[4] The Llanelly House project was effectively started during the 2003 BBC Restoration series, in which the building was an acclaimed finalist, championed by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen.

In June 2006 Llanelly House featured in the TV show Most Haunted Live as part of a three night investigation which also included Parc Howard Museum and Kidwelly Castle.

[2] Although there has been a great amount of historical research undertaken on Llanelly House over the years, comprehensive archaeological investigations did not begin until March 2011.

The initial archaeological work in 2011, guided by the ongoing restoration programme, focused firstly on a program of standing building recording on the interior of the house following the removal of deteriorated plasterwork from a number of internal elevations.

Following this initial building inspection and survey work, ground work began in April 2011, with the lifting of existing floorboards for the insertion of new floor supports and services, from four of the ground floor rooms, the former Sir Thomas Stepney's Study, the Great Hall and the two rooms that occupy the south-western range of the house.

The re-opening and re-investigation of a series of trial pits dug by engineers in the late 20th century, in two of these rooms had already revealed that below the present floor surface was a series of three earlier occupation layers, defined by layers of alternating demolition and construction deposits, with natural clay not being reached until approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) below the present floor level.

Finds recovered from the upper most occupation layer of one of these trial pits (The Great Hall) included several large fragments of 17th-century decorative plasterwork, suggesting that parts of the 17th-century house had been demolished and the floor level raised to the present height.

An interesting feature exposed in this preliminary trial pit was a narrow north to south aligned stone built cross wall, which was partly supporting the present floor joists.

The overburden covering both of these earlier floor surfaces appeared to be all one demolition deposit, which averaged a depth of approximately 0.4 metres (1.3 ft).

Because of the number of possibilities for this blocked in opening, this feature needs further investigation undertaken in the future in the form of excavation on the outside of the building to shed some light on its character.

In order to accommodate a concrete support base for the proposed display cabinet that is to hold the Stepney armorial dinner service, a large trench had to be excavated in the centre of the room, which offered archaeology the opportunity to evaluate the floor deposits below the 17th-century floor level more thoroughly than was possible for the already re-opened trial pit in this room.

This surface had been covered over with a loose demolition deposit of soil/sand, lime mortar and wall plaster, which in turn had been compacted with earth.

Providence also allowed the recovery of a large fragment of medieval glazed pottery in the form of a jug handle from this underlying deposit, with a date range of between the 14th and 16th centuries.

In the 18th century this room was formerly a central service hall that gave access to most parts of the house, including a flight of service stairs leading to the first and second floors, Sir Thomas Stepney's Study, a low basement or cellar and access to the far eastern building now occupied by the West Credit Union.

In the early 17th century however, it is very likely that this basement area would have been absent, but the floor space itself would have acted as a thoroughfare, allowing access to the main house via small flights of wooden stairs.

Evidence for this emerged following the removal of a stone built block-in wall from the far northeast end of this room, which exposed a skewed cross passage leading to the building next door, remnants of 17th-century plasterwork, including the remains of a section of cornice and the outline for the position of a former wooden staircase that linked the two buildings floor levels.

Archaeologically, very little groundwork has taken place in this room other than a series of small trial trenches undertaken prior to the insertion of new services.

An interesting Victorian feature in this room became exposed when plasterwork was removed from the north facing elevation below the tall window.

This repair with red brick suggests that this work occurred in the early to mid-19th century and sheds some light on the appearance of the Stair Hall window at this time.

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.

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 was not fully completed until 1714, as is evident from a date on one of the surviving lead drainage hoppers.