History

C17 gentry house, possibly with earlier origins. Part of the Llanarth estate until recent years and used as the house for the Roman Catholic priest in charge of the church at Llanarth Court. The Rev Edward Jones of The Pitt, d 1799, priest in charge for 23 years is buried at Llanarth church. Marked on 1843 tithe map as the Great Pit House, owned by the Llanarth estate, occupied by the Rev. Samuel Fisher.

Exterior

House, rubble stone with stone tiled roof and brick stacks. Two storeys and attic, with large 4-shaft ridge stack and small end stacks. S front has projecting 2-storey gabled porch right of centre between 2 unequal eaves gables. Porch has curious rounded piers each side of entry, with raised rings at necks and at plinth level. Big timber lintel above, altered. First floor timber small-paned 2-light window with arched heads to lights, and stone hoodmould. Plastered interior to porch with framed boarded door.
Two-window range to left, all windows with stone hoodmoulds. Ground floor small 6-pane sash left and small-paned horizontally-sliding pair right, first floor pair of large timber cross-windows, and in stone gable over the right, a small casement pair.
Two-window range to right has gable central with attic casement pair and hoodmould, two first floor cross-windows with dripmoulds and ground floor triple casement and casement pair, with continuous dripcourse over.
Roughcast W end wall with external chimneybreast.
N front has stone gable to left with gable cross-window and dripstone. Shallow-gabled 2-storey projection below with first floor cross-window, and ground floor casement pair, both with sloping plank drips over. To left, a blocked door and cross-window with drip, and small single light to first floor extreme left, with hoodmould. To right of projection, a cross-window with dripstone. Right of gable is a three-window range, one-window left of ridge stack, two-window beyond. To left, a small window each floor with hoodmould, pair above, single below. To right, 2-window range with triple casement and pair above, iron opening lights, possibly C18. Large modern casement pair and small casement pair below, the smaller window not aligned, all with hoodmoulds over timber lintels.
E end as small single storey addition with E stack, slate roof, two N side windows and door in W end, which overlaps N front.

Interior

Interior not available for inspection, said to have been modernised internally c1950. Some fielded panelled shutters. Said to contain priests hiding place, and to have had a circular stair c1950. Fox and Raglan mention a two-room plan and scroll stops to beams.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a well-preserved larger C17 gentry house with important history, being used as the Priest's house for the early Catholic cause at Llanarth.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29482159

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)