Cwm Farm

This is a late 15th or early 16th century open hall-house, originally with a cross-passage plan. In the second half of the 16th century, a large central chimney stack was inserted, and the house was floored over, likely in the late 17th or early 18th century. Cosmetic alterations were carried out in the 19th century.

The house is built of rubble stone with boulder foundations and a slate roof, displaying a gabled form. The original arched entrance has massive stone voussoirs, now with a modern 'antique-style' oak plank door. To the right of the entrance is a small original window with a pegged oak frame, featuring replaced mullions. A 19th or early 20th century two-pane casement window is located to the left of the entrance, replacing a former 19th-century doorway. The right gable end was entirely rebuilt around 1979. The left gable has a contemporary end chimney that is corbelled out at first-floor level and is now partially obscured by a 19th-century rubble lean-to; a modern toilet extension adjoins this. A 19th-century catslide extension is present at the rear. The rear cross-passage entry is now a window, with a further original opening featuring an oak lintel located to the left of it.

The cross-passage is still visible, although it is interrupted by a 19th or 20th-century internal lobby that isolates the outer bay. Within this bay, the substantial inserted chimney stack obscures two cusped windbraces attached to the purlins of what was formerly an open hall roof. The hall itself features a fine original dais partition with chamfering and outer arched openings, along with clear evidence of a dais bench. This partition appears to have been moved slightly, likely when the hall was floored over, revealing chamfered pine beams and plain oak joists. A large inglenook fireplace features a huge stopped-chamfered inglebeam. The main window to the front retains its original lintel, showing evidence of former mullions (at least four lights). In the upper part of the hall, now a bedroom, the main hall truss survives, partially embedded in the later chimney stack. This is an arched-braced collar type truss with stopped-chamfered elements and an intermediate broach stop on the northwest side, displaying extensive smoke blackening. Originally, there were two tiers of cusped windbraces, although only partial pairs are now visible, disappearing into the chimneybreast. A plain collar-and-tie-beam end wall is present in the hall, formerly having a boarded lower section; the tie-beam has been cut at both ends at the wall. In the narrow chamber beyond (originally a solar), a large flat-arched, stopped-chamfered fireplace is situated alongside a modern window embrasure and some masonry disturbance on the right.

This late Medieval hall-house retains considerable historic character.

Reference: P. Smith, Houses of the Welsh Countryside, HMSO, 1988, maps 24, 52.