Cowhouse at Pen-hefyd Farm

Cadw's description

Location

The cowhouse is on a levelled site, aligned on a north/south axis uphill from Penhefyd Farmhouse at the northern end of St Fagans village.

History

Penhefyd Farm was formerly the Home Farm to St Fagan's Castle, part of the Plymouth estates. The cowhouse is said to have been built in 1908; on the site of an earlier building shown on 1st edition OS map surveyed in 1878. One of the many improvements made by the Plymouth Estate to their agricultural properties in St. Fagans during the early C20.

Exterior

A designed estate building of the type found in model farms. Lofted double-pile plan, range faced in rubble with hammer dressed quoins and similar window and door dressings. The building is distinctive for its parallel half-hipped slate roofs and thermal windows to the north and south ends; overhanging eaves swept out to outer edges. Another feature characteristic of this period of designed farm buildings is the rounded jambs to the doorways, to avoid injury to cattle passing in and out. The south end facing the farmyard has a central entrance onto the longditudinal passage whilst the north end close to the fields has two entrances, to extreme left and right, and a central window. Three-window side elevations with voussoirs to square-headed openings; the upper parts of the windows are slatted. The yard elevation has cart doors and two rooflights.

Interior

Whitewashed brick interior retains original plan designed for tethering cattle facing towards the central passage. Full width tie beams carry each pair of trusses of the simple 6-bay, purlined roof. The building has been converted into an estate workshop during the 1990s with some minor changes.

Reason for designation

Listed as a well preserved example of a designated estate farm building and for its special interest to the history of St Fagans. Group value with the Barn and L-shaped farmyard range at Penhefyd Farm.