History

Gentry house built c. 1800 for George Bonsall, died 1824, son of the noted mining entrpreneur Sir Thomas Bonsall of Fronfraith (died 1808). The present owner had seen letters written by Bonsall, who owned mines and had tea plantations in India, stating that his son had built 'a fine house in the Rheidol Valley'. The letters were dated between 1799 and 1804. In 1840 occupied by George Bonsall's brother-in-law, James Hughes, solicitor, who was instrumental in making the new main road from Llangurig through Goginan to Aberystwyth. Henry Bonsall, born at Glan Rheidol in 1862, wrote a record of the family, 1903. In 1873 the Landowners Return registers under Glanrheidol: James Hughes owning some 1300 acres, Thomas Bonsall with some 1800 acres and J. G. Bonsall with some 30 acres. A sale catalogue of 1903 exists in county archives.
The house was probably originally roughcast, but was already stone in photographs that show the roof low-pitched behind parapets with a nogged brick cornice, the current steep red-tiled eaves roof being a mid-C20 alteration.

Exterior

Country house of rubble stone with C20 hipped plain-tiled roof swept out at eaves, and with centre valley. This replaces original lower slated roofs with parapets. Red brick stacks, one on centre of W ridge, two on rear ridge and one behind N ridge. Two-storey, four window main elevations, roughly square plan. N entrance front has large hornless 12-pane sashes with brick heads and thin sandstone sills. The right window on each floor is a dummy. Broad arched doorway in third bay has red brick arch over ornate, large fanlight with radiating bars over double 3-panel doors with fielded panels between coupled timber fluted Roman Doric columns.
W and S garden fronts have similar upper sashes over four ground floor French windows with top lights over reeded transom. Margin panes to lights. Roof on S has two hips and valley between. Second window of first floor S is a dummy. Set-back lower 2-storey one-window addition to right with smaller 12-pane sash over sash window with coloured glass margins, slate sills. Rear has wing projecting to left with gable over 12-pane horned sash, side wall stack on right return. Centre has 12-pane sash over tripartite sash in lean-to and right has two-storeyed hipped porch addition with canted oriel over elliptical-arched doorway with flush-panelled 6-panel door and fanlight. Crude raised angle piers and string course.

Interior

The hall is lit by large fanlight above front door, stick-baluster staircase to the left of the front door. High ceilings downstairs, original folding wooden window shutters and panelled doors. Plaster cornice with bead-and-reel and festoons in one corner room. Kitchen at the rear of the house altered. Rear porch has 6-panel door into lean-to.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a late Georgian gentry house retaining good original detail.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29488540

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)