Upper Bettws Farmhouse

Upper Bettws Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating back to the 18th century, with earlier origins. It is constructed of painted rubble stone with stone tile and slate roofs. The building comprises two bays to the east with squared rubble end stacks, a long-gabled cross wing with a north end stack, and a wider gabled west range set slightly forward. A raised and fielded panelled door is set in a moulded frame on the east range, sheltered by a later open porch. The front of the cross wing features a deep-set verge with a moulded bargeboard and pendants, and a remnant of a 17th-century moulded window frame is visible below. Traces of stone hoodmoulds exist on other elevations, along with some 18th-century bead moulded window frames, now largely replaced with renewed fenestration in a quasi-mullion style (installed in 1990 by Capps and Capps). An attached single-storey rubble stable block is at the east end, while a large rubble granary/apple store with external stone steps to a loft stands at the west end.

A portion of an ornate cruck truss, originally the central hall truss, remains adjacent to the central chimney stack. This truss features arch braces, a butt apex and cusping above a large collar, forming two trefoils and a quatrefoil. The west range contains a late 16th-century ceiling with deep chamfered broach stopped beams arranged in a cross pattern, with exposed counterchanged joists. This is the most impressive ceiling in the house, though the room lacks a fireplace. A small splayed corner to the southwest may represent the blocked remains of a former corner chimney, suggesting a layout similar to that of the Kilvert Country Hotel in Hay-on-Wye. The chamfer stops on the ceiling beams are set back from the present front wall, indicating that the room may have originally been a jettied timber-frame structure which was later encased in stone. A dog-leg staircase with turned balusters and a deep moulded handrail is located beside the central stack; it may have been moved from the west wing. A timber-framed wall partition sits between the stairs lobby and the east end room, with the ceiling beams in the room jointed to the headrail of the partition. Several good 18th-century two-panel doors and boarded doors with ogee moulded ribs are also present.

The extreme west range (formerly the granary/apple store) is currently being altered to domestic use. The loft floor has been removed, and a hammer beam-type roof has been constructed from the former roof trusses.