Inside Castle Green House

Corridors, stairs, descending into basements and climbing up to rooftop rooms - never knowing which direction you are facing or where you are in relation to the outside world.

"It's a fascinating building," said our guide, castle expert Glen Johnson.

"Not only do you have an 1808 house leading on to a 1820s house but you also have a medieval tower thrown in for good measure."

Castle Green House, it cannot be denied, has seen much better days.

But there is a privilege in being allowed to see something at the start of a new beginning - once the workmen move in, the delapidated Castle Green House of June 2003 will disappear forever.

"It's really not as bad as I feared," said town conservation officer Gary Cooper who joined Tivy-Side editor Aneurin Evans and deputy Sue Lewis for the tour.

"These sort of things," he said, gesturing at a gaping hole in the ceiling, "are nothing in conservation terms. It can easily be made good."

There is a lot of work to be done in this once graceful mansion. Doors have been ripped from their hinges, floorboards - and occasionally floors - are missing, ceilings offer strange perspectives of the room above, plaster falls off in chunks and all around is the pervasive smell of neglect and decay. The landing opposite the house's huge arched feature window is covered in owl droppings - wildlife comes and goes freely through the smashed windows.

But there are as many positive features as negative ones.

The interior doors - even the ones lying on the floor - are intact. Some of them still have defiant traces of their once glowing mahogany shine.

Ceiling cornices and central roses remain, the delicate plasterwork as fresh as when it was made two centuries ago. Many fireplaces - including a stunning white marble affair - are still there. Door knobs, window catches, light fittings - the things that spell authenticity have survived the neglect.

"The thing about Castle Green House is that everything was top quality. The fixtures and fittings were made to last," said Glen.

"How many houses could be left to rack and ruin for decades and still remain standing?"

The workmanship that went into building the house has also stood the test of time. Rafters that have been bared by missing ceilings show top class craftsmanship, long-gone floorboards reveal strong timber struts, lime plaster walls allow damaging moisture to evaporate into thin air.

Our tour starts at the gardener's cottage, Ty'r Ardd and into the East Wing where the army occupation in the World War II is still evident with fibreglass walls, rusting iron stoves and the words 'Ladies Room' stencilled in utilitarian lettering on a door.

Smashed remnants of bygone times litter the floor - the steering wheel of a 1930s car, a headless stone angel made in Cardigan brickworks, a wooden dollshouse. There are also piles of paper - letters, invoices, pamphlets, magazines and newspapers dating back to the 1930s.

"All of this stuff has to be sorted through by archivists," said Glen. "It's like looking at a time capsule."

The medieval part of the house - the north tower - holds many surprises. Despite the steamy June temperatures outside, the vaulted basement is cold - probably due to the 13ft thick walls. Above, in the soot-encrusted kitchen, cupboards and surfaces groan with the bottle and jar collection of decades. A beautiful built-in Georgian cupboard contains rusting tins, blackened glass jars and chipped enamel vessels.

The ancient fridge still has jars of pickles and sauces on its wonky shelves.

"A time capsule," muses Glen.

o Work was due to start this week on removing the two derelict caravans outside Castle Green House.