are cross-framed mullion-and-transom with a continuous dripmould over each floor. They are timber casements with leaded lights, all are replacements, probably c1900 (see History). Central door with six panes over two panels in a classical surround, this is probably C20. Heavy timber modillion cornice which is in character but is said to be a modern addition. Hipped roof with three gabled dormers with 4-pane casements with Y-tracery, these are mid/late C19 alterations, but they have lost their decorative bargeboards. Chimneys in the angles of the rear wings, ie. on the rear wall of the front block.
Garden elevation to left : This has undergone considerable change since the mid C19. Five bay front with windows set unevenly, with both heads and cills at different levels (see History). Central doorway in classical surround with part glazed door reached up steps. This is an alteration of the 1990's. The windows are cross framed casements as before, but again all are reproduction. Modillion cornice as before, hipped roof with three gabled dormers of c1700 type with cross framed casements, these have been added in the1990's. Left end elevation of this wing has a cross framed casement on the first floor and a 3-light one above, small casement above. Tall rendered stack external to the building and possibly a Victorian alteration, the modillion cornice ends against it. Hipped roof.
Road elevation to right : The 1692 build forms only one bay of this front, gabled with modillion cornice, string at first floor level. This gable end is blind with the only feature a late C19 doorway with cambered arch head with flanking 1 over 1 sash windows with similar heads, these are all individually recessed into the battered red sandstone wall. The rest of the elevation is cement rendered and dates from c1870 and was built to give the house improved kitchens and other services. Three recessed arches on the ground floor, which is the lower ground level of the house. Five windows on the first floor, four on the second, casements of varying sizes, some cross framed. External stack on brackets for the second floor, further stack within roof to left.
Rear elevation : This shows gables to each of the wings, to the stair tower and a pyramid roof to the granary extension. The left wing has a cross framed casement with a 3-light one above. The stair tower is hidden by the glazed roof of the now enclosed courtyard with back door beneath. The granary, probably added in the late C19, is timber framed with rendered infill panels, two tall by three square, Welsh slate roof. This structure is raised to first floor level over a rubble ground floor, lean-to extension to right.

Interior

The interior has seen considerable changes and many of the surviving features are not in the rooms they began in while others have been introduced. The Oak Room for instance has apparently early C18 raised and fielded panelling and a Regency marble fireplace. The entrance hall is stone paved, has an introduced early C18 fireplace, and opens onto an altered staircase with the bottom flight added to give access to the new doorway off the road added in c1900. The central courtyard was roofed in the 1870's. Corridors were introduced on the first floor to improve circulation in the larger house of the late C19, the attic rooms have been changed with the added dormers. There has also been considerable redecoration and improvement in the1990's. Despite this many of the rooms are of good quality and retain their early C18 character although the features are not necessarily original. There is a vaulted cider cellar under the 1870's wing.

Reasons for Listing

Graded II* as a late C17 manorial house which retains much of its historic character.

External Links

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