Clytha Castle was built in the 1790s after the death of Jones’s wife in 1787 as a memorial to her.  A tablet on the house states that the building of the house 'was undertaken for the purpose of relieving a mind afflicted by the loss of a most excellent wife.’

Jones seemed to act as his own clerk of works maintaining a detailed account book of all of the costs involved with building and furnishing the castle including workmen’s wages, transport costs and building materials.  The account book also lists the various furnishings including furniture, porcelain, chintz, silk, paintings the largest sum of money being paid to Mayhew and Ince for the ‘Gothic style’ furniture for the house.

The present pair of tables is most likely by Mayhew and Ince and embody a late Gothic revival style which in some ways echo the first wave of the Gothic revival by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill.  The dramatic radiating Gothic crotchet starburst to the centers of the backs as well as the beautiful use of mahogany and goncalo alvez veneers, the finely carved Gothic frieze articulated with oak leaves to the tops of the cluster-column legs shows a light and refined use of Gothic features in a classicized manner.

John Nash was considered to be the architect for Clytha Castle as a payment to him appears in the account book; however it seems the house was actually designed by the local garden designer and architect John Davenport who had a numerous commissions in Wales where he made use of the Gothic style.

See:
‘Clytha Castle: A Seat to Soothe the Soul,’ Heritage Homes, November, 2008, pp. 44-52
www.landmarktrust.org.uk/our-landmarks/properties/clytha-castle