Cefnllydan

Cadw's description

Location

Isolated farmhouse to W of Gregynog, approximately 3.6km SW of parish church. The house is reached by a short farm road on W side of Bwlch-y-fridd to Adfa road. It faces S on to a garden, with farm buildings on the W side.

History

Late C17 timber-framed house almost entirely rebuilt in unreinforced concrete c1870 by Henry Hanbury-Tracy as part of the Gregynog Estate. Hanbury-Tracy pioneered the use of concrete for the building of cottages and farm buildings on his estate. The concrete was made from river gravel and brick fragments bonded with cement. It was laid in wet courses directly onto the wall using timber shuttering, and finished with a thin skim coat of render. The farmhouse remained part of the Gregynog Estate until it was sold off in the 1920s.

Exterior

One and a half storey house of unreinforced concrete consisting of a main range with rear wing. 3-window, scribed render front with gabled outer bays and central dormer; the bay to L forms gable of rear wing. Slate roof with central brick stack. Mullioned windows with timber frames (2-light in the dormer and gables of outer bays, 3-light in the lower storey). The centrally-placed porch is gabled with a chamfered doorway and is reached by 2 steps. The front door is ledged and battened. To L is the rear wing, whose scribed render lateral wall has a concrete lean-to porch and ledged and battened back door. The rear of the house has timber framing largely concealed behind weatherboards, and with small 2-light casements in the gables and central dormer. Behind the main range is a random rubble lean-to with slate roof, and behind the rear wing a random rubble lean-to bakehouse with brick stack.

Interior

Not accessible at the time of inspection (July-August 1996).

Reason for designation

Listed for its experimental and pioneering use of unreinforced concrete and for the special interest of its application to the rebuilding of a traditional timber-framed house. The house forms an important component of the surviving group of concrete buildings in Tregynon.