History

The main part of the house, comprising hall and parlour range with rear kitchen, was built in the late C17. The house was remodelled c1715-20 when the parlour end was reconstructed and the floor above it raised, and the main range was extended to the right of the hall. Elevational detail also dates from this time: thus the house now owes much of its character to this period. Further additions were made to the rear of the house in the late C18 (the S rear wing housing the dining room and servants loft), and a wing added to the left (S) end of the parlour in the late C19-early C20. Although the architect for this C20 work is not known, it is in a style reminiscent of the work of Clough Williams Ellis. Dinam was a township, first referred to in documents in the last will and testament of Owen ap Hugh ap Richard of Dynham in Llangaffo, 1624. The house passed down through the Williams' family to Catherine, who married John Pritchard in 1751. John is thought to have been responsible for the growth in fortune of the Dinam estate, consolidated by the acquisition of Myfyrian Isaf in 1762. He was an attorney and closely linked with the Meyrick family of Bodorgan. The Pritchard family also owned Llanddwyn island as well as property in Llangaffo; and the estate was passed down through the family until the last of the line, Rev Hugh Pritchard, died in 1907.

Exterior

Principal elevation to E comprises long range (early C18 remodelling of an earlier plan) comprising 2-window range with slightly offset entrance to the right, and advanced gabled wing to the left. Left of this wing is a full-height, single-storey, 3-window range added c1900. There is a paired, gabled wing set at right angles to the rear of the main range (a late C18 addition) with modern additions to its N side and stone steps leading up to servants quarters at the W gable of the S wing. Built of rubble masonry; main part and S rear wing with rendered elevations, N rear wing N wall painted, N and S wing gable walls bare. Main part has rendered dressings to front, the S end window with a slate surround. Slate roof, main part hipped, wings gabled, all with tiled ridges and tall square stone stacks with moulded caps. The E elevation of the main range (the earliest part of the house) has slightly recessed, 12-pane, hornless sash windows with thick glazing bars and eared and shouldered architraves. The entrance is through a square-headed panelled door offset slightly to the left with a semi-circular canopycarried on carved brackets, and the advanced wing has 2x 12-pane sash windows in moulded architraves on each floor, and a circular light with glazing bars set into the gable apex. The C20 3-window wing beyond has tall, small-paned casement windows with rendered surrounds, slate sills and moulded slate architrave hoods. Its S gable return has a round-headed French window with a surround formed by small sawn slates following the arch and giving an imitation keystone. To the rear of the house the added wings were modernised in the early C20 and some of the windows were enlarged; the S wall has 1,2 and 3-light, small-paned casement windows with wooden mullions, the N wall has 3 and 4 light casements to the first floor, with older 3 light casements on the ground floor and raking dormer to the E end with slate hung cheeks and 2 paired casement windows. At the E end of the N wall is an advanced, paired gable block with lean-to addition further advanced to N. Entrance is through a square-headed doorway with rendered surround, jambs with full-height recessed panels. There is another doorway to the W end of the N wall (to the kitchen), the doorway and window to W with segmental brick heads. At the far W end of the N wall is a modern, single-storey extension.

Interior

The house is planned with principal rooms to the front (E) and service rooms to the rear (W). Entrance leads into former hall with parlour (Pine room) to left (S), the added wing at S end housing the drawing room. The wings to the rear have the kitchen in the N wing and dining room in the S (nursery and servants quarters housed in the first floor rooms). The main hall is open to the roof (the first floor having been removed) and has a first floor balcony to the rear and main, dog-leg, staircase with turned balusters and shaped brackets on a cut string, also to the rear. The Parlour (the Pine room) has fielded panelling, panelled reveals and shutters, a moulded rail, dentilled cornice, and cupboard with shaped shelves and half-dome in the rear wall. Many of the rooms have original 6-panel doors, some with chamfered beams; the chamfers employing a variety of different stops including run out stops, and multiple notched/ogee stops. The roof has original rough-hewn and pegged A-frame trusses, some with carpenters marks of Roman numerals.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as an unusually well-detailed C18 gentry house retaining considerable character in external detail and surviving interior fittings. The house is of additional interest for the high quality addition and remodelling work carried out in the early C20 in a style reminiscent of the work of Clough Williams-Ellis. It forms the nucleus of a group of associated buildings.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17742695

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)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings