Craig-y-parc House

Craig-y-parc House is a country house in Pentyrch, Cardiff, Wales. Dating from 1914–1918, it was built for Thomas Evans, a colliery owner, by Charles Edward Mallows. The house reputedly cost £100,000. Craig-y-parc is a Grade II* listed building. The garden and park surrounding the house has its own Grade II* listing and is a designated conservation area. The house now operates as a residential school for children and young adults with disabilities.

Craig-y-parc House
"Under the spell of Lutyens, a beautifully resolved composition", John Newman
TypeHouse
LocationCardiff, Glamorgan
Coordinates51.5192°N 3.3042°W / 51.5192; -3.3042
Built1914-1918
ArchitectCharles Edward Mallows
Architectural style(s)Arts and Crafts
Governing bodySalutem Healthcare
OwnerThomas Evans
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameCraig-y-parc House
Designated31 January 2000
Reference no.22816
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameLoggia at Craig-y-parc and attached terrace walls and steps
Designated31 January 2000
Reference no.22817
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameGarden terrace and steps at Craig-y-parc
Designated31 January 2000
Reference no.22818
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameWalls and gatepiers to courtyard entrance at Craig-y-parc
Designated31 January 2000
Reference no.22819
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameLodge at Craig-y-parc
Designated31 January 2000
Reference no.22820
Location of Craig-y-parc House in Cardiff

History

Thomas Evans began his career as a railwayman. Known as "Small Coal Evans", he reputedly made his fortune by collecting coal that had fallen from coal trucks operating on the railways in the South Wales Coalfield.[1] By 1940, he held a CBE, was the Chairman of the Cardiff Coal and Shipping Exchange, Vice-Chairman of the Ocean Coal Company and a Justice of the peace for Glamorganshire.[2] In 1914, Evans commissioned Charles Edward Mallows to build a house some seven miles north of Cardiff in woods close to the village of Pentyrch. Mallows, who died the year after work had begun,[3] was an architect in the Arts and Crafts style, much influenced by Edwin Lutyens.[4] His major work was Tirley Garth in Cheshire, another Lutyenseque house for another rich industrialist.[5] Mallows also had full responsibility for the design of the gardens surrounding the house, which he laid out to an Arts and Crafts-influenced design.[6] The whole reputedly cost Evans a sum in excess of £100,000.[1]

Following Evans' death in 1943, Craig-y-parc came into the possession of the National Coal Board before being sold in 1954 to the Spastics Society which opened a residential school at the site in 1955.[7][8] The school continues to provide residential care for children and young adults with disabilities, operated by Salutem Healthcare.[9]

Architecture and description

Craig-y-parc is a large mansion with the entrance front to the north, and the garden front, onto which all the main receptions rooms face, to the south.[1] The architectural historian John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume of the Buildings of Wales, notes the strong influence of Lutyens.[4] This is seen particularly in the lodge, and in the north frontage, which Newman compares to Little Thakeham. He admires Mallow's originality on the garden front, where a row of columns forms an arcade.[4] The house is constructed of locally-quarried stone, with granite dressings. The house is listed at Grade II*.[1] The gardens are also listed at II*, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The listing record notes their "strongly axial design" and considers them "a very good example of [an] architectural Edwardian garden".[6] The loggia,[10] and the garden terrace have their own Grade II* listings,[11] while the lodge, [12] and the walls and gate piers at the courtyard entrance are listed Grade II.[13]

References
  1. Cadw. "Craig-y-parc House  (Grade II*) (22816)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. "Durham Mining Museum - Thomas Evans, C.B.E." www.dmm.org.uk. Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. "Charles Edward Mallows - biography". www.scottisharchitects.org.uk. Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. Newman 1995, p. 513.
  5. Historic England. "Tilney Garth  (Grade II*) (1330306)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  6. "Craig y parc". Parks and Gardens UK. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  7. "D1046 - Thomas Evans of Pentyrch, Papers - 1859-1971". Canfod. Glamorgan Archives. Thomas Evans died on 24 December 1943
  8. "Craig-y-parc House, Pentyrch, Cardiff, Cardiff". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. British Listed Buildings online. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. "Craig Y Parc School". Salutem Healthcare. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. Cadw. "Loggia at Craig-y-parc and attached terrace walls and steps  (Grade II*) (22817)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  11. Cadw. "Garden terrace and steps at Craig-y-parc  (Grade II*) (22818)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. Cadw. "Lodge at Craig-y-parc  (Grade II) (22820)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. Cadw. "Walls and gatepiers to courtyard entrance at Craig-y-parc  (Grade II) (22819)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2020.

Sources
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