Architecture of Wales

Tower houses and first floor halls

The distribution of tower houses in Wales has been discussed by both Hilling and Smith. Welsh tower houses, most of them built during the 14th and 15th centuries, were rectangular structures, consisting of two or more storeys, and are closely related to those in Ireland and Scotland. In 1976 Hilling produced a map (with listing) showing 17 examples. ^[4] Further houses have been added by Suggett and it is possible that new examples will be recognised as being incorporated into existing buildings, as at Sandyhaven House in Pembrokeshire. ^[5]

A further example is likely to be the prominent East Gate tower of Powis Castle. The East Gate appears to have been a tower house, which had an entrance made through the vaulted undercroft, probably in the 17th century. An extra storey was added to the tower in 1815–1818 when Sir Robert Smirke re-fenestrated the castle and added Gothic Revival battlements. ^[6] Also on the Welsh border, close to Welshpool is Wattlesburgh. Many of the English tower houses, such as Tattershall Castle or Buckden Palace are slightly later and larger than the Welsh examples, and built of brick.

Apart from tower houses, there are a number of stone-built first floor hall buildings, where the hall is mounted over an undercroft. These include Owain Glyndŵr's Parliament House in Machynlleth. Most examples are found in southern Wales with a cluster of buildings in Pembrokeshire. The distribution of Tower and other houses in Wales with vaulted ceilings have been mapped and listed by Peter Smith. ^[7]

They also occur as early merchant's houses in Haverfordwest, Pembroke and Tenby. In some cases the hall is accessed by an outer stair, as is the case at Pentre Ifan Barn at Nevern in Pembrokeshire. ^[8] Another example is Eastington at Rhoscrowther, Pembrokeshire, which has been called a tower house, but is more correctly a first floor hall house, with an outside stair and crenulations with a side tower. ^[9] Eastington belonged to the Perrot family in the 15th century. There is a further complex of Medieval stone houses at East Orchard, St Athan, in Glamorgan which belonged to the de Berkerolles family in the 14th century. The group of buildings includes a first floor hall house with an outside chimney, which also had a separate kitchen block. ^[10]

Early stone buildings and transition from castles

From the later part of the 15th century, some of the Welsh castles underwent a transformation into grand houses. Some of these such as Chirk Castle and Powis Castle have remained as houses, but others such as Raglan Castle in Monmouthshire and Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire are ruins which can provide some idea of their grandeur. At Carew Sir Rhys ap Thomas from about 1480 onwards undertook a grand re-modelling including an almost entire re-fenestration with straight headed windows. This was continued after 1558 by Sir John Perrot, who replaced the north range with a splendid frontage with a long gallery at the second floor level in the fashion of Robert Smythson. ^[11]

An even more impressive residence on a palatial scale was Raglan Castle. The earliest building is the freestanding hexagonal great tower, which is surrounded by a moat. It was probably built by Sir William ap Thomas before 1445. It would have served the function of a strongly defended tower house. This was followed in 1461–1469 by the enlargement of the castle by Sir William Herbert with a gatehouse to the NE and to the SW a range of sumptuously decorated state apartments. Further apartment ranges were built around the SW court. The two sets of apartments were approached by an impressive main staircase. From about 1549 to 1559 these buildings were extended, by William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester, particularly around the "Pitched Stone" Court and also with the long gallery with its elaborately decorated Renaissance fireplaces. The slighting of the castle in the English Civil War and its subsequent partial demolition make it hard to appreciate Raglan as one of the major domestic buildings of Wales. ^[12]

Another early house connected with the Herbert family was Tretower Court in Breconshire. It was here that William Herbert settled his stepbrother Roger Vaughan who built a house, which was to develop around a courtyard and continued being added to until the 17th century. Recently the arched braced truss roof of the great hall has been dated by Dendrochronology to c. 1455. ^[13]

Dendrochronology and the dating of Welsh houses

Since the 1990s the availability of dates provided by tree-ring dating or dendrochronology has revolutionised the study of early buildings in Wales and is particularly relevant for timber-framed buildings. The earliest tree ring date associated with a building in Wales is a date commissioned by Cadw for a door at Chepstow Castle which was made from wood felled between 1159 and 1189. ^[15]

A complete listing of tree ring dates for Wales is maintained by the Vernacular Architecture Group ^[16] at the Archaeological Dataservice ^[17] and slightly over 200 samples have been taken, though not all have provided positive results. The scheme has largely been sponsored by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales in conjunction with the Dating Welsh Houses Group (DOWG). ^[18] The greatest number of dates are available from Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire and Denbighshire, areas which have some of the greatest concentrations of timber-framed houses. Other early dates are c. 1250 for timbers from the Chapter House at Brecon Cathedral and 1386 for the bell frame in Tower of St David's Cathedral. The earliest domestic building to be dated by dendrochronology is Hafodygarreg at Erwood, in Breconshire of 1402. ^[19] Many dates have been obtained for buildings after this, possibly suggesting that there was a great re-building in Wales after the devastation caused by Owain Glyndŵr's uprising. The evidence of dendrochronology clearly shows that in the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries, hall houses were the standard plan for domestic buildings. The great majority of timber-framed houses were built with cruck trusses, while a few higher-status houses were constructed with aisled trusses. Change came in the mid-16th century when houses became two or more storeyed. Regional forms of houses evolved and some are now stone-built. The earliest stone-built "Snowdonia House", with an upper storey, is Tyn Llan at Gwyddelwern, which has been shown by dendrochronology to date from 1519 to 1537. ^[20]

North Wales

Neoclassical architecture came to north Wales mainly as a result of the influence of Samuel Wyatt. Wyatt had worked for Robert Adam, the leading Neoclassical architect when he became the clerk of Works at Kedleston Hall in 1759. Between 1776 and 1779 he remodelled Baron Hill at Beaumaris on Anglesey for Viscount Bulkely, while his brother became estate manager for the Pennants at Penrhyn. Howard Colvin remarks that Wyatt specialised in the designing of medium-sized country houses in an elegant and restrained neo-classical manner. Characteristic features of his houses were astylar elevations with prominent bowed projections which were domed and were either single or in pairs. His windows were often tripartite and overarched. ^[141] He rarely deviated from the neo-classical, though he did a gothic revival building at Penrhyn Castle which was replaced by Hopper's Neo-Romanesque Castle. At Kinmel Park near St Asaph, around 1790, he built a stylish house for the Rev Edward Hughes, who derived great wealth from the development of the Parys Copper mines on Anglesey. This house had a bowed front and panels with classical swags, possibly of Coade stone. It was burnt down in 1841, but fortunately it was recorded in a watercolour by John Ingleby in 1794. ^[142] A further house in this style was the Old Bishop's Palace in St Asaph which was probably by Samuel Wyatt, ^[143] while at Brynbella in Tremeirchion a London surveyor, Clement Mead built Brynbella, for Dr Johnson's friend Mrs Thrale. Bryn Bella was built between 1792 and 1795 with an ashlar facade and double bays and wings with pediments on either side. ^[144]

South Wales

In south Wales Neo-classicism was introduced by the Gloucestershire architect Anthony Keck and by William Jernegan, an architect who established a practice at Swansea. Keck who worked from Kings Stanley Gloucestershire may have worked with Sir Robert Taylor who would have introduced him to clients in Wales. He built a bow fronted house for Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1813) adjacent to Penrice Castle in Glamorgan in 1773–1780. ^[145] This building, though earlier than Samuel Wyatt's work in north Wales, lacks features such as the overarched windows. However, the Orangery he also built for Thomas Mansel Talbot at Margam Abbey from 1787 to 1790, exhibits a much more refined appreciation of Neo-classicism and may well be considered the best example of this architectural style in Wales. It is the largest Orangery in the British Isles of 17 continuous bays with vermiculated rustication to the more formal swags and arched windows. ^[146]

A house of considerable importance was Piercefield between Chepstow and St Arvans. Originally known for its gardens laid out by Valentine Morris, it was rebuilt in 1793 to plans prepared by Sir John Soane which were to be modified by Joseph Bonomi. It still retained a Palladian appearance with a massive central block and side pavilions. The side pavilions and curved colonnade of Tuscan columns were the additions made by Bononi after 1795. The house to-day is in a ruinous state. ^[147]

Greek revival architecture

A house which bridged the gap between late Palladian forms and Neo-classism was Middleton Hall in Carmarthenshire, built for Sir William Paxton to the designs of S p. Cockerell between 1793 and 1795. ^[148] The giant portico supported by five Ionic Columns was a theme which was to prove popular with architects working in Wales in the following century. The over-arched windows are Palladian derived and were used by Sir Robert Taylor for Carmarthen Town Hall. Cockerell had served his pupillage under Sir Robert Taylor, as had also John Nash and these windows are also seen on Nash's Villa type houses in Wales, as at Llanerchaeron. Middleton Hall was burnt down in 1931, and its gardens, are now the site of the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Cockerell was also responsible for the design of the nearby Paxton's Tower, a Gothic folly built in 1805 in commemoration of Lord Nelson. 1n 1810 Cockerell was responsible to Sir William Paxton for building the sea water Baths and Assembly Rooms at Tenby. Over the enclosed bow porch is a Greek inscription taken from Euripides "The sea washes away all the ills of men." ^[149]

A Chester architect showing considerable competence in classical revival architecture was Joseph Turner who worked extensively in Flintshire and Denbighshire. Apart Ruthin and Flint gaols, he was responsible for the County Hall at Ruthin, which served as a courthouse. It has an ashlar facade with a tetrastyle pedimented portico with Greek Doric capitals and the courtroom has Venetian windows on either side ^[150] The use Greek revival Ionic Columns under a tetrastyle portico occurs again at Llanphey Court in Pembrokeshire which was completed in 1823 by Charles Fowler who was also the architect for the Covent Garden Market in London. ^[151]

An architect who worked very competently in the Classical style was George Vaughan Maddox (1802–1864), a Monmouth architect whose work is restricted to Monmouth and the area immediately around. Maddox has been noted above as the architect for New Market in Monmouth which opened in 1837. This was part of a new street which was built on arches overlooking the river Monnow, which now forms a handsome entrance to the town from the North. ^[152]

Developed Classicism

This is comparatively well represented in Wales. As a style it is more severe and modeled more closely on Greek Architecture. ^[153] Thomas Harrison of Chester was a leading exponent of the style and in Anglesey was responsible for the Holyhead Memorial and the Marquess of Anglesey's Column in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey in 1816–1817, to commemorate the feats of Marquess of Anglesey in the Napoleonic Wars. ^[154]

Harpton Court, near New Radnor is a further example of a house remodelled in a Classical revival style around 1840. It was built in 1750 for the Lewis family and was later modified by John Nash. ^[155] It was then remodelled on the south front by an unknown architect in stone with nine bays, with the three central bays broken forward with pilasters and surmounted with a pediment. The house was sold in 1953 and partially demolished in 1956. ^[156]

Public buildings

The Greek revival style was chosen for many public buildings in Wales. Swansea Museum of 1839–1841, originally the Royal Institution of South Wales is a finely detailed and well balanced example with a three bay portico supported on Ionic columns. It is faced in Bath ashlar stone. It was built to designs by Frederick Long, a Liverpool architect. ^[157]

A rather later use of Greek revival is the Shire Hall at Caernarfon of almost oversized proportions and facing Caernarfon Castle. It was built 1867–1869 by the County Surveyor, John Thomas. It is of seven bays with a central doric portico with a pediment surmounted with the blindfold figure of justice ^[158] Other work in the Greek Revival style in Wales includes Brecon Shire Hall (now Brecon Museum) by Thomas Henry Wyatt and Bridgend Town Hall by David Vaughan. Bridgend Town, a tragic loss, demolished as recently as 1971, was built in the style of a Greek temple with Doric columns supporting the portico in antis. ^[159]

An early and unusual combination of Grecian and Italianate architecture is Swansea Old Town Hall. It is described by Newman as "the noblest classical building in Swansea ......a grandiose Corinthian Palazzo." It was built to designs by Thomas Taylor of London between 1848 and 1852 which incorporated the earlier Town Hall of 1825– 27 by Thomas Bowen. The interior of the building, which is now the Dylan Thomas Centre, was extensively rebuilt in 1993–1994 ^[160]

Romanesque or Norman revival architecture

The derivation of Romanesque Revival architecture or Norman Revival architecture can be traced back to the late 17th century, but only became a recognisable architectural style around 1820. In 1817 Thomas Rickman published his An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture from the Conquest To the Reformation. It was now realised that "round-arch architecture" was largely Romanesque in the British Isles and came to be described as Norman rather than Saxon. ^[161] The start of an "archaeologically correct" Norman Revival can be recognised in the architecture of Thomas Hopper. His first attempt at this style was at Gosford Castle in Armagh in Ireland, but far more successful was his Penrhyn Castle near Bangor. This was built for the Pennant family, between 1820 and 1837. The style did not catch on for domestic buildings, though many country houses and mock castles were built in the Castle Gothic or Castellated style during the Victorian period, which was a mixed Gothic style. ^[162]

Strawberry Hill and the earlier Gothic Revival

A surprisingly early example of Gothic Revival architecture in Wales is the south wing of Hensol Castle in Glamorgan. Hensol had three storied east and west wings added with tower-like semi-octagonal bays which were fenestrated with pointed gothic windows and surmounted by battlements. ^[163] It has been suggested that this very early Gothic architecture was the work of Roger Morris ^[164] who also designed Clearwell Castle ^[165] in Gloucestershire about 1728. ^[166]

Another example of the simple Gothic revival style was Gnoll near Neath. This was a remodelling, starting in 1776, of an existing house for Sir Herbert Mackworth, owner of a local copper works. It had a crenulated parapet and round towers at the two corners of the frontage. The architect was John Johnson an Essex architect who had been associated with Mackworth's banking interests in London. Following this, examples of Strawberry Hill Gothic start appearing in Wales, the most significant of which was Hafod. The first stage of Hafod was started 1786 by Thomas Baldwin of Bath for Thomas Johnes, in a Gothic revival style with gothic window, battlements and pinnacles and then in 1793–1794 John Nash added a top-lit galleried library and a 300 ft long conservatory. ^[167]

Another early pioneer of the Gothic style was James Wyatt who was employed by the Earl of Uxbridge to build Beaudesert in Staffordshire in the Gothic style in 1771–1772. The Earl was to employ him again at Plas Newydd on Anglesey to rebuild the West front and the interior in a Gothic style from 1793 to 1799 ^[168] Wyatt worked with the Lichfield architect James Potter and the style of plasterwork lacks the lightness of Strawberry Hill gothic. Plas Newydd was followed by the more remarkable Gothic mansion at Garth at Guilsfield in Montgomeryshire, built for Devereux Mytton, probably in the late 1790s. ^[169]

Another house with Strawberry Hill Gothic features was Bodelwyddan Castle which had a Gothic wing and gothic interior added between 1802 and 1808 by an unknown architect. During this period a number of other houses in Wales were given Gothic facades with arched pointed windows, such as Llewenni in Denbighshire. ^[170] At Hawarden Castle the Palladian house, on a different site to the medieval castle, was transformed by Thomas Cundy in 1809–1810 for Sir Stephen Richard Glynne. It was refronted and machicolations, towers and turrets were added. A west wing was added with gothic windows. ^[171] At Rhiwlas, near Bala the ancient house was re-cased as a Gothic castle in 1809 with three storeys and three polygonal towers, but the house was largely replaced by new house in 1954. The Gate arch by Thomas Rickman of 1813 still exists. ^[172]

Folly Gothic

In the 1780s there was another style evolving which sometimes is referred to as a 'Folly Gothic', houses which were intended as eye-catchers. Possibly the best example of this is Clytha Castle the work of architect and garden designer John Davenport. ^[173] This style was a less archaeologically correct form of Gothic revival and was widely used in Wales during the period 1780 to about 1810. Greater emphasis was placed on prominent arrow slits in round towers, blanked quatrefoil windows and stepped and angled battlements on gables. The earliest example of this may be the re-building of Penrhyn Castle, sometime before 1782 by Samuel Wyatt for Richard Pennant, who was to develop the Bethesda slate quarries. This building is only known from drawings by Moses Griffiths, though parts of it were incorporated into Thomas Hopper's rebuilding of Penrhyn. While it shows the features of this evolving style, the doorway shows the influence of Strawberry Hill gothic. ^[174] Folly Gothic was a style which was widely adopted for park gates and lodges and for small houses sited in picturesque positions in locations frequented by tourists. A good example is Ogwen Bank near Bethesda, built by Lord Penhryn, possibly to a design by Samuel Wyatt, for visitors to the Ogwen falls. ^[175] In the Montgomeryshire at Berriew Bodheilin was built in a prominent position overlooking the valley of the river Severn. This was burnt down in 1906, but an engraving shows a fantastic villa with five towers fronted with a Neoclassical portico. ^[176]

In Wales pointed Gothic windows continued to be widely used until about 1810. In Montgomeryshire iron framed Gothic windows were used to embellish vernacular houses. Grander houses such as Dol-Llys in Llanidloes, built for George Mears around 1800, by an unknown architect, but in the "villa" style of John Nash, had wooden Gothic windows. ^[177] One of the most eye-catching gothic follies in Wales is Paxton's Tower. Built by Sir William Paxton (1745–1824), Paxton made his first fortune while with the HEIC in Calcutta with Charles Cockerell, brother of the architect. He purchased the Middleton Hall estate about 1790 and built this tower 1808. ^[178]

Castellated Gothic

Castellated Gothic was a style that emerged in Wales following the Napoleonic Wars and has been little studied, although a considerable number of Country Houses were built in this style up to about 1870. It is largely derived from the earlier Castellated Gothic Mansions built Robert Adam in Scotland ^[179] and Adam was also the designer of one house built in Wales, Wenvoe Castle in Glamorgan in 1776–7 of which only one wing of the building now survives. ^[180] This "Welsh" style of Castellated Gothic lacks the historical precision of detailing seen in Strawberry Hill Gothic, but it has borrowed the turrets and battlements some Medieval Castles in Wales such as Raglan and the earlier Cardiff Castle. In some cases Medieval castles which were still inhabited were by re-built in this style. Powis Castle on the outskirts of Welshpool was extensively re-built with new windows and battlements in the castellatted gothic style by Sir Robert Smirke between 1815 and 1818. ^[6]

Initially older houses such as Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire or Hensol Castle had large extensions added to them. At Stanage Park in Radnorshire the design has been attributed to John Adey Repton, but he employed as the building contractor John Hiram Haycock. Haycock, from Shrewsbury, was equally competent as an architect and may have contributed to appearance of the building. This has led Thomas Lloyd to suggest that the similar appearance of Glandyfi (c. 1812) in Ceredigion, may also be the work of Haycock. ^[181] At Brynkinalt in Denbighshire the addition of castellated towers and other feature (now removed) on a late 17th-century house was the work of another Shrewsbury architect Joseph Bromfield. ^[182]

Castellated Gothic was the style employed by Robert Lugar when he built Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil for the iron master William Crawshay, in 1824–1825. It is two-storied and battlemented with a turreted entrance porch which leads into a Gothic entrance hall with ribbed ceiling. ^[183] Robert Luger was also employed at Maesllwch, Glasbury from 1829 to 1850. The main portion of this house was demolished in 1951 leaving the eastern tower, service wing and later tower. ^{[184] [ incomplete short citation ]} Between 1818 and 1830 John Preston Neale published his Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in which he included several examples of Castellated houses in Wales, showing this had become an established style. Further prints of Welsh castellated mansions were included in the Rev Francis Orpen Morris's The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland which was published in six volumes of coloured lithographs in 1870; and also in the engravings in Thomas Nicholas' Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales; containing a record of all ranks of the gentry ... with many ancient pedigrees and memorials of old and extinct families published in two volumes by Longmans in 1872. These volumes give the impression that both the established gentry and the Nouveau riche bankers and industrialists in Wales needed to justify a legitimacy for building in this style and the expenditure they were lavishing on them. ^[185]

Other early castellated buildings in Wales were Gwrych Castle in Flintshire. "One of the most amazing of 19th Century castellated mansions". ^[186] It was designed by C A Busby and Thomas Rickman. The foundation stone was laid in 1819 and the work was probably finished in 1822. ^[187] Also in Flintshire, Gyrn Castle, at Llanasa, an older house was converted into a castellated mansion for the Holywell cotton manufacturer John Douglas between 1817 and 1824. ^[71] Nearby Halkyn Castle was designed by John Buckler c. 1827 for the second Earl Grosvenor. ^[188] At Stanage Park, Knighton. The house was started in 1807 to designs by John Adey Repton. The arch to the stable block is dated 1807. The bay window was added in 1833 and in 1841 the Edward Haycock took over as architect, remodelling the interior after a fire and adding a Neo-Norman porch to the rectangular tower. He continued expanding the house until 1867. The work was for the Rogers family who followed Thomas Johnes of Hafod as the owners of Stanage. ^[189]

Tudor Gothic

In the 1830s the Castellated Gothic was developed further by Thomas Hopper, who had been responsible for the severe Romanesque revival Penrhyn Castle and the Shrewsbury architect Edward Haycock, Sr. at Margam Castle in Glamorgan which was built between 1830 and 1840. ^[190] This was a more ornate and flamboyant form of Tudor Gothic with a massive central lantern tower, modelled on the 16th-century prospect tower at Melbury House in Dorset. Newman sees the Hopper and Haycock deriving their designs from James Wyatt's Ashridge of 1808–1813 and William Wilkin's Dalmeny House near Edinburgh of 1814–1817. While the exterior is Tudor Gothic, there is a spectacular staircase inside the tower in a late Gothic or Perpendicular style with impressive fan-vaulting ^[191]

At Ruthin the Medieval castle was partly rebuilt in 1826 and then transformed in 1848–1853 by the architect Henry Clutton for Frederick Richard West. Clutton demolished much of the main block of the earlier house and replaced it with a three storied castellated building in bright red sandstone and placed at the west corner a big octagonal tower. ^[192]

This mixed style is also seen at Llantarnam Abbey in Monmouthshire by Thomas Henry Wyatt. In Montgomeryshire between 1850 and 1856 Leighton Hall was built by the little-known Liverpool architect W. H. Gee, probably to designs by James Kellaway Colling. ^[193]

William and Mary and Queen Anne style

An early example of the Queen Anne revival style was Garthmyl Hall, Berriew in Montgomeryshire by J K Colling. It was completed in 1859 and was a pioneering example of the use of Terracotta ornamentation. ^[194] A more developed example of Queen Anne revival style can be seen nearby in the Severn Valley at Cefnbryntalch in Llandyssil. The house of 1867–1869 by G F Bodley was completed by Philip Webb. It was built for was Richard Jones, who had made a fortune in the flannel trade in Newtown. The exterior is of cleanly detailed and well-executed in red brick, with prominent string-courses. The south front with three big gables and a balance of irregular chimneys and near-regular windows, has many C18 features – a hipped roof, two bays, sash-windows, and the central Venetian window. The symmetrical entrance front is rather C17 vernacular, while the west front is picturesque and irregular in contrast, an asymmetrical gable anchored by a shafted chimney; lower tile-hung wing. ^[195] In many respects this house is the precursor of the later Arts and Crafts houses in Wales and the close studded upper storeys is a feature of houses such as Bryniago at Rhayader by Stephen W. Williams. The Queen Anne style was further developed by William Eden Nesfield, a close associate of Norman Shaw at Kinmel Park in Denbighshire. It was constructed 1872–1874 incorporating parts of the earlier houses by Samuel Wyatt and Thomas Hopper. The house consists of 15 bays on the E. front with end pavilions ^[196]

Terracotta revival architecture in Wales

For a short period at the start of the 16th century, Italian craftsmen introduced the art of highly fired Terracotta moulded brickwork and ornamental plaques into Tudor England. The use of terracotta was largely limited to Great Houses in Eastern England. ^[197]

One of the earliest architects to make use of this source was the Welsh architect Thomas Penson, who worked from offices in Oswestry. There appears to be good evidence that he sourced his terracotta from the brickyards which were associated with the Oswestry coalfield at Morda and Trefonen on the Welsh border. ^[198]

One of the most iconic Terracotta buildings in Wales is the Pierhead building at Cardiff Docks, adjacent to the Welsh Assembly building. The Grade One listed building was built in 1897 and designed by the English architect ^[199] William Frame. It was a replacement for the headquarters of the Bute Dock Company which burnt down in 1892. Frame's mentor was William Burges, with whom Frame worked on the rebuilding of Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch until Burges's death in 1881. ^[200]

A further impressive building using and orangey terracotta with red bricks, probably from J. C Edwards at Ruabon are the former offices of John Summers and Co at Shotton on Deeside in Flintshire These were to become the offices of the Strip Division of the British Steel Corporation. In 1986 Edward Hubbard described them as "unconventional and pompous", ^[201] but taste to-day might be more appreciative and they can be seen as late and almost playful take on castellated Gothic revival architecture with some Art Nouveau detailing. A building dominating the market place in Newtown in Montgomeryshire is Barclays Bank of 1898 by Wood and Kendrick of Birmingham for Sarah Brisco of Newtown Hall. Built as an office block with the corner clock tower commemorating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. ^[202]

In small country towns such as Rhayader in Radnorshire the local architect, Richard Wellings Thomas built both the Kington and Radnor Bank of 1904 and the town's Post Office of 1903 using Ruabon Terracotta. The Bank has heavy classical mouldings while the Post Office for the upper storeys uses the local stone with terracotta dressings. ^[203] Terracotta was a popular material for building Post Offices, as at Denbigh and particularly the Post Office in Great Darkgate in Aberystwyth. The later was the work of T E Morgan, completed in 1901, and has an attractive mosaic fascia. ^[204] In Welshpool the J & M Morris's iron foundry had the Agricultural Implement Depot built in Church Street for the display of their products. This was to the designs of the work of the Borough surveyor Robert Hurst around 1904, in deep red Ruabon brickwork with arched display windows with masqued heads used as keystones. The inscription "Agricultural Implement Depot" runs along the parapet of the building. ^[205]

Faience glazed terracotta

Glazed architectural terra-cotta starts appearing in building facades in Wales around 1900. An example occurs in Longbridge Street in Llanidloes. This is a double fronted shop faced with brownish Burmantofts faience and the shops with facias with decorative tendril designs. ^[206]

The Golden Cross public House in Custom House Street, Cardiff, has a two-storey red faience facade with yellow pilasters. The ground floor has an elaborate tiled pub front with Venetian windows; green and gold tiling with raised lettering to fascias, tiled panelling to pilasters. The saloon bar on the ground floor has walls lined with polychrome tiles and a tiled floral frieze. Bar with hard wood top and with external covering of tiles with grotesque pattern in relief. Walls of entrance lobby, with faience tiled picture of Cardiff Castle, dated 1903 and another of Cardiff Town Hall. ^[207]

The use of white Doulton faience glazed terracotta is notable for the Motor Palace at Llandrindod Wells by Richard Wellings Thomas in 1906–1910. Now the National Cycle Museum, it has a curving facade of nine bays of white-faience ware and blocked pilasters dividing the display bays, surmounted with lion finials. It is an early example of steel framed construction. The building reflects that Llandridod was the social capital of Wales at the time and Tom Norton, for whom it was built was both an early bus proprietor and also aviator, hence the fascia letting CYCLES – MOTORS- AIRCRAFT. ^[208]

Ruskinian Gothic & Polychrome brickwork

The influence of John Ruskin and G E Street can be seen on British architecture from the mid-1850s onwards following the publication of Ruskin's Stones of Venice. Ruskin and Street advocated styles of architecture which used striking colour combinations and were modelled on Venetian and north Italian Gothic architecture. There is little evidence of Ruskinian Gothic in Wales, but with the notable exception of Cardigan Town Hall, but it did give rise to the use of Polychrome brickwork. Cardigan Town Hall was designed by Robert Jewell Withers and built in 1858–60. It was a multi-purpose civic building acting as a Town Hall, Corn Exchange, Grammar School, News-room, corn store and markets. The clock and clock tower were added in 1896. ^[209]

An example of Ruskin's Venetian Gothic are the block of chambers at 24–26 Queen Street Cardiff. These have been attributed to C E Barnard,apparently a Civil Engineer and were originally built alongside the Glamorgan Canal, possibly giving the inspiration to build in the Venetian Gothic style. The construction is dated to 1878, although this stylistically seem a decade or more too late. ^[210] The building has a four storied facade with Stucco and Portland stone and seven bays. Gothic cornice with pierced pinnacles at either end with ornamental battlements. The third floor has single windows with rounded heads and rope-moulded architraves and the second floor has ogee-headed windows with floreated stringcourses and projecting balconies to single windows, and the first floor has trefoil headed windows with capped columns arranged in Venetian manner either side of a splayed oriel window. ^[211]

The use of patterned or polychrome brickwork, sometimes associated terracotta was popular in the towns in Montgomeryshire and North Eastern Wales in the 1870s and 1880s. A striking example is the Plas Castell Gatehouse at Denbigh, a Tudoresque machicolated tower with bars of yellow brick contrasting with the red bricks. The tower was built in 1882. In Kerry, Montgomeryshire the estate architects J W Poundley and D Walker produced an unusual composition of a terrace of houses built for the Naylors next to the former Kerry workhouse. The red bricks are punctuated by a double string of white brick and a pattern of white and black bricks below the eaves and for the upper voussoirs. The use of curved bricks in the voussoirs give the impression of an Egyptian pharonic head-dress. ^[212]

Italianate style architecture

Prompted by Queen Victoria's Osbourne House, the Italianate style of architecture became popular in the second half of the 19th century. Features of this stye include belvedere towers and roofs with a shallow slope and wide eaves. In Wales R. K Penson was a leading exponent of the style. Penson had an extensive practice in the south of Wales, particular in church building and restoration, but examples of his use of the Italianate style include Llandovery Town Hall and the gate lodge to Nanteos. The style was popular for country houses in Carmarthenshire and include the now demolished Pant Glas at Llanfynydd and Gellideg at Llandyfaelog. ^[213] Pant Glas was built in 1850 and Gellideg in 1852. The architect for the latter being William Wesley Jenkins. ^[214] A later example of the Italianate style is the Parc Howard Museum on the outskirts of Llanelli, originally known as Bryncaerau Castle. The house, faced in Bath stone was built to designs by J. B. Wilson between 1882 and 1886. ^[215]

Old College, Aberystwyth

J.P. Seddon was a London architect who developed an extensive practice in south Wales. Initially he worked with John Prichard from 1853 to 1859 and then with John Coates Carter, who had an office in Cardiff, until 1904. Seddon was surveyor to Llandaff Cathedral and most of his work was church building and parsonages for the Llandaff Diocese. ^[216]

Seddon built some notable country houses such as Abermad House in Llanilar, Ceredigion in 1870–1872 ^[217] and most notably the Old College Building of Aberystwyth University. The Old College Building is on the seafront and replaced Castle House, which had been built for Uvedale Price by John Nash in 1791–1794. Castle House had been bought by the railway entrepreneur Thomas Savin in 1864 and he employed Seddon to rebuild it as a hotel. Following Savin's bankruptcy in 1866, it was purchased by the future university and until 1890 Seddon together with his partner John Coates Carter continued to rebuild and extend the building. The Builder described it as "one of the most original and characteristic monuments of the Gothic Revival", while Thomas Lloyd writes "Seddon's originality lies in his very fluid use of curves and complex geometrical forms, and in the blurring of angles and joints, syncopation that has something of Art Nouveau". Seddon mixes detail of Early English with Venetian and French late Romanesque and Gothic Architecture. The stone used comes from Cefn at Minera, dressed with Bath stone. He also used an artificial stone and concrete in parts of the building. ^[218]

William Burges in Cardiff

William Burges' contribution to Welsh architecture was notable but limited to three buildings, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch and Park House, all three in Cardiff. His castles had little influence on other architecture in Wales. The influence of Park House was much more significant; John Newman considers the house "revolutionized Cardiff's domestic architecture" ^[219] and the Cadw Grade I listed building status given to the house records it as "the pattern for much housing in Cardiff in later C19. Perhaps the most important (nineteenth century) town house in Wales." ^[220]

Park House was built between 1871 and 1875 for James McConnochie, the dock engineer to Bute Estate and mayor of Cardiff. ^[221] The house draws on various French Gothic elements and is reminiscent of the Town Hall of St. Antonin, restored by Viollet le Duc in 1843, with late Romanesque and a Gothic arcade, but with added 15th-century dormer windows. ^[222] It is built with grey Caerphilly stone and Bath stone dressings; steeply-pitched slate roofs, stone chimneys. Features of the house were imitated by other late Victorian houses in Cardiff, but similar houses such as Llanilar at Abermad (1870–1872) in Ceredigion were being built by John Pollard Seddon. ^[223]

Later Arts and Crafts

The Arts and Crafts movement progressed in Wales very much under the influence of C. F. A. Voysey and Edwin Lutyens, who were throwing off the influence of both the Gothic Revival and the half-timbered Tudor Revival styles which had been so prevalent in Wales. Voysey had worked in partnership with J. P. Seddon with offices in Cardiff, but, as yet no examples of his work with Seddon have been recognised. Then, in 1903–1906, he returned to Wales to design the little-known Tŷ Bronna on St Fagans Road, Cardiff. ^[246] This is a minor masterpiece with its clean white outline, faced in stone, gabled at each end with a hipped roof and the angled battered buttresses from ground level to the eaves. It has a bowed east window with a recessed veranda and was restored in 2002. ^[247] Pevsner sees buildings such as this by Voysey as being a precursor of Modernist architecture. ^[248]

Architecture of this style was produced by Herbert Luck North in north Wales and on occasion by Clough Williams-Ellis in his designs for council smallholdings adapted by Montgomeryshire County Council. ^[249] This style was developed by the Garden City movement and was widely used on Welsh garden villages and housing schemes until after the Second World War.

At Harlech the Glasgow architect George Henry Walton, better known for his Art Nouveau architecture, was to design Wern Fawr in 1908 and also the St David's Hotel (1907–1911); the latter burnt down in 1922. ^[250]

Baroque Revival architecture

Baroque Revival architecture is variously described as Neo-Baroque and Edwardian Baroque, and is paralleled in France by Beaux-Arts architecture. The style is also called "Wrenaissance", acknowledging a debt to Sir Christopher Wren. In Wales the style starts appearing in the 1890s and was used for major public architecture, the newly founded universities and commercial buildings. It reflected the considerable wealth generated in this period, particularly from coal mining and also the growth of Welsh National Identity. The first buildings in the newly planned Cathays Park in Cardiff, described as "the finest civic centre in the British Isles" ^[259] were the Cardiff Town Hall, later City Hall and the Law Courts, based on plans drawn up in 1897 and built between 1901 and 1905 to designs by Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards. Newman sums up the buildings as "swaggering Baroque .. setting a new standard setting a new standard for the emergence of the Edwardian grand style for public buildings in Great Britain. No Victorian architect had hitherto demonstrated such mastery of Continental Baroque, in this case the Baroque of South Germany and Austria, combined with the Neo-Baroque of Charles Garniers' Paris Opera." ^[259] The setting is given opulence by the use of Portland Stone for the facades. The National Museum of Wales was added to this grouping in the modified American Neo-Barogue or Beaux-Arts style by the London architects Smith and Brewer ^[260] and later extended by the Welsh architects T. Alwyn Lloyd and Alex Gordon. ^[261] The Baroque Revival style was also used for a range of other public buildings, banks and schools and universities. A refined example of this style was used by Alfred Cross for the Edward Davies Building at Aberystwyth University, was the first purpose-built chemical laboratory in a British university. It was opened in 1907 by Lord Asquith and remained a functioning Chemistry Department until 1988. It now serves as the School of Art Building. ^[262]

F Inigo Thomas also remodelled Ffynone House at Newchapel in Pembrokeshire in a neo-Baroque in 1902–1907 with massive rusticated quoining added to the facade. The house had originally been built by John Nash in 1792–1797. ^[263]

One of the earliest examples in Wales of the Baroque revival or "Wrenaissance" style to appear in Wales is the Barry Dock Offices built for David Davies as the offices for the Barry Docks & Railway Company, and was part of the scheme for the development of Barry Docks. It was constructed between 1897 and 1900 The architect was Arthur E. Bell. ^[264] A very similar building, which appears to be copying the Barry Offices on a lesser scale to this is the Stiwt or Rhosllannerchrugog Miners' Institute, close to Wrexham, which was built much later, between 1924 and 1926, by the local architects John Owen and F A Roberts. ^[265] In Barry the Docks Office was followed in 1903–1908 by the town hall, which was built by the architects Charles E Hutchinson and E Harding Payne in red brick and lavish Bath Stone adjoined by a seven-bay public library with the centre three bays defined by giant Ionic pilasters. ^[266] Equally ambitious, but on a smaller scale, is the red brick and limestone Town Hall by F A Roberts at Mold in Flintshire. ^[267]

Baroque revival was also a favoured style for bank architecture. An example is the former North and South Wales Bank, now HSBC in Aberystwyth. This was by Woodfall and Eccles of Liverpool and was built in 1908–1909. Three-bay frontage, with a recessed centre framed columns and topped by a broken curved pediment. ^[204]

An example of the use of the American Beaux-Arts style is the James Howell & Co. (now House of Fraser) department store ^[268] in St Mary's Street. This was the work of Sir Percy Thomas in 1928–1930. It makes use of Erectheum Ionic columns with a rounded corner and a memorable relief sculpture frieze designed by Thomas which symbolises the drapery trade. ^[269]

1980–2000

A notable project at the end of the 20th century was the creation of the National Botanic Garden of Wales. The most striking feature of this was the Great Glasshouse. Designed 1995–1996 by Foster and Partners and built 1997–1999. This is the largest single span glasshouse in the world 110 metres long and 60 metres wide. The roof, an "elliptical torus", is carried on twenty-four elliptical arches and covers 3,500 square metres, and provides Wales with a building of international note. ^[300]

Tower blocks

Currently the tallest building in Wales is The Tower, Meridian Quay at Swansea, which is 107 meters high and completed in 2010. The tower has 29 storeys, double the number of the previous tallest building in Swansea, the BT Tower. Most of The Tower houses residential apartments. The design was by Latitude Architects and elliptical shape of the building is reminiscent of the work of the Austrian architect Heinz Tesar. The only other high rise buildings in Wales are in Cardiff. ^[307]

Millennium Centre

The most striking building of 21st-century Wales is the Millennium centre on Cardiff Bay. The centre was designed by Jonathan Adams, of local practice Percy Thomas Architects ^[308] Wales Millennium Centre (Welsh : Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff. The site covers a total area of 4.7 acres (1.9 ha). ^[309]

The Centre comprises one large theatre and two smaller halls with shops, bars and restaurants. It houses the national orchestra and opera, dance, theatre and literature companies, a total of eight arts organisations in residence. ^[310] It is also home to the Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre. The main theatre, the Donald Gordon Theatre, has 1,897 seats, the BBC Hoddinott Hall 350 and the Weston Studio Theatre 250. ^[311]

The Senedd

The Senedd building houses the debating chamber and committee rooms of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru). It was completed in 2006. The building faces south west over Cardiff Bay, it has a glass façade around the entire building and is dominated by a steel roof and wood ceiling. It has three floors, the first and second floors are accessible is to the public and the ground floor is a private area for officials. The building was designed to be as open and accessible as possible, the architects, the Richard Rogers Partnership (RRP) said "The building was not to be an insular, closed edifice. Rather it would be a transparent envelope, looking outwards to Cardiff Bay and beyond, making visible the inner workings of the Assembly and encouraging public participation in the democratic process." ^[312] The main area in the building is the debating chamber, called the Siambr, including a public viewing gallery. Other areas of the building are the Neuadd, which is the main reception area on the first floor and the Oriel on the second floor. The three committee rooms and the Cwrt are on the ground floor. ^[313]

General literature

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