History
Late C17 or early C18 house, originally probably 2-unit with hearth passage at the downhill end, and probably an example of an outside cross-passage house, in which the chimney backs onto the original entry. The house was extended at both ends in the C18 or C19. The farmstead is marked on the 1838 Llandeilo Fawr Tithe survey as part of the Taliaris Estate. In the C19 the second entrance and the dormers were added and in the third quarter of the C20 the windows were enlarged, the outer walls were encased in a blockwork skin, concealed behind a smooth render, and the ground floor and interior walls were also cement rendered.
Exterior
A 1½ storey farmhouse of rubble stone walls, all concealed by a skin of blockwork which is smooth rendered, under a corrugated-iron roof laid over the remnants of an earlier thatch roof. There is a large square stack R of centre and later end stack to the R. Openings have raised but plain rendered surrounds and there is a band above sill level. The front has 2 doorways of which the L-hand is C19 and R of centre is the original entrance, originally opening to a hearth passage, and within a rendered blockwork lean-to porch. Both doors are half-glazed C20 replacements. The L-hand doorway is flanked by square window openings enlarged, with small-pane casements, in the late C20. There are 2 late-C19 dormers, both with slate roofs, which have replacement uPVC glazing. There is also a small window beneath the eaves over the L-hand doorway. The L (uphill) gable end is at least partially rebuilt as it has a central attic 2-light window where there was originally a stack (visible on C20 aerial photos). The R (downhill) gable end has a C20 window and small attic window with replacement glazing, both R of centre. To the rear there is a 1-storey added lean-to at the downhill end, under a slate roof, and 2 inserted C20 windows further R.
Interior
The original house appears to have consist of a hall and inner room, separated by a partition rather than a cross wall, with added parlour at the uphill end and kitchen at the downhill end. Ground floor rooms have concrete floors, except for a small area of surviving flagstones in the original hall, and mostly rendered walls. The hall also retains cross beams and a fireplace with timber lintel (sawn short in C20), chamfered with simple run-out stops. The original inner room is divided into 2 small rooms which have boarded doors, and a simple steep C19 ladder stair, concealed behind a boarded partition. The parlour at the uphill end has a C19 wooden fireplace surround. The kitchen has a fireplace with cambered brick head, and in the corner of the room a C19 steep ladder stair concealed behind a later boarded partition. The upper floor of the original house has modern partitions, the underside of the roof is boarded, and the roof trusses are concealed, with the exception of one truss at the downhill end. This had a collar beam truss but the beam has been sawn off and fixed at a higher level.
Reasons for Listing
Listed, notwithstanding some modern alterations, as a rare surviving example of a pre-1800 vernacular upland Carmarthenshire farmhouse, retaining characteristic form with its low walls and steep roof, and retention of its ground-floor plan.
External Links
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
Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)