Pen yr allt uchaf

Pen yr allt uchaf is a small, linear farmstead, likely dating from the 18th century, built at right-angles to the slope with an associated farm range set back to the rear. The farm ranges are constructed of local rubble stone, a mix of roughly dressed stones and boulders likely resulting from field clearance. The front elevation of the house and the former house have been limewashed. All roofs are slate, with the exception of the barn and mill. The barn’s slates are unbound, and the mill has evenly sized slates characteristic of the later 19th century.

The main house has a near-central entrance, offset to the left, flanked by small sash windows; the right-hand window retains a nine-pane sash. A small cast-iron roof-light is positioned towards the right of the roof. Large chimneys with drip-moulds are at each gable, the left-hand stack serving the former house situated centrally within the range. An unusually deep, continuous outshut runs along the entire rear length of the house. The former house alongside has a near-central doorway and a small window to its right, although the wall to the left of the door is obscured by the later feed mill. The mill has a narrow outshut along its southwest elevation, with a doorway alongside, and retains an undershot wheel in a shallow wheel-pit against the gable end. A leat provides water to the wheel, running alongside the track from the mountain before passing under the farmyard. The barn, beyond the mill, has a small doorway towards its right gable end, aligned with a wider doorway in the rear elevation.

The house’s interior has a two-room plan and is fully lofted. A small, steep staircase with a turned newel post is present, but the original arrangement was for a croglofft (upper room) over the parlour bay only; the collar on the truss was later replaced and raised to accommodate the inserted floor over the hall. The truss itself has feet bedded into the wall and is halved and pinned at the apex. All roof timbers are limewashed. The hall features a wide fireplace with a cambered lintel and an inset cast-iron range, with remains of slate slabs visible in the outshut.

The former house alongside features a fireplace with a curved bressumer, but with little other domestic subdivision remaining. A wooden feed rack and trough along the rear wall indicate it was long used for housing livestock. The roof truss has a high-set collar and minimally jointed apex, appearing more recent than the truss in the house, suggesting a later rebuild. The barn has a wide span with a king-post truss of a later 19th-century type and a small opening connecting it to the mill. The mill retains a cog-wheel internally but no other machinery.