History

Dolobran Hall was the ancestral home of the Lloyd family from the C15. The family at Dolobran became Quakers in the C17 and were concerned in the Mathrafal and Dolobran forges as well as in setting up a coke furnace at Bersham (Wrexham), the latter leading to their bankruptcy in 1728. The Birmingham branch of the family took a pioneering role in the iron industry and in banking.

The house has a main entrance door on the east side in late C17 joinery, and panelling of similar date in the east room of the south wing. On the west side is a giant double chimney arching over another entrance, with Dutch parapets probably also of similar date.

Exterior

A large house in brick with slate roofs, the core of which is two ranges meeting in a T; the taller north/south range is of 2½ storeys and has two rear lateral chimneys. It is the main range and has been extended to the rear (west) as a two storey part with a catslide roof, and there is a central rear wing with a colossal chimney rising from two fireplaces. It straddles a two-storey recess incorporating an entrance. The east/west range which adjoins at the south side is a cross-wing of two storeys, and appears to be the only survivor of a pair of symmetrical wings. The brickwork, however, is of a lighter red colour than the main part of the house and it may not be contemporary.

The front (east) elevation of the main range is of three windows and symmetrical. The attic is blind. The brickwork is a version of Flemish bond and there is a slight eaves slope from north to south. Double-square 24-pane sash-windows, mostly renovated. Flat arches in brick rubbers, stone sills. At centre is an eight-panel door with large bolection mouldings to the panels and a prominently moulded architrave. The doorframe is pegged at the corners. Modern lightly constructed porch. To left the end of the cross-wing is blank but has mock-timber-framing on the gable.

The south elevation to the garden is of two windows, in similar brickwork with a plat band string course above the sill level of the upper windows. Similar sash windows in altered openings, that at bottom left blind. Cellar window to right with arched head. Modern windows in the rear flank of the main range to left.

The north elevation has a small attic casement window. Below the catslide extension the flank of which appears on this elevation there are small-pane windows above and below. Small modern lean-to porch.

The west elevation is dominated by the great chimney. There are also two brickwork chimneys (lateral to the original range) above the catslide. Within the arch of the great chimney is a modern door and an unequal-sash window of 12 panes above it. Small lean-tos at right and left. To the right is the end elevation of the cross-wing, with one modern window.

Interior

The notable interior is that of the front room of the south wing (the oak room), in wainscot of the late C17, complete including the fireplace surround and a panel door of the same period. The fireplace surround has a large roll moulding. The ceiling and beams are plain, and it is unclear whether or not carved or moulded work survives behind the modern finish.

Reasons for Listing

Listed at grade II* as a substantial remnant of a once fine house, retaining a remarkable rear chimney, with internal and external joinery of the William and Mary period, and for its association with the important Lloyd family.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17741174

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (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)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5