History

Probably early/mid C17, 1620-40; and apparently neither significantly altered nor extended apart from a small addition on the garden side present when Fox and Raglan visited in c1950, and now recently rebuilt. This makes the house something of a rarity. It has an early example of parlour larger than hall and thus marks a development of this house type, but it is also old fashioned in having leaded moulded wooden mullioned windows under angled dripstones.

Exterior

Built of wholly painted local rubblestone with Welsh slate roofs and rebuilt stacks in grey engineering brick. Three room cross-passage plan, though with the parlour larger than the hall, taller chamber block, lower in-line service range. This type of arrangement may suggest a detached kitchen originally, but no evidence remains. Two storeys but now with the attic in use above the chambers.
The entrance elevation has the chamber block on the left and the service end on the right. Four windows to whole with the cross-passage entry in the centre at the join of the ranges. Four light windows to the left on the ground floor with 3-light ones above, all leaded lattice moulded timber mullioned windows under angled dripstones. To the right is one similar window, but the lower one is larger, modern and without drip, and the upper one is unleaded, additional 2-light window on each floor. Modern door in ashlar 'Tudor' entry under dripstone. Very steeply pitched roof to left end, moderately so the lower service end, two Velux roof-lights to each roof. The higher roof has paired gable stacks with diamond set shafts renewed in brick.
Small stair window to left return gable.
The rear elevation is similar, with original ovolo-moulded mullions, 4-light below and 3-light above. The cross-passage entry is hidden by a lean-to porch and utility room which has been renewed in the late C20 but one of similar appearance was present at the time of Fox and Raglan's visit. To the left of this are a 2-light window below and a 3-light one above, plain C17 doorway with plank door to left, transferred from the cross-passage entry. Two roof-lights to each roof as before; these are replacements, but rooflights were present for Fox and Raglan.

Interior

The interior has had one of the cross-passage doorways, with roll-and-hollow moulding, transferred to service room. Stone ashlar doorway with 4-centred head into hall from cross-passage. Post-and-panel partition between parlour and hall has some early painted decoration with large interlace of yellow ribbons in diamond pattern, presumably long hidden behind a press. Plainly chamfered ceiling joists with lambs' tongue stops. The larger size of the parlour demonstrates the move towards more private living with the servants separated. Two spiral stairs, one with paired ornate shaped door-heads on the upper floor showing the house is all one date, the other in the parlour, with solid oak treads, rising to the attic. Two large principal rafter trusses with notched scarfed collars and trenched purlins.

Reasons for Listing

Included and highly graded as an important and little altered early C17 farmhouse with rare interior features.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Berllan-deg at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17744036

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record