Pen-y-clawdd Farmhouse

Pen-y-clawdd Farmhouse is a largely 17th-century farmhouse, with alterations and additions spanning later centuries. The construction is of whitewashed and partly rendered rubble stone, with slate roofs. The building is characterised by a complex arrangement of gables. The south front features a two-and-a-half-storey, four-window range to the right, a large, two-and-a-half-storey projecting porch gable, and a cross-gabled parlour block, also gabled to the west and north. A smaller stair gable is paired with the north gable, with the upper section rebuilt in the late 20th century. Timber mullion windows with timber lintels are generally present. The south porch gable incorporates a cambered, headed doorway with a stone head formed of two large blocks. A 3-light window was inserted in the 20th century above the doorway, and a small 2-light window sits at the apex. Three-light, ovolo-moulded windows are found on each floor to either side. The main range to the right has four first-floor triple casement windows, three from the 20th century, with the left-hand window being an ovolo-moulded example from the 17th century. On the ground floor, a recessed, chamfered 4-light window from the 17th century is present, along with a 20th-century triple casement, a plank door, and a 20th-century cross-window. The west end block, which is cross-gabled, has a 19th-century triple casement on the south ground floor, a 20th-century 4-light window above, and a small 2-light window in the attic, moved from a barn. The west end is whitewashed and rendered, with the gable set to the right. Tiered, recessed, chamfered 17th-century windows are found here, comprising a 5-light window to the ground floor, a 4-light, and a 3-light window. These windows have iron opening lights. The north gable displays 17th-century chamfered mullion windows: a 3-light window to the attic, and paired 3-light windows to the ground and first floors. There are two basement openings, a 2-light window to the right. The stair gable to the left has three 2-light chamfered windows, the top one being 20th century. A return wall to the left features a heavy oak frame. The rear of the main range has three windows: three ovolo-moulded 3-light windows above, one to the ground floor left, a recessed, chamfered 4-light window to the centre, and a 20th-century 3-light window to the right. The east end wall has two boarded loft lights and a projecting, rounded bread oven, with stone-tiled cladding. A plank and batten door is fitted with applied fillets. Internally, the farmhouse is arranged around a three-room plan, with a massive chimney backing onto the entry, a parlour block to the west, a hall to the centre, and a kitchen to the east. A moulded stone lintel is above the kitchen fireplace. Plank and batten doors with strap hinges are present throughout. Chamfered and stopped beams rest on window lintels, and chamfered and stopped joists are found in the principal rooms towards the east. A stone hall fireplace has a large, wooden, chamfered lintel with a recess to its north end. The parlour, known as the "Swearing Room," features early 18th-century panelling and a raised and fielded door. Access to a cellar under the west block is provided via an external door in the northeast corner. A solid oak baulk staircase has a service chute from the loft to the cellar, with access hatches at various levels. A chamfered and stopped wooden lintel is above the first-floor fireplace, adorned with 17th-century Delft-type tiles depicting Biblical scenes. Decorative plaster moulding is present on the window splays. The porch roof has an upper cruck, while reused collar trusses are present in most of the roof, with earlier lapped collar trusses over the east end.