History

C16 farmhouse and one-time public house, with attached agricultural range. The house is first named in a deed of 1625 as 'Tythyn Ystymllan' and was alongside the original Medieval drover's route from Bwlch y Rhiwgr to Bontddu and Dolgellau. Formed part of the extensive Cors y Gedol estate and first recorded in rentals of 1713.
The house is one of a number of sub medieval houses in the area, dating from C16, a regional house type of 2 units with end chimneys and cross passage plan, originally with hall to one side of the passage and parlour and service room to the other.
There are many records of the alterations and additions to the house and buildings as well as the ancillary buildings, (see M. Griffiths). In 1753 a new barn was built, in 1756 the door and windows to the house were replaced and in 1758 a new floor to the parlour was laid, new stairs built and repairs made to the 'celer'. In 1762 there were expenses recorded for paving and flagging the malthouse. In 1777 further rebuilding and repairs were recorded, amounting to £79.6s.8½d and the first Alehouse recognisance was recorded in the Merioneth Quarter Sessions - William Price the Innkeeper. The inn was not included in the 1759-1826 list of inns (DRO).
In 1792 there was the first recorded rental as 'Llanddwa Inn' and in 1801 William Jones replaced William Price as Innkeeper. He died in 1807 and his daughter Sarah took over the tenancy until 1833 when she was in turn succeeded by her son Robert. In 1809-10 the cowhouse was rebuilt at a cost of £30.10s.0d and in 1810-11 there were further repairs made to the Inn. In the tithe appointment of the parish, 1841, it is recorded as a Public House, and a smallholding of just over 26 acres; owned by the Honorable Edward Mostyn Lloyd Mostyn and occupied by Robert Jones.
In 1858 part of Cors y Gedol estate was sold by the Mostyn family - Lot 69 was field 6, Llanddwye Farm. By 1860 the estate has passed into the ownership of Mr Cockburn and in 1880 a sale catalogue lists Lot 67 - Inn, the estate then owned by Mr Ansell.
The house ceased to be a Public House in 1903 and in 1908 much of the Cors y Gedol estate was sold by the Ansell family. The Inn was then occupied by Edward Williams and was finally sold for £1000. The sale particulars record the Inn as having: parlour, front kitchen, back kitchen, pantry, wash house and cellar. Four bedrooms, 4 attics, and cellar in the basement. Ancillary buildings: Dairy, coal house, a 4-stall stable, 2-stalled stable with lofts above, 2 pigsties, cowhouse of 4 ties, barn, cartshed and potato house.

Exterior

Farmhouse with attached L-plan agricultural range. Farmhouse is 2-storey with attics, with storeyed rear wing and a second, single storey wing as a later addition. The front and L (S) return elevations are pebbledashed, but to the rear of the range the stonework is visible as coursed, mortared rubble with large stones as quoins and lintels. Slate roof with pebbledash rendered tall gable stacks with dripstones and capping. The principal elevation faces the yard to front (E) with openings symmetrically arranged about the centre; doorway in gabled porch with boarded door with overlight, and casement windows in the side walls. It is flanked by 2-light timber casement windows with slate sills; hipped gabled dormers to attic storey.. There is a single doorway to the rear, and 2-light window of 16 panes above it; offset to far R is a small 1st floor casement window of 2 panes.
The storeyed wing is at the rear (SW) corner of the house, with irregularly spaced modern timber casements. At the rear (NW) corner is a single storey wing, probably a later addition, with a single window in the W wall; to L (E) of the wing is a boarded door under a single pitched roof entry.
To the R (N) end of the house is an agricultural range, in-line but set back slightly from the house. It has a single boarded door raised by a flight of 3 stone steps, and 4 paned window directly under the eaves above. Advanced wing to north, a lofted cartshed with wide doorway to R (N) and a blocked 1st floor window to L. The range has been built against a slope, and has an additional lower storey to the rear: thus the rear comprises a 3-storey 2-window range with stable door to L (N) and 4-paned light to R, similar 1st floor window above with single paned light over the door to L and 2 loft openings, that to far R retaining the boarded door. To L of the doorway the range is advanced under a catslide roof, with entry via a stable door in the S wall, 1st floor window offset to R; single ground floor window in the W wall.

Interior

The interior ground plan follows the original cross passage plan, though the original partitions are no longer in place and the hallway now accommodates a staircase to the rear. The building retains some of the features of the buildings time as a public house, including the cellar and a 'servery' to the rear. There are inglenook fireplaces to each end and the central hallway has a boarded plank partition. The first floor bedrooms retain Victorian cast iron fireplaces and the upper cruck trusses are visible in the attic rooms. There are unusual diamond section stone beams in farm range.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a C16 farmhouse and former public house with a well documented history relating to the Cors y Gedol estate of which it formed a part. The building retains traditional character and many features which give evidence of its history and development dating both to the original build and later use as a drovers' Inn.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29506299

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

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)