History

Dated 1904 on the rainwater hoppers. Probably designed by Aston Webb, and built for Charles Stewart Rolls (1877-1910), co-founder of Rolls-Royce Ltd. in the same year; who used it for his experimental work in connection with his pioneering interests in motoring and and avaition. It has recently been converted for use as changing rooms (etc.) to the golf club, the exterior slightly altered and the interior remodelled .

Exterior

A building of low proportions designed in a simple Arts-and-Crafts style. Built of red brick with some close-studded detailing and slate roofs with some skylight glazing. It is trapeziform in plan, with a central yard covered by a shallow hipped roof and enclosed by single-storey gable-roofed main ranges on the N and W sides, a windowed screen wall on the E side, a low turreted block projected at the SE corner, and a flat-roofed diagonal entrance front linking that with the S gable of the W range. The entrance front is simple and symmetrical, with a full-height square opening in the centre now closed with a 6-panelled wooden screen which has a central doorway flanked by small 4-pane windows, a segmental-headed small-paned cross-window on either side, and a prominent moulded wooden cornice (which carries round the whole building) .The most distinctive features of the design are the turret to the right and the gable to the left, which are close-studded. The turreted block has a matching cross-window in its S wall and a low close-studded pyramid-roofed turret mimicking the belfry stage of certain local churches (e.g.St Bridget's, Skenfrith). Its E return wall has an extruded chimney stack topped by a pair of diagonal shafts, and a flat-roofed rear extension with another cross-window. To the left the gable-end of the W range has 2 rectangular windows with altered glazing flanking a bricked-up square opening (perhaps formerly a garage doorway); at each corner is a decorated rainwater hopper with the date 1904; and the gable is close-studded. On the ridge of the roof behind is a lantern-bellcote with small 3-light square latticed glazing in each side, and an octagonal arcaded bellcote with a domed roof surmounted by a weathervane finial. The W side of this range has had 4 large square windows, but the 2 towards the rear have been bricked up (a modern doorway breaking into one of them) and the others have altered glazing. A small flat-roofed porch is at the rear corner and above this is the close-studded gable-end of the N range. On the E side of the building the W gable of the N range is likewise close-studded, and below this is a large transomed 4-light window with small-paned glazing. To the left is another dated rainwater hopper, and left of that the screen wall has 4 tall segmental-headed French windows, the first now with a modern glazed door but the others with small-paned glazing and overlights.

Interior

Remodelled.

Reasons for Listing

Listed both for the quality of its design and for its historical associations with the origins of Rolls-Royce Ltd.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29502023

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.

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