History

Substantial former coaching-inn, rebuilt c1839-40 for the Lloyds of Danyrallt, on the site of and possibly incorporating parts of an earlier building. A detached datestone marked HRLL 1839 has been found and one JWLL1840 is reset in an adjacent wall to S. A scratched date of 1773 on a stone by a doorway on the rear wing may be reset, but rear wall of main house shows signs of being of various periods, rear lateral stack may be an indicator of an early building, and basement has heavy beams. In 1832 Danyrallt Map Book a T-shaped building is shown, the crosswing to the S, but 1839 Tithe Map shows plan as at present, then owned by J W Lloyd of Danyrallt, occupied by John Roderick. There is a suggestion that the inn was built re-using parts from Danyrallt mansion, demolished in 1840, but only the two Lloyd family crests look re-used.

Exterior

Inn, cut hammer-dressed coursed grey limestone with slate roofs and flat eaves on small stone corbels. Tudor style. Two storeys, two sections, the right section 3-window with large rendered end stacks; the left section two-bay with through arch to yard.
Right section is offset to left, has raised plinth and cut stone quoins to right corner, which is chamfered at ground floor level. 6-pane late C19 sashes with the side panes narrow, the openings with slightly pointed heads, stone voussoirs, stone sills and stone hoodmoulds. Centre Tudor-arched doorway with slate step, stone voussoirs and Tudor arched hoodmould. Double panelled door with blind Y-tracery to overlight. Ground floor right window replaced by canted hipped bay window, broader hoodmould over. Hoodmoulds of first floor centre and both floors right are of squared stone, whereas those to door and all openings to left are made up of small stones to a stepped profile. Mounting block of 3 steps to right of door. S end wall of rubble stone with opening each floor to right.
Left section appears to be added (straight joint) but is probably contemporary, and matching. Right bay has one-window range to match, but with basement window and hoodmould instead of plinth. Left bay (throughway to yard) is fine example of stonework as it is recessed with flanking walls curved in, but arch head and floor above step outwards giving a different junction with curve at each level. Ground floor has full quadrant curve to jambs of through-arch. Lloyd family crest on painted plaque each side, lion to left, wolf with spear in paw to right, possibly C17 or C18. Arch head, set back from main wall-face, is broad Tudor arch carried on big corbels. Cut stone voussoirs, and Tudor-arched hoodmould (of small stones). Upper level is corbelled out on stone corbels at level of window sill, but wall-face still just in from main wall-face. Above corbel table is flat-headed 4-light window with small-paned Tudor-arched timber horizontally sliding lights, with stone voussoirs and hoodmould.
Left end wall projects beyond the Great House and has one small first floor window. Within arch each side are blank large recesses with stone voussoirs into which doors (now lost) opened. Present ground level apparently much raised as lower gate pintle is 18 inches below surface.
Rear wall has varied stonework, boulder stones at first floor, possibly indicating incorporation of an older building, and no division between the two halves. 3 dormers, rendered large wall-face (lateral) stack to left. First floor 2-light mullion-and-transom timber window with small panes to left, then blank wall, then 3-light timber mullion window over through arch and small light to right with slab lintel. Ground floor has through arch to right, similar Tudor arch on corbels over rounded jambs. Door to right. Two-light window to left of arch, then modern flat-roofed addition in angle to SE rear wing. Stone voussoirs to slightly pointed heads, and stone sills.
Low lofted SE wing obscured partly by modern addition. N side ground floor window, two doors, and triple-casement within C20 glazed passage. 1773 date scratched to right of one door. Triple casement to first floor right.

Interior

Three-room plan. Slate-flagged entrance passage, 6-panel door to S end room which has one beam and plain plastered cambered-headed fireplace. Heavy oak lintel over bay window. Reception (or former servery) canted bay window into passage with sliding small-paned window. Dog-leg stair at back with oak octagonal newel and thin octagonal balusters. Rear corridor behind long second room, which was originally two rooms. Basement room at N end, 4 axial beams, one reused with channel for partition. Recesses each side with slate shelves.
First floor similar rear corridor, Tudor-arched vault behind chimney, similar stair detail to attic stairs. Four rooms to first floor, one over arch. Third room has rear-wall fireplace with clustered Gothic shafts, earlier C19. Attic has big tie-beam-and-collar trusses, bolted with wrought-iron staples. Triple purlins.
Inside oddly shaped triangular space between through-arch and Great House to N are blocked arches on party wall with stone voussoirs, one broad arch and door. Similar voussoirs of arch to floor above.
Rear wing junction with main range indicative of complex building history, as quoins of rear range appear to intrude into front range. Oak door through to 2-room rear wing which has narrow oak stair, oak beam and joists. Loft has one C19 bolted roof truss.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a handsome earlier C19 neo-Tudor style inn with good stonework detail, of a scale and quality exceptional in the region. It may include parts of an earlier structure and retains most of its interior layout. The dominant building in an unusually good group of buildings on an urban scale.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17742819

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)