History

The original house to the right was a detached villa of c1830-40. Large school additions of 1895. The house became firstly Goward's School, and in 1895 the County Intermediate School, for which the extensions were built by William Husband of Tenby, plumber and builder, his plans amended by Ewan Christian or J H Christian architects to the Charity Commission. The house became the headmaster's house. The school moved in 1959, and the 1895 additions became the Public Library, the house being used as offices, in 2001 by the Community Education Centre.

Exterior

House, with additions for former County School.
Villa at right end of white painted stucco with slate deep eaved roofs. A chimney on the ridge has gone. Two storeys with basement. Small paned sash windows. Asymmetrical front of 4 bays, the right bay gabled with tiny attic sash, 12-pane first floor sash and 16-pane ground floor sash. To left, arched staircase window with radiating glazing bars over flat-roofed enclosed stuccoed porch with cornice and blocking course, possibly added. Plain square-headed doorway and window to each side wall. Two-window range to left of 12-pane sashes.
Right end wall of 2 bays with deep overhanging eaves. C20 plastic windows to first floor centre and ground floor right of centre. Large canted oriel window to ground floor right, also with plastic windows. 2-bay rear with plastic windows.
The additions for the school to the left are stuccoed and comprise a hipped 2-storey main block with a gabled centrepiece and a single-storey gable-ended hall block to left. Main part has 2 long windows each floor with plastic glazing. Two raised bands at upper level, one at eaves level of original villa, the other slightly higher at eaves level of added block, both broken by windows. Sunk panels below first floor sills. Band over ground floor windows from which labels drop. To left gable-ended block has 2 big cambered-headed windows with C20 glazing and blank roundel in gable.

Interior

Curious plan suggesting that the original entry was in the W end wall, where there is a window, but no sign of exterior stairs. Spine passage W-E with arches across and small dog-leg staircase off to N, stick balusters and turned slightly bulbous newels. Some surviving panelled doors and shutters principally in the rear SW room, which was possibly once open to the spine passage as there are two columns flanking entrance within, and present wall and door could be later. Panelled shutters to bay window and C19 fireplace with big console brackets. N rooms are small and have panelled shutters. One arch in spine passage has 2 small carved wood Jacobean style corbel figures. No interiors of note in later buildings.

Reasons for Listing

Included for the special interest of the late Georgian villa, to which the school buildings were added.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29485422

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)