Newton House - 3 Floor Cabin Lift in West Wales

Newton House or Dinefwr is Grade II* listed country home in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire. The house was originally built in 1660 with extensive alterations made in the 1850s. The site of Dinefwr Park has been occupied by settlers for two millennia and Dinefwr Castle which sits above Llandeilo dated back to the late 12th Century. In the mid 20th Century 2 of the family members who owned Newton House died in quick succession which led to the house being sold in 1974 and then falling into disrepair. Since then the National Trust and Cadw have restored the house to its former glory. The house is built in greystone in a Venetian gothic system with 4 corner towers and sloped slate roofs.

As part of refurbishment works the National Trust were looking to replace a passenger lift that had not worked for over 18 months and was less than 10 years old. Access Lifts offered design information to the National Trust's Lift Consultant LECS and provided quotes as part of the tender process. Access Lifts won the tender bid and acted as the main contractor for the works with the National Trust. The subcontracted packages under Access Lifts included conservation building, general building, electrical and plumbing packages as well as the removal of the existing lift and supply and installation of the new cabin lift.

Extensive refurbishment works were undertaken by conservation builder Jones & Fraser as part of the works package including repairs to the inner and outer faces of the turret and addition of new plasterwork throughout. Other works including adaptation to the pit, new power supplies and LED lighting for the inside of the tower, new firestopping around the landing entrances and redecoration once the install was complete. The project was on a tight timeline was orders only placed in December with a Spring 2026 opening to the general public.

The selection of a cabin lift meant that the property now has a DDA compliant 1100mm x 1400mm car size compared with the 900mm x 1100mm of the removed passenger lift. It also has a 90º adjacent entry with 2 panel side opening brushed stainless steel doors on the car and landings. The lift features a complete glass side to offer visitors a view into the expertly renovated tower. It also features changeable coloured LED back lighting so the shaft can be lit up in dozens of different colours. The lift was handed over to the National Trust in Spring 2026.