Ty Coch house, sawmill, carpenters’ workshop, waterwheel and attached machinery

Ty Coch house, sawmill, carpenters' workshop, waterwheel and attached machinery

This complex of buildings on a sloping site comprises a house with integral farm range, a sawmill with attached machinery, and a waterwheel. The site retains evidence of its industrial and domestic heritage.

The house is double-fronted, 2 storeys, built of rubble stone with brick fronting under a slate roof with brick stacks to the left and right ends. The front elevation is painted black and white, dating from the 20th century, with a plat band between storeys and timber framing above. A central replacement half-lit panel door sits within a gabled portico with wooden Tuscan posts. These posts are said to have been made at Ty Coch for the first Caersws Baptist chapel and salvaged when the chapel was rebuilt in 1887. Early 20th-century wood-framed casement windows mostly occupy original openings. The lower storey windows have segmental heads, except for a 3-light 20th-century insertion to the lower left. Upper storey windows are 2-light beneath the eaves, with a small window inserted centrally in the later 20th century. A lean-to brick bakehouse adjoins the left gable end, with rubble stone walls in the lower storey and brick above. The rear is rubble stone, painted white, with replacement windows—segmental-headed on the right and left in the lower storey, and timber-lintel windows serving the central stair and an inserted upper-left window at the level of the original eaves.

In line on the right side is a 2-bay lofted farm range, with only the left-hand bay integral to the house. The front is weatherboarded with a weatherboarded and corrugated-iron gable end and a rendered brick rear wall, all under steep slate. Two former iron-frame lunette windows from Caersws Baptist Chapel have been combined to create a circular window, above which is a boarded loading door. The gable end has a weatherboarded lean-to with a boarded door and small-pane window. The rear features 2 doors and 2 windows, the left-hand door opening to a feed passage and a loft opening.

The sawmill is built on the sloping site, founded on a rubble-stone sill, and consists mainly of corrugated-iron over a light timber frame. The east wall facing the house is rendered brickwork under a corrugated-iron roof. Three large windows with 4- and 5-light small-pane glazing light work benches, with double boarded doors on the left side. The right end has a small-pane window lighting a stock room and a boarded door to a room below. The gable end contains a small-pane window to the stock room and an opening with sliding shutters through which timber passed directly onto an interior rack bench. The west wall has 3 similar small-pane windows, with a projecting tractor-power take-off drive wheel in the centre.

The overshot waterwheel is mounted above a stone wheelpit open at one end. It is cast-iron with replacement pressed-steel buckets and was cast for J. Davies of Dolgoch, Llanbrynmair, by the Eagle Foundry in Aberystwyth, whose heart-shaped symbol appears on the main axle. Power transmits via a ring gear to a drive shaft passing over the yard into the building. The timber water launder was rebuilt circa 1980s, with a short cobbled tail race.

The house comprises 2 units, both retaining spine beams with run-out stops and joists. The hall contains a large fireplace with a 19th-century surround. Boarded doors retain original strap hinges. Opposite the entrance is a wooden winding stair with plain balusters and newel on the landing. The first-floor square-panelled wattle and daub timber-framed partitions are partly exposed, revealing the original roof pitch. Modern brick steps lead to a cellar with tiled floor, slate bench and a well. The bakehouse contains a bread oven with cast-iron door.

Part of the farm range has been converted into a ground-floor kitchen; the remainder was formerly a small byre containing wooden cattle stalls and a tile-lined feed trough. The feed passage retains a rammed-earth floor. The farm range's 2 bays are divided by a timber-framed partition retaining one diagonal strut beneath the apex and 2 trenched purlins on either side, which appear cut off or terminating. This indicates the outer bay, contemporary with the sawmill, was either a rebuilding or addition to the original building. A square-panelled timber-framed partition between house and farm range is visible in the upper storey, where an added brick external flue was inserted.

The sawmill retains original machinery and a rammed-earth floor. Power is delivered by belt drives. The west side contains a rack bench running most of the building's length, fitted with a variety of circular saw blades of varying dimensions. A grinding wheel, band saw and lathe are also belt-driven. The east side has benches with vices. Steps lead to a stock room retaining original cupboards with pigeon holes.