Pen-castell

Pen-castell is a small farmhouse dating from the 17th century, with remnants of an attached cow-house at its lower end. The building is single storey with an attic and has a small two-unit plan. It is constructed from locally quarried stone, roughly coursed, and features a slate roof with a single stack at the lower gable. The layout follows a lobby entry plan, with a doorway located against the stack and two 2-light casement windows with iron-glazing bars positioned beyond. A framed dormer is set within the roof.

The former cow-house, which is now roofless, is attached to the lower end of the house and has a single doorway next to the entrance of the farmhouse. Inside the cow-house, the gable end of the farmhouse shows significant evidence of its early history, including a blocked doorway from the 17th century long-house that provided direct access to the cow-house, and the scarring of a former cruck truss. A section of tie-beam at the back of the chimney is morticed for a king stud, with its vertical scar visible in the gable apex. The rear elevation displays various phases of masonry, including substantial elements from the 17th century made with thin slabs of stone.

The interior layout has been largely shaped by early 19th-century remodelling, which includes a plan featuring a kitchen and two inner rooms, one of which has ladder stairs leading to the loft. Much of the internal timber-work is also from this period, including a horizontal boarded partition between the kitchen and inner rooms, as well as the roof timbers. The fireplace retains a beam from around 1600, although the original opening was reduced when a bread oven was added in the 19th century. The attached cow-house still shows remnants of a manger against its lower wall, along with tethering irons and chains.