Van House

Not inspected (September 1998), but said by RCAHM Wales to retain several 4-centred doorways and a fireplace in the first floor of the main range with shallow Tudor arch.

A large Tudor mansion consisting of a 2-storey main house with attic facing courtyard to W and a storeyed porch at the L end. Behind is a former stair block to centre and a lower 2-storey E wing facing the road on the S side. Of rubble stone cement rendered and painted white, with restored synthetic slate roofs.

The main house has a 4-bay front with 4-light mullioned and transomed windows (restored to lower storey, repaired to upper storey) and string courses at plinth and floor levels. Reconstructed gablets have simpler 3-light attic windows. The 3-storey porch has gablets to the main elevations, and a string course in the lower storey broken by the main doorway on W side, which has a moulded surround and 4-centred arch, with modern double boarded doors. Above, in each storey are early C16 3-light mullioned windows with Tudor-headed lights, sunk spandrels and hood mould with label stops. In the S return wall are plainer 2-light windows in the upper storeys. Projecting forward on the N side of the porch is a ruined wing now single storey of dressed stone with 2 blocked Tudor-headed arches in the S wall and springers of a similar arch in the W wall, topped by a string course. The courtyard wall is attached to this projection. The N wall of the porch has an external stack corbelled to first floor and ruins of a turning stone stair formerly housed in a projection. The S gable end of the main range is one bay with reconstructed window to the lower storey, repaired window to the upper storey and reconstructed attic window in a gablet, all similar to the front elevation.

The E wing, occupied as a farmhouse from the C17, has a 3-window front with cart shed to its R. At the L end is a square C16 ridge stack, with a later ridge stack to the R end of the house. The windows to the L are C16 4-light mullioned windows with Tudor-headed lights, sunk spandrels and hood moulds. The 2-light window above the doorway is plainer but has a similar hood mould. The shallow gabled porch is C19 and the doorway inside replaced an original window. To its R, in the unit added early C17, are 3-light windows with hood moulds. The cart shed has openings with re-used stone dressings. A wide segmental-headed doorway has C19 boarded double doors, and to the R beneath the eaves is a 2-light mullioned loft window. In the E (uphill) gable end is a segmental-headed loft doorway with stopped chamfer and renewed threshold.

At the rear the main range has a gabled projection (which housed the original stair) with outshut on its N side, and with 2 stepped 2-light mullioned former stair lights. The E wing has a shallow projection of a former stack for a lateral fireplace, into which a doorway is inserted with late C20 door. A further doorway is inserted into the rear of the cart shed. Beneath the eaves are narrow windows.