Tal-y-llyn

Cadw's description

Location

In an isolated location set back from the NW side of a country lane c. 5 km NE of Aberffraw and c. 3 km SW of Gwalchmai.

History

C16 gentry farmhouse, part of which was built in 1597 for Hugh Wood (inscription 1597 HW MW in tympanum above SE window). The Wood family were ancestors of the Bold and Meyrick families, the latter one of the most influential landowners on Anglesey in the C18 and C19 (the farm forms part of their estate, centred on Bodorgan). The original ground plan and subsequent phasing of the house is uncertain, although all parts of the house have original or early window jambs, some of which have since been blocked. It is therefore assumed that the ground plan has remained unaltered since the C16 or early C17, although probably built in stages rather than as a single build. The front (N elevation) was remodelled in the early C19, and the S end of the S range was partly reconstructed in 1905, with a new doorway inserted, although probably replacing an existing door rather than an entirely new opening.

Exterior

The original plan of the house is unclear, but may have been based around the present L-shaped plan, as there are C16 (or early C17) window jambs to all parts. There are no clear divisions between the parts of the house visible on the exterior. Two-storey farmhouse with wings E and N; advanced wing to E elevation, small porch to N elevation (now forming principal entrance). Rubble walls, roughcast, with sandstone dressings. Slate roof with rendered gable-end chimneys; central chimney to E wing.

E elevation: original principal elevation. Offset to the right (N) is an advanced two-storey gabled wing with chamfered sandstone plinth on boulder foundations; hollow-chamfered cornice, moulded gable copings with pyramidal finial. Mullioned and transomed windows with pedimented hoods to E elevation (4-light) and ground floors of N and S elevations (2-light), with inscription 1597 HW MW in tympanum of S window. First floor windows to N and S returns are square-headed 2-light mullioned and transomed windows.

To the left (S) of the advanced wing is a 2-window range (largely restored in 1905); with a round-headed door set in a square frame with stop-chamfered moulded architrave; spandrels with 'G' to left and 'M' to right (for George Meyrick); recessed keystone with '1905' in relief; moulded hood. Heavily studded boarded door with prominent strap hinges with cusped terminals. To left is a reset 3-light mullioned and transomed window with pedimented hood. A stepped plinth leads from the doorway. Above the door is a narrow 4-light sash window with segmental head; to the left is a broader 4-pane horned sash window. The W elevation of the S wing is a 3-window range. Two-light mullioned window to the ground floor right with straight moulded label (possibly re-set), the other windows are 4-pane sashes of varied size; the 2 windows to the left are modern casements.

N wing: boulder foundations with broad rendered plinth to E gable. The main N elevation is an asymmetrical 3-window range with the hipped porch entrance offset to the right (W). Windows widely spaced and scattered, a mixture of 4-pane sashes and casements, mostly square-headed except over the door, which has a segmental head. The left (E) gable has a 4-pane casement window to the first floor. The right (W) gable elevation has two blocked small square-headed windows with moulded sandstone architraves (one per floor), suggesting that the N wing dates from the C17 or earlier. The rear (S) elevation of the N wing has 2 x 2-light mullioned windows to the ground floor with straight moulded labels; 4-pane sashes to 1st floor.

Reason for designation

Included as a good example of a gentry farmhouse with C16 origins, retaining important elements of the early structure, including pedimented windows (one with 1597 datestone), chamfered plinth and cornice. The ground plan has probably remained unaltered since the C16.