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Swiss Cottage, Rockfield

Coordinates: 51°49′32″N 2°45′17″W / 51.8255°N 2.7546°W / 51.8255; -2.7546
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Swiss Cottage
"...not particularly Swiss"
TypeGatehouse
LocationRockfield, Monmouthshire
Coordinates51°49′32″N 2°45′17″W / 51.8255°N 2.7546°W / 51.8255; -2.7546
Built1905
ArchitectAston Webb
Architectural style(s)Arts and Crafts
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameSwiss Cottage, Llangattock-vibon-Avel
Designated3 September 1991
Reference no.2857
Swiss Cottage, Rockfield is located in Monmouthshire
Swiss Cottage, Rockfield
Location of Swiss Cottage in Monmouthshire

The Swiss Cottage, Rockfield, Monmouthshire is a gatehouse to The Hendre estate and was designed by Sir Aston Webb in 1905. It is a Grade II* listed building.

History and description

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The Hendre was the country home of the Rolls family since the 18th century[1] and, as the fortunes of the family rose, was subject to three major expansions in the 19th and 20th centuries, to the designs of George Vaughan Maddox,[2] then Thomas Henry Wyatt,[2] and finally Aston Webb.[2] Webb constructed the Cedar Library at the main mansion in the very late 19th century[2] and in 1905 designed the Swiss Cottage.[3] It formed a terminal point on the “3-mile Drive” constructed by Lord Llangattock, and designed by Henry Ernest Milner.[4]

The cottage is single-storeyed, with a dormer above, and is constructed of old red sandstone.[3] The roof is hipped and pierced at either end with large chimneystacks. The interior contains an inglenook fireplace. Cadw notes influences from Lutyens and Voysey,[3] while the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales considers it "an inspired and unusually distinctive symmetrical Arts-and-Crafts design".[5] The architectural historian John Newman described Swiss Cottage as "a sweet little thing but not particularly Swiss".[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ Newman 2000, p. 247.
  2. ^ a b c d Newman 2000, p. 250.
  3. ^ a b c Cadw. "Swiss Cottage (Grade II*) (2857)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  4. ^ Whittle 1990, p. 3.
  5. ^ "Swiss Cottage (20874)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  6. ^ Newman 2000, p. 516.

References

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