Bryn-yr-hydd Farmhouse

Bryn-yr-hydd Farmhouse is a single-storey and attic farmhouse, likely dating back to the 17th century, constructed from rubble with battered walls and a slate roof. It has stone chimney stacks and initially faced southeast overlooking the farmyard. The front of the house has been altered with roughcast render and modern casement windows, as well as a recessed door. The uphill section of the roof has been raised in the 20th century and now features gabled dormers, while the original steeper roof pitch to the left is retained, with a boarded door entrance and a larger dormer above. This original section appears to have been used for animals or farm storage as it has no windows to the front or rear. The downhill gable retains a strongly battered base and similar window treatment. The rear elevation is notable for a tall, lateral chimney built onto a gabled "dormer," suggesting a later conversion of the downhill end into living accommodation. A central, gabled projection, added later, incorporates a winding stair and large dripstones over an attic window and a blocked ground floor window and doorway; the blocked doorway would have provided access to the stairs and internal communication between the two sections of the house, but was later blocked and replaced with a small window. A three-light window illuminates the hall at the rear, while an added rear wing, built using similar construction, contains service rooms.

The interior retains original cruck construction, with one pair in the downhill section, two pairs of full crucks in the main body of the house, and evidence of a fourth cruck built into the stack between the two parts. The apex of these cruck couples is not visible. Internal wall battering and thickness further supports the building’s early origin, and indicates the rear wing at the northeast end is a later addition. The hall likely dates back to a later 17th-century remodelling, probably replacing an open hall, and retains simple stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and parallel beams against the outer walls. A blocked corner doorway once opened onto the winding stair in the gabled projection, but is now disused following the insertion of a modern front stair. The attic contains largely A-frame trusses. Alterations are evident where the original stair stood, and in the downhill part, a fireplace has been cut to accommodate the lateral chimney. A stone oven is present in the main fireplace, and the cutting of the purlin supports the interpretation that the lateral chimney is an addition.