17442

 

II*  

Designated  

18/10/1996  

18/10/1996  

Ynys-felen  

 

Ceredigion  

Llanfihangel Ystrad  

Lampeter  

Dihewyd  

249579  

254523  

 

At end of track off E side of Dihewyd-Troedyrhiw by-road, 1.8km SE of Dihewyd.  

Domestic  

 

A complex and unusually substantial building. Early C18 with possible earlier origins (a medieval hall-house is tentatively suggested by the RCAHM). Probably originally a 2-unit plan with downslope byre, the latter long gone. Extended c1800 (at the parlour end) to form a 3-unit plan with front entry replacing cross-passage entry. Enlarged again before 1845 (separate large back kitchen with sleeping loft), when the present layout is indicated on the Tithe map. Owned in 1845 by Rev John Davies and occupied by James Davies (50 hectares). Abandoned in 1954.  

Long whitewashed 4-bay front (E) range. Rubble construction with cob under the eaves and to right gable. Corrugated-iron roof over thatch, wide boarded eaves. Massive rubble chimney stack to left gable (right stack removed), gable stack to rear wing. Front has WDWW with timber lintels and stone sills. C19/early C20 two-light 6-pane casements, door missing. Wall thickens to right of door, indicating c1800 extension at parlour end. Left end partly collapsed, joints of former cross-passage door. Right end with 6-pane attic window. Blank rear, largely of cob. Large two-storey rear wing connected by a small narrow room to the main heated room, but was formerly separate. Kitchen of rubble and cob, the gable much rebuilt in brick. S elevation with remains of three large buttresses, 4-pane sash to left and small window to right with stone lintel. N side with central stone steps to boarded loft door. Ground floor door and window to left of steps.  

Front range originally of 3-unit plan, the divisions mostly removed. Part of a post and panel partition survives in situ with narrow chamfered posts and wide panels. This is a rare early C18 survival (only 6 now known in Cardiganshire, 2 in Carmarthenshire). Wide fireplace in main room with roughly chamfered bressumer and modern tiled grate. Massive roughly chamfered beams. Ladder stair to loft. Roof structure complete. Older portion has 3 pairs of scarfed crucks with high lapped collars. Added part has just one pair of scarfed crucks. Pole and wattle underthatch. Some wall-posts visible. The S pair of crucks are partly embedded in the chimney-wall, indicating that the chimney is inserted: this and the smoke blackening in the roof might suggest a core of a cruck-framed medieval house, the sheltered downslope site also show early foundations. Rear kitchen has modern grate and rough beams. In deteriorating condition at time of inspection (January 1996).  

Listed Grade II* for historic interest as an extremely unusual large vernacular farmhouse of regional character with possible medieval origins. Unusual plan with outside kitchen, rare in SW Wales. Roof construction and early C18 partition intact.