7547

 

II  

Designated  

10/03/1953  

31/01/1997  

Pentre  

 

Powys  

Aberhafesp  

 

Aberhafesp  

306554  

292584  

N  

Located on the N side of the B4568 at the W end of Aberhafesp village. The house is positioned on a slope with the entrance facing down hill. It has a roughly circular front garen with orchards beyond, and timber barns to the rear.  

Domestic  

 

The house was originally a Medieval hall-house, partially cruck-framed with a cross passage and smoke bay. Perhaps by 1600, the walls had been raised to form the current one and a half storeys and a large chimney had been inserted into the S bay of the hall, backing onto the cross passage. In 1706, a porch was built in front of the entrance, which has an inscription, now hard to see, but apparently reading: R.I. (or T.) B. 1706: O.E.C. At the same time, a second chimney was inserted, backing onto the first and in the position of the former cross passage. This development resulted in the lobby entry plan-form typical of the Severn Valley house in c 1700. Probably also in the early C18, a kitchen wing was added at the N end of the house.  

L-shaped house of one and a half storeys, with wide, 2-storey, gabled porch just S of centre. Timber framed under slate roofs with a mixture of square and narrow panels. In some cases, the framing has been faced or replaced with masonry, brickwork, corrugated iron or timber cladding. The main range is orientated N-S with the added kitchen range running W from the N end. There is a large, single storey lean-to on the W side of the main range, a series of lean-tos to the N gable end, and a single storey glass house at the S end. There are 4 chimneys: a substantial red brick central stack with decorative pots of C19 pattern; an external masonry stack at the W gable end of the kitchen; and small brick stacks at the SW and NE corners of the main range. The front elevation is a long, 4-window range, with porch spanning the S bay of the hall. The porch gable has square panels below the mid rail, much narrower panelling above, with diagonal struts at the apex. The entrance contains French doors, with a small canopy in front supported on poles. The 2nd storey has two 4-pane iron casement windows with a stud removed to accommodate them. To the left of the porch is the former parlour. The top row of narrow box panels survive though some studs are painted on. Below, the wall is timber clad and contains a 12-pane sash window with louvered shutters. To the right hand side of the porch, the upper row of wide spaced studs and infill panels survive, but the lower 2 rows have been mainly replaced by black-and-white painted masonry and brickwork. There are 3 C17 windows possibly in their original positions, square, 9-pane wooden casements, with cast iron opening lights in the centre. The window nearest the porch has diamond quarry glazing, while that at the N end is missing the lower transom. There is a dormer above the left hand window containing a small, 4 pane casement. The S gable end of the range has been rebuilt in brickwork, painted black and white, with a protruding sill band of 3 bricks, the centre one of which is dentilled. There is a 12-pane sash window in the gable, and French windows below which lead to the glass house. To the rear (W), the range is mainly corrugated iron clad with a planked rear door with small light, a C20 window to the S and a dormer above containing a small, 4-pane casement. There is a large corrugated iron clad lean-to towards the S end which contains C20 casements and a door. The south elevation of the west wing consists of 4 rows of narrow panels, with one ground floor window as on the front of the main range and a similar 6-pane casement above. There is a C20 door into the kitchen near the angle with the main range. The rear of the W wing is also timber framed, but is mainly obscured by a masonry lean-to. The W gable end is weather-boarded around the large masonry stack, beyond which there was formerly a washroom.  

Originally, the house consisted of a 2-bay hall, outer room and inner room(s). The S bay of the hall is now occupied by the 2 back-to-back stacks and there are no remains of the cross passage. The smoke bay was probably in the N bay of the hall, and there are said to be smoke-blackened beams in the attic. The hall has a panelled fireplace and a deeply chamfered spine beam with cut stops. The subsidiary beam is also chamfered. Access to the outer room (parlour) is via a passageway to the E of the stacks, which has been incorporated into the area inside the later porch. The main staircase also rises from the E side of the stacks. The outer room has 2 spine beams which are boxed in. A second doorway on the W side of the stack leads into the W lean-to extension. The inner room also has a boxed in spine beam and there is a rear staircase. There are small service rooms to the N in a series of lean-tos, and box panelling representing the original N gable end is visible. The kitchen wing is entered from the inner room, and has a spine beam with small chamfers. Other details of the house include flagstone floors and panelled doors. The first floor reveals 2 large through purlins; the loft (above collar beam level) was viewed at the S end only. Framing round S stack has clearly been reused from elsewhere.  

Listed as a Medieval hall-house subsequently altered between the C16 to C18 and showing the key stages which led to the development of the lobby entry plan-form. Although much of the timber frame within is not visible, the house retains significant early fabric. Much of the detail is well preserved, particularly the C19 windows.