Bryn Hir

Bryn Hir is a large country house, largely dating from 1751, with significant additions and alterations from the 19th century. The main range is built with a rendered finish over a rubble base, topped by a slate roof with a prominent overhanging eaves, end wall stacks, and small, inserted dormer windows. The facade is arranged over two storeys and five windows, featuring four-pane sash windows on each floor. The central entrance has a traceried overlight above a three-panelled, paired door. A veranda with a glazed roof, supported by cast iron columns, runs the length of the ground floor. To the right is a gabled, single-storey extension, likely built around 1890 as a billiards room or ballroom, with canted bay windows in each gable end.

A rear wing incorporates the original cottage, which is the oldest part of the house. This cottage is low in height and two storeys, though it probably started as a single-storey structure, as suggested by traces of an earlier roof line in the gable wall. It has a single-unit plan with a doorway to the left, a rough stone lintel above, and four-pane sash windows replacing the original openings. A stack is present on the right-hand gable. A stone bearing a date is located inside the doorway. A later 17th-century extension to the south has a single twelve-pane sash window on the ground floor, and two four-pane sashes above, with a small gable stack to the right.

The cottage’s gable wall features a deep fireplace incorporating a bread oven, and an axial beam with a scroll-stopped chamfer. A later extension to this range also has an end wall stack. A present staircase runs alongside an inserted axial chimney, although the original staircase may have been located alongside the original gable end chimney. The single room within the cottage contains an axial beam with a stepped chamfer stop.

The main range of 1751 retains several original features, including a staircase located within the central entrance hall. The staircase is separated from the hall by an archway with fluted pilasters and rises through four flights, featuring turned balusters, a swept rail, ornately scrolled tread ends, and dado panelling. Two ground floor rooms retain original wall panelling, with an enriched modillion cornice in one room (southeast) and reeded arches flanking the fireplace in another (southwest). Several rooms contain late 18th-century cast iron hob grates.