Ty-uchaf Farmhouse including yard wall and stile between house and barn range

Ty-uchaf Farmhouse, Grade II*

This early 17th-century farmhouse comprises two storeys arranged as an early 17th-century range of three bays with a south wing to the right, and a lower two-bay parlour range situated downslope. The building is constructed of rubble with extensive areas of limewash. The upper early 17th-century block has a steep stone-tiled roof, while the south wing has a hipped slate roof and the downslope range is covered with asbestos slates. A massive rubble chimney stands at the east gable of the older block, rebuilt in random dressed stone. The downslope range has dressed stone gable chimneys with slab tabling. The south wing features a narrow chimney breast on its east side, corbelled out at first floor level, though the stack has been removed.

On the south front, the early 17th-century range sits to the left, the south wing in the centre, and the lower parlour range to the right. The early 17th-century range has two 20th-century timber windows, one to each storey at ground and first floor level, fitted into original wide openings with timber lintels. The south wing has an upper 20th-century four-pane casement and a small window with dripstone to the first floor east side, adjacent to the chimney. The parlour range has 20th-century cross-windows with small-pane glazing—one to the ground floor centre and one to the first floor left of centre—set beneath cambered stone voussoired heads. A blocked attic window sits in the west gable.

The north entrance elevation shows the early 17th-century range to the right with windows offset to the right. Upper windows feature plain stone dripmoulds. The right window contains a 19th-century two-plus-two casement, while the wider left window retains its original sunk-chamfered frame fitted with 19th-century five-light glazing. The ground floor windows also have dripmoulds: a 19th-century two-plus-two casement to the right and a larger four-plus-four casement to the left. Extensive irregular jointing in the masonry appears at the right end. The parlour range to the left has added outshuts. The right bays contain a cambered arched doorway leading into a porch with a boarded door. An unusual tiny slit window appears in the west elevation. The left bay is further advanced and holds a small 19th-century two-plus-two casement window. To the right of this window is an attached rubble-built cooling stand with a slab top.

Internally, the early 17th-century range follows a two-unit plan comprising a hall with two inner service rooms. The original cross passage was altered at a later date. The hall features five sunk-chamfered beams with stepped curved stops. The fireplace has been reduced in size with a timber surround. A chimney stair to the right was blocked when the south wing was added, which introduced a new stone stair in three straight flights abutting the old winding stair—the crease of the latter remains visible. A fine post-and-panel partition, now painted over, divides the space with matching end doorways featuring Tudor-arched heads and later boarded doors. The northwest service room contains a 1930s single-flight stair. Unusually, the first floor also retains a post-and-panel partition corresponding to that below. A door at the right end has a stepped semi-circular head and oak planked door. The roof of the hall range has two massive trusses with chamfered collars and triple trenched purlins. The south wing has lower floor levels with steps down to a dairy, which features stone benches on two sides and several small recesses, along with three chamfered beams. The chamber above was not seen but is believed originally to have been a heated principal room, probably a solar, which was later superseded by the parlour. The large parlour is plain in character and contains a 20th-century fireplace.

The yard wall on the south side is rubble-built with distinctive cock-and-hen stone copings and encloses the lower end of a fine pitched stone yard. The wall runs east from the corner of the south wing for some 4 metres, then south to connect to the barn range. At the south end near the barn stands a stone stile with a single step and a large slab set on end.