Ty Mawr

Ty Mawr is a hall house dating from the 17th century, built on a hillside and comprising three distinct areas within a rectangular plan. The building is timber-framed and stands upon a high stone plinth. The roof has been re-covered with graded slates and is hipped. The timber framing visible on the external walls has been largely reconstructed with square panelled framing, although some original timbers remain in the two gable ends. The lower gable retains aisle posts and arch braces to the collar, along with intermediate posts for an upper-level window. The upper gable preserves only the queen posts and elbowed braces to the collar. The building was lime-washed during restoration. Windows and doors are also reconstructed, with wide doorways leading onto the cross passage at the lower end of the hall.

The internal plan features a two-bay central hall, with storeyed outer bays, incorporating a small room at the dais end, a through passage separated by a spere truss, and a larger lower room. The gable and partition trusses are aisled and box-framed; however, the central hall truss is a base cruck design. This central cruck incorporates knee braces to a cambered collar, which itself carries a secondary collar truss, with cusped angle braces over the base cruck, culminating in quatrefoil motifs at the apex. Long, curved wind-braces rise in each bay to a square-set lower purlin or arcade plate running through the building; straight angle braces rise to the upper purlins. The spere truss defining the passage features octagonal aisle posts rising to brattished capitals, with large braces forming decorative quatrefoil panels (reconstructed) in each aisle bay. The aisled dais partition is square panelled with straight braces to the collar, while the aisled passage partition incorporates open panels, a cambered collar, and arched braces. Four secondary trusses are located in the end bays, resting on the arcade plate. The hall has a stone-flagged floor. A timber-framed fireplace, containing graffiti dated 1751, was inserted against the dais partition and retains wattle and daub panel infill (exposed on the inner face of the chimney); a later stone side oven is incorporated on the inner side. A reconstructed staircase rises from the hall to the upper chamber. The inner bay has been partitioned to form two rooms, though it may originally have been undivided, with reconstructed arched doors on either side; surviving mortices suggest this was the original layout. This bay contains three stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops and deep chamfered joists. A reconstructed staircase rises from the hall toward the upper room of the outer (service) bay, utilizing original mortices.