Little Llwygy Farmhouse

Little Llwygy Farmhouse

This house consists of two distinct parts of different periods and heights. Only the taller section is currently occupied; the doorway between them is now closed. Both parts are constructed of roughly coursed red sandstone rubble, mostly painted. The taller section has a concrete tile roof reproducing stone tiles, while the lower section is roofed in corrugated steel sheeting.

The original section is a tiny single-cell block measuring 19 feet 9 inches by 25 feet 3 inches externally. It has a plank door in a plain frame and a 6-light oak mullioned window to the left, both with oak lintels featuring hollow chamfers (two are modern reproduction). A small lean-to shed with stone tile roof adjoins to the right. The end gable stack is weathered for thatch. The gable end has an unglazed oak-framed window of 3 lights under a timber lintel with a dripmould over it; this lights the stair and is an alteration. There is also a small drip to the left, though it is unclear from the stonework whether there was a window below it. The rear wall has a long timber lintel with dripmould over an uncertain opening, and a smaller opening to the right with a small casement window.

The original house appears to have been an open hall into which a fireplace, upper floor, and doorway to the new part were later inserted. The floor slopes sharply and is paved over the natural rock outcrop. The single room was originally open to the roof without a fireplace, as the original roof timbers are all heavily smoke blackened. The roof has two raised cruck trusses, halved and pegged, with two tiers of trenched purlins and a ridge piece; many secondary rafters are also blackened. The ties have been removed, presumably when the floor was inserted. The introduced features include the fireplace with monolithic jambs and lintel, the hearth-stair (not bonded into the wall), and the upper floor, which can clearly be seen to have been inserted, particularly at the house end where brackets to carry a beam have been introduced into the wall. The floor joists are chamfered with lamb's tongue stops; none of these timbers are blackened. Most of this introduced floor has since been removed.

The early 17th-century section has two storeys and an attic and originally appears to have been a single-cell cross-gable block, though the roof has been partially reconstructed so that it now has three gables rather than four. The entrance elevation abuts the old house with the door set at right angles to the front wall of the original part. The doorway has an old dripmould over it, but it has been partly reconstructed and the door is modern. A small 2-light casement sits on the floor above. The left gable has a 4-light oak mullioned window on each floor with a plain single light one in the attic; the windows are mainly reproduction with chamfered mullions and dripmoulds over all. A diamond-set stack sits on the gable. The next gable has a projection for the stair against the main stack with a 2-light window with dripmould on each flight. Beyond the stack there is a modern timber casement window on each floor with dripmoulds. The stack is topped by a large diamond-set shaft with weathered cap. The garden elevation has modern patio doors under a long stone drip; this unusually large opening suggests a 6-light window originally and demonstrates the grandeur of the ground floor room. Above is a modern casement under a drip in what would have been a 3-light window.

The early 17th-century extension is a square block with one room on the ground floor, two above, and an attic. The ground floor room must have been quite grand with its 6-light window, but all features except the stair door are now modern. The ceiling is on RSJs and the floor above has been renewed. The staircase is particularly fine with stone treads on the lower flight and solid oak ones to the attic, with soffits carefully shaped to give headroom. The doors at the bottom of each flight are plank with canted heads; the doorhead of the lower flight is carefully shaped in oak. The first floor ceiling beams are chamfered with pyramid (broach) stops. The attic floor may have the original boards but is covered over. The roof has principal rafters with trenched purlins, originally designed to give a cross-gabled roof, but this has been altered as described above.