Dol-wen

Cadw's description

Location

Located above the valley floor, just above the junction with the road from Llanstephen with the road on the left bank of the Wye. The house is on a platform site with the earlier end uphill.

Exterior

The building consists of two parts, a C16 or earlier rendered stone built single storey with attic range parallel to the road, containing the hall and inner rooms, and slate roof, and a 2-storey forward cross wing replacing the earlier end bay in the late C19, of stone with brick dressings, and half-hipped slate roof, containing a sitting and dining room. Boarded door to hall, which has a 12-pane sash window, and casement window to the inner room. Two paned dormer windows with raking roofs. The cross wing has a part-glazed door with moulded canopy on cut brackets over, and 12-paned sashes to ground and first floors.

Interior

The early structure is separated from the wing by an axial fireplace inserted in the C16, with orthostatic jambs and broach stops, with a side oven. The structure consists of two complete cruck trusses, the truss over the face of the stack being the central truss of an open medieval hall, the blades having double hollow chamfers, stopping to moulded knee braces which rise to a slightly cambered collar. Cusped raking struts above form side trefoils and a centre quatrefoil at the apex. The blades are tenoned and cut off for a half-tree ridge. Three tiers of chamfered purlins, and wallplate is morticed on the soffite for former wall framing. The second truss, also with its crucks now embedded in the stone walls, is fully framed, forming a close studded partition with middle rail, and end door openings with chamfered round headed frames. Above, a centre post rises to the collar, which is half lap dovetailed from the hall side over the blades, and has an intermediate rail below. Two chamfered axial beams carry the inserted floor.

Reason for designation

Included for the special interest of the interior as including one of the small group of cusped cruck trussed medieval hall houses characteristic of prosperous farmhouses of the area.