Manafon Rectory was built in the last decade of the 18th century under the Gilbert Act to replace earlier buildings on the site. The building was refurbished internally in 1849 and a short 2-storey rear extension added. Built of brickwork, now painted, the SW end rendered. Slate roof. Three storeys and cellar, 3 bays, with central through stair hall, gable stacks, and 2-storey mid 19th century extension at right angles at rear. There is a central 4-panelled door within a 19th century wrought iron scrollwork porch with a slate hipped roof.

A number of incumbents who lived here have achieved fame in the literary world; Revd William Wynne (1747-60), bard and transcriber of early manuscripts, Revd Walter Davies 'Gwallter Mechain' (1807-1837/8), author and sponsor of eisteddfodau, Revd William 'Penfro' Morgan, (1904-1918), poet, and recently, Ronald Stuart (R.S.) Thomas ( rector 1942-1956), who wrote some important early works during his first ministry here, including 'The Stars of the Field' (1942), 'An Acre of Land' (1952), and 'The Minister', (1953). R. S. Thomas' wife, Mildred Elsi Eldridge, was an important artist. Whilst living at Manafon, she 'participated in the 'Recording Britain' project, initiated by Sir Kenneth Clark, in which artists were commissioned to make 'sympathetic records' of vulnerable buildings, landscapes and lifestyles. Twenty of Eldridge's pictures for this project - buildings and rural activities in mid and north Wales - are housed in the Recording Britain Archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum.'

Reference: Cadw listed buildings database; Bywgraffiadur entry for Mildred Elsi Eldridge 
RCAHMW, 2010, updated by M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 2 October 2024