Triley Court, Llantilio Pertholey (Llandeilo Bertholau), Monmouthshire

History

From the end of the C14 the manor of Triley had probably been in the ownership of the Morgan family of Llanfihangel Court and their predecessors. It was bought in 1800 by Sir Mark Wood who sold it in c.1820 to Frederick Samuel Secretan, a London merchant of The Paragon, Blackheath. Secretan built the house of Triley Court and called it Arcadia, most probably as a response to the siting of the house in a prominent picturesque landscape setting and the Georgian ideas of classically inspired naturalistic landscapes. Within the service buildings at Triley there is an inscribed stone with the initials 'FSS' and the date 1804 but it is not known if this relates to Secretan and the construction of Arcadia.

Secretan died in 1837 and in c1840 his descendants sold Triley to Mr John Neville Fielder and it is shown in a pencil sketch from c1872 as 'The residence of Mrs Fielder'. This sketch shows a square fronted 5-bay house with a central pedimented bay with porch and a further wing set back to the left.

It was purchased c.1880 by Thomas Phillips Price, a local landowner, mine owner and Liberal politician. Phillips Price served as MP for North Monmouthshire from 1885 to 1895 and was High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1882. He stood down as a MP at the 1895 election and moved to Essex, having sold Triley to Major Eugene Ayshford Sanford. It was auctioned on June 19th 1894 at the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny and was described as having:

'on the first floor eight excellent bed-chambers, dressing-room, two servants' rooms, a secondary staircase, three servants rooms; on the ground floor, entrance hall, inner hall, 37ft by 17ft, with folding doors, drawing room, 27ft by 17ft 6in; dining-room, 27ft by 17ft, with window opening to a charming conservatory paved with Minton tiles; library, 17ft 6in by 17ft; lavatory and cloak-room, servants' hall, complete domestic offices, and ample cellarage, all supplied with excellent water by gravitation; good stabling for five horses, with coach-houses, harness-room, granary, and lofts; coachman's cottage, bailiff's cottage, and farm buildings; gardener's cottage, two labourers' cottages, delightful pleasure grounds and terraces, adorned with...'.

It is probable that Philips Price had substantially extended the original house of Arcadia shortly after he purchased it in 1880, adding 3-bay wings to either side of the main double-pile and double-fronted house shown in the 1872 Fielder illustration, possibly re-fronting the earlier block with unifying brickwork. The rear elevation and roof structure shows this sequence of enlargement of the main house with a clear difference in the brickwork and construction of the central (early) and side (later) sections. The service wings and buildings also probably date to this period.

Major Sanford is recorded as being resident in 1901 and the stone door surround probably dates to his period of ownership. It later became a nursing home, and was auctioned twice again in 1973 and 1978. By this point the late C19 single pane sash windows of the Philips Price remodelling had been replaced with the current small pane sash windows and other alterations had also taken place. It eventually closed as a nursing home in late 2010 and has been vacant since

Exterior

Country House in Georgian style. 2-storey, 11-bay front with centre 5 bays advanced and pedimented. Further single bay set back to right and lower. Plain brick with plinth. Slate hipped roofs set behind parapet with dentil cornice (removed to left return elevation, after 1910) and replaced to centre with platband with regular incised geometric detailing. Brick stacks.

Projecting cills and segmental window heads. Horned small pane sash windows with hidden boxes. Semi-circular window with radial glazing to apex of pediment. First floor Venetian window in central bay, plain margin windows flanking round headed window with fluted pilasters, capitals and keystones. Stone door surround below, wide plain glazed double doors set in recessed Gibbs style surround with flanking engaged Tuscan columns, cornice and stringcourse. Dutch style pediment above, consoles with ball finials to either side, raised open scroll surround and central plain cartouche with resting bird above. All set on a double flight of bull-nosed steps.

Left side elevation of four bays, outer two offset to side and central pair grouped together. Formerly with end stack, now removed. Modern conservatory to ground floor. Rear elevation altered with varying fenestration, the original early C19 core has higher parapet and narrow pediment with semi-circular window. Flat roofed ground floor extension replacing a conservatory of the late C19 Philips Price phase. Right side elevation with single window. Long brick service range set back and attached to rear, of 3 storey but maintains roof height of the main house. Further to right and set back are the 2-storey stone coach-house and stable range, largely modernised but of special interest as service buildings to the main house.

Interior

The interior plan and detailing of the original house of Arcadia survives and the later extensions and alterations have largely retained this layout and character.

Outer hall to main house with 'CAVE CANEM' tiled floor in the style of that found at the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii. Staircase hall with fine quarter-turn stair against rear wall, turned paired balusters to each step, curled and ramped handrail, closed string and panelled. Chimney breast (fireplace removed but present in 1978) to left and wide arched entrance to inner hall, later subdivided into 2 rooms but retaining full classical surrounds to windows, fireplace and arched opening (blocked) to outer hall. To right of staircase hall, passage to later secondary stair and former library to front with fireplace. To left of staircase hall former drawing room (to front) and dining room (to rear) of Philips Price phase. Right hand range contains kitchen (with late C19 Eagle range) and other domestic offices and rooms, also of the Philips Price phase.

First floor largely retains original plan form but with alterations for later institutional use. Principal bedroom with pilaster framed cupboards flanking late Georgian style fireplace. Skirting boards, cornices, shutters, window surrounds, flooring and other features of interest survive throughout.

Reasons for Listing

The interior plan and detailing of the original house of Arcadia survives and the later extensions and alterations have largely retained this layout and character.

External Links

Cadwr Listing

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