Uchel-Dref

Uchel-Dref is a Grade II* building constructed around three sides of a courtyard. The main range, aligned roughly north to south, encloses the west side of the courtyard and is two storeys with attics. Built in whitewashed render over stone with a slate roof, the main range comprises two principal rooms separated by a large axial stack. The central entrance is set in a slightly advanced bay, with 2-light casement windows flanking it on each floor and a 9-pane window above the doorway. The outer elevation has windows grouped to either side of the axial stack—three windows to the left and two to the right, with substantial buttresses between them. A single bay of lesser height was later added to the right, occupying the outer angle between the main range and the north wing.

The north wing is also a later addition, featuring well-coursed and squared tooled stonework to its inner wall. It has a central doorway flanked by casement windows on each floor, with the upper windows of tall proportions. The outer wall displays two small windows to the ground floor in chamfered splays, two 2-light casement windows, and a doorway accessed by steps above. Both wings have coped gables with moulded kneelers and gable-end stacks.

The south wing may form part of the earliest building on the site. Its courtyard elevation is largely blind except for a single 2-light casement window with a 9-pane dormer positioned near its angle with the main range. Its upper section is a later non-domestic extension, open at the gable end.

The west range comprises two rooms divided by an axial stack, now with a passageway running along its inner side featuring internal glazing that reuses iron casement windows previously installed in the rear wall. The present kitchen has a ceiling panelled with heavy chamfered beams with run-out stops and stop-chamfered joists. The north bay shows rougher detail suggesting the room was once partitioned. A low chamfered bressumer serves the fireplace, alongside a closet with a shallow ogee-arched lintel.

The staircase adjoins the stack on the inner side of the building. Its newels are dated 1686 and richly decorated with reeding and ornate finials, including a pendant finial to overarch at the foot of the stairs. Splat balusters line either side. The south room has a chamfered bressumer to its fireplace and a high ceiling with stop-chamfered beams and joists. A post and panel partition on a stone plinth separates this room from the southeast wing; however, it may have been inserted to subdivide a larger room, as the positioning of the main ceiling beams does not align fully with the partition. The southeast room exhibits ceiling height and timber character consistent with a continuation of the hall, featuring stop-chamfered transverse beams and chamfered joists. Its easternmost beam is grooved for a partition.

The northern part of the main range has lower ceiling heights and accommodates an attic storey. The southern bay, of two storeys only, has higher ceiling heights and features a highly ornamental closed roof truss subdividing the first floor. This truss has herringbone braces to either side of queen posts over a roughly chamfered tie beam, with raking struts over the collar. The western roof truss in the southeast wing appears to date from the same phase and is similarly enriched with close studding above the tie beam. In both trusses, the tie beam is above floor level and spanned by another transverse beam. The three bays in the attic over the north section have simpler trusses with slightly cambered collars. The first-floor rooms, whose layout has been altered by the creation of an internal corridor, have ceilings panelled by heavy stop-chamfered beams, including wall plates.