Coedweddus

Coedweddus is a long, three-unit farmhouse dating from the 17th century, originally a single-storey building with a loft. It is constructed of colour-washed rubble stone, with cruck timbers visible within the two right-hand units, and has a thatched roof now covered with corrugated iron. Two stacks, originally axial and at the right-hand gable, have been removed. The front elevation clearly shows the structural division between the central and left-hand (or upper) units and features an offset entrance flanked by widely spaced windows, the one to the right being a small-paned sash. A four-paned sash window is set in the right-hand gable apex. The left-hand unit contains a single window on its front wall (also a small-paned sash), and the gable is partially clad in corrugated iron, concealing a small loft window visible from within. The rear elevation is blind, but shows a structural offset between the lower and central units. Cruck feet project through the walls in the central and upper units.

The building is entered via a small passage in the lower right-hand unit, at the rear of the main chimney stack. This passage is separated from the lower room by a wattle and daub partition and has a cobbled floor, containing a staircase leading to the loft. A step leads up to the main room, which features a large fireplace with a chamfered timber lintel and an inserted cast-iron range. The bases of the cruck timbers are visible in both front and rear walls, and there are substantial lateral ceiling beams that are not connected to the cruck trusses. The walls retain significant traces of a decorative scheme in red and yellow lime-wash, incorporating a dado, frieze, and diaper work, over a cobbled floor. The upper unit is divided from the main room only by a partition and also exhibits visible bases of cruck trusses at the front and rear, suggesting it was used as a dairy or cool room. The lower room, with traces of painted paper and lime-wash decoration, contains a small cast-iron fireplace of late 18th or early 19th century style and a plastered beam.

A dog-leg staircase leads to a small landing which gives direct access to the room over the parlour. This room has pegged A-frame trusses and is lined with boarding. The roof over the landing has three purlins and broad cleft oak rafters, originally supporting thatch. A very low doorway opens into the central room, which has a substantial lime-washed cruck truss with a saddle at the apex, and is shouldered (and possibly scarfed?) at floor level. A rough network of poles over the purlins formerly supported the thatch, which survives to a considerable degree (incorporating extensive use of bracken as under-thatch). The end unit is also cruck-framed, although the character of the truss may suggest a slightly more recent date and retains remains of boarded wall linings.