Llanelly House - Summary Interpretation of Results

Summary Interpretation of Results

So far, the archaeological results at Llanelly House have not only been extremely exciting, having revealed much of the form and character of the 17th-century house and potentially parts of the 16th-century and even Tudor house, but the appearance of and good preservation of the 17th-century floor surfaces, particularly the extent of cobbled surfaces, have also been very unexpected.

In general, the archaeological results at the present time appear to marry very well with the available historical documents about the house, its occupants and events from the 16th century through to the present day. Excavations have revealed that the north-western part of the ground floor, possibly the former Great Hall is the oldest part of the house, with parts of the underlying foundations and the far eastern slanted wall being 15th – 16th century in date and its earliest foundations may well have associations with the dissolution of the lesser monastery of St. Elli. This medieval building would probably have started life out as a two-storey, two-unit, end chimney gabled house, possibly with a byre building or extension attached to the west.

Not soon after, a southern range was added (Drawing Room and Best Parlour) along with a series of out buildings (the later Kitchen range).

In the early 17th century, perhaps as a result of damage from the Great Flood of 1606/07, as well as the marriage of Anne Lewis to Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove, an eastern range of buildings (former Sir Thomas Stepney’s Study and the present West Credit Union building) was added to the old house, thus creating one long L-shaped 3-storey building with a gabled roof, possibly with dormer windows in the roof space.

In the late 17th century, at some time between 1660 and 1680 the floor level appears to have been raised across the whole house, thus forming one complete level ground floor with the creation of a common or service hall with a low basement area and potentially the creation of the stair hall. In response to this work, the ceiling heights also appear to have been raised some 0.40-0.50 m on the ground floor. The interior walls of the house at this time would have all been plastered with no wooden wall panelling. The earliest oak wall panelling was most probably added in the early to mid-18th century, with pine panelling added later.

In the early years of the 18th century, post 1705, Margaret Vaughan inherited Llanelly House from one of her elder sisters on her death in 1706/7. In 1691 Margaret had already married Sir Thomas Stepney (5th Baronet), thus the Stepney lineage at the house had begun. Thomas Stepney was most likely responsible for the commissioning of the new house’s front façade with its present third floor with hipped roof in a Queen Anne style, work that probably wasn’t fully completed until 1714, as is evident from a date on one of the surviving lead drainage hoppers.