Llwyd Mansion, 1-3 Cross Street

Summary

House, built in the mid- to late C15, remodelled in the early C17 with the addition of a third storey.

History

Although evidence of Roman and Saxon settlement within Oswestry is sparse, the existence of a large and remarkably well-preserved Iron Age hill fort to the north of the town centre points to a long history of settlement in the area. A motte and bailey castle was constructed shortly after the Norman conquest (1066), and the town appears to have developed in its present location from the C12 onwards, initially to the south of the castle mound. The town was defended by walls and a ditch, although its defensive roll ceased to be important by the late medieval period; the tight network of streets in the town centre represents the development of the land within the bailey to the south and west of the castle mound during the C14-C16. During this period the town flourished as a market for Welsh wool and cloth. The late-medieval and early modern town was largely timber-framed, although today fairly few examples survive from the C15 to C17, often hidden behind later brick facades.

The town developed a newfound importance during the later C18 as a coaching station on the London to Holyhead road. Many buildings in the town centre are of the late C18 and early C19, typically built in red brick and often stuccoed. A rapid expansion in housing followed the establishment of a Cambrian Railway works site to the east of the town centre in 1866. The town’s continued prominence as a regional centre by the late C19 is reflected in the grand, Free Renaissance-style Guildhall of 1893, among other contemporary municipal and commercial buildings. The C20 brought piecemeal rebuilding of the town centre and the growth of suburbs, particularly to the east of the railway. Oswestry’s train station closed to passengers in 1966.

Llwyd Mansion, 1-3 Cross Street, was constructed in around the mid-to late C15 as a substantial merchant’s house. Although extensive internal alterations during the C20 have made interpretation of the original ground floor layout difficult, it has been speculated that the second bay from the east was originally a smoke bay. The building was remodelled in the early C17, at which time a jettied third storey and new roof were added. A plaster roundel on the second floor, probably added during a late-C19 restoration, bears the coat of arms of the Llwyd (Lloyd) family along with the date 1604. However, documentary research in the 1980s found no primary sources relating to the building before the C19, and nothing to confirm or deny the popular attribution to the Lloyd family.

The building was substantially altered and restored in around 1875, at which time the western end was curtailed and a new timber-framed gable end wall installed, and the projecting first-floor windows with moulded cills and aprons on the south elevationwere inserted.

Further changes were made during the C20. A brick and timber shopfront was inserted on the ground floor during the early to mid- C20, removing evidence of the original, first floor jetty bressumer. The building underwent extensive repairs and restoration works in 1985-1986, at which time most of the infill panels were replaced with modern materials and patchwork repairs were made to the timber frame.

Details

House, built in the mid-to late C15, remodelled in the early C17 with the addition of a third storey. Significant alterations occurred during the 1880s, early C20 and 1980s. The building has been in commercial use since at least the late C19 and is currently (2022) in use as a hair salon.

MATERIALS: the building is of timber-framed construction with rendered infill panels. The eastern gable wall has brick infill, and the ground-floor shopfront is of timber and brick. The roof covering is plain tile.

PLAN: the building occupies a rectangular plan with a prominent gabled elevation to the west (Bailey Street) and two entrances on the south elevation (Cross Street).

EXTERIOR: the building is of three storeys plus a gable-lit attic, across five bays onto Cross Street to the south and two wide bays onto Bailey Street to the west. The roof projects out over the western gable end wall, supported on curved timber brackets. The C20 shop front runs the length of both exposed elevations. It comprises a series of multipaned, fixed windows over brick plinths, separated by timber pilasters and rising to a moulded fascia board. There is an angled entrance on the south-west corner, with decoratively carved timber XXXs and a half-glazed, C20 door. There is another entrance within the second bay in from the east containing a matching half-glazed door.

The first and second floors have exposed timber framing. On the first floor, the pattern is of rectangular panels with long, straight tension braces to the westernmost bay of the south elevation and the end panels of the west elevation. The second floor and gable are jettied, with a series of curved brackets rising from thin timber posts with cushion capitals and a fluted jetty bressumer. These upper floors have close studding with rails and beneath the attic window to the west elevation are four quatrefoil panels, probably a late C19 addition.

The fenestration pattern of the south elevation is irregular. On the first floor, the first, third and fourth bays in from the east contain late C19, mullion and transom window with projecting, moulded aprons. The central bay (third from the east) also contains an additional, small, four-light, mullion window, possibly original. The second bay from the east contains a restored, C15, four-light, trefoil-headed window with mouchettes and quatrefoils above. On the second floor, the three easternmost bays each contain a C19 timber casement directly beneath the eaves. On the west elevation, the first floor carries two mullion and transom windows with moulded aprons matching those on the south elevation. The second floor has a single, centrally placed, eight-pane, mullion and transom window with a thicker, moulded central mullion and a deep, moulded apron. Above, lighting the attic, is a small, centrally-placed, timber casement with four panes and a moulded apron.

The second bay in from the west on the south elevation carries a plaster roundel with a double-headed eagle (the coat-of-arms of the Llwyd family) and the words LLWYD/1607/MANSION painted in late C19/C20 lettering.

INTERIOR: much of the internal timber framing is exposed and many of the beams are very substantial in length and width. Principal beams and posts are chamfered. On the first floor, there are upward and downward swinging braces from the wall posts, and a dragon beam for the betty above in the westernmost bay. Further timber framing is exposed on the second floor, including later beams to the ceiling (the second floor is believed to have originally been open to the roof). The roof is of Queen-strut construction in five bays with both open and closed trusses, curved and cusped wind braces, and downward and upward swinging chamfered curved braces to the tie beams from the principal rafters and wall-posts respectively.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

255536

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
OS map 25”, Shropshire XII.14 (1873 edn).
OS map 25”, Shropshire XII.14 (1924 edn).
Newman, J, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (2006), pp.454 and 460-61.
Conservation Building Services Ltd, Design Statement (March 2019).

End of official list entry

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