Bryn Dethol

Bryn Dethol is a Grade II* listed house built on a sloped, platformed site and oriented roughly east-west. It comprises a main range with two parallel wings on the north elevation.

The building is one and a half storeys high, with a basement storey beneath the eastern end. It is constructed of rubble with render, retaining traces of graded slate roofs on the wings. The main range was re-roofed, probably in the late 19th century, in machine-cut slate. Both the axial stack in the main range and the gable end stack to the northwest wing were rebuilt in the later 19th century, possibly at the time of re-roofing.

The south elevation has an entrance and a small casement window to its right. To the left is a larger 3-light wood mullioned and transomed window with some surviving leading, serving the hall. Two raking dormers project from the roof slope above. The east gable end rises to three storeys and features a doorway at basement level with 3-light windows on each floor above, each with canopy hoods carried on brackets. A date stone in the gable apex records 1727 with initials £ over Ll. The northeast gable has a 3-light casement window with a similar hood, and a 3-light dormer window above it. Between the two wings at the rear is a doorway to the main range. The northwest wing has a doorway in the angle with the main range, and a 2-light window with canopy hood; the 2-light window above retains some leading. An offset doorway to the first floor appears in the gable end, with a 3-light window in the rear elevation.

Interior

The house comprises a 3-unit main range with two added wings. The main range originally contained a 2-bay open hall with an inner room beyond a dais partition at the upper (west) end, and probably paired service rooms to the east, later remodelled as a parlour. An entrance passage to the rear of an inserted hall stack features deep stop-chamfered spine beams, one continuing over the basement staircase (separated from the entrance hall by a stud partition) and another running parallel from the front line of the stack to the partition that formerly defined the lower end of the hall. Both these beams and their associated joists are 16th-century in character. A probably 18th-century inserted staircase stands against the rear wall of the former hall, slightly offset from the entrance passage. The hall contains an inserted fireplace with chamfered bressumer. Paired axial ceiling beams and thin chamfered joists appear later than the deep-chamfered cross-beam that probably marks the position of the original partition at the upper dais end. Behind this is a square-panelled timber-framed partition thought to be an insertion, possibly of the 16th century. Beyond lies the original upper room, now containing remains of slate slabs from its later use as a service room associated with the kitchen in the added wing. This wing has a gable fireplace (partially collapsed at inspection) and a deep-chamfered beam that survived in situ, though the ceiling has partially collapsed. The box-framed partitions marking the extent of the original hall survive substantially intact, with heavy posts carrying a tie beam above the present ceiling level and queen-posts to collars. Evidence for paired doorways is said to be visible in the lower partition. The central hall truss is a highly unusual example of an arch-braced base-cruck with a high-set collar. The parlour end below the entrance passage has two parallel cross-beams with deep chamfers, a fireplace with stone jambs and timber bressumer, and a stack serving the northeast wing also (not inspected). The lower end of the main range was substantially rebuilt when the wing was added.