The Mount

Cadw's description

Location

Climbing up the hillside out of Cwmynyscoy on the road toward Penyrheol

History

This house probably dates from fairly soon after 1600 with a rear wing added possibly in the C18, and it has been little altered since except for the replacement of external features.

Exterior

Rendered over rubble stone with an artificial stone slate roof which replaced the real stone slates in 1993. A one and a half storey two room block with a small rear wing perhaps added later (see below). The main front has an early C20 part glazed door to the right against the stack, to the left a three light and a two light casement, all three features with oak lintels. Above these are the cut off ends of the seven first floor joists showing that there was originally a pentice along the whole of the front. The window sizes still demonstrate the different status and uses of the heated hall and the unheated dairy. The upper floor is blind on the front, dormers never having been added.
The gable elevation has a window on either side of the stack on the upper floor only; a two light casement on the left and a single pane window on the right. This lights the staircase and still retains one of the original two diamond timber mullions behind the glass. The rear wing has a lower roof line, a plank door at the join with a small two over two sash to its right, and above another small two light casement.

Interior

The interior is remarkably unchanged. The ground floor has a baffle entry into the hall which has a large fireplace with chamfered stone jambs and an oak lintel. The ceiling beams are chamfered with bar and run out stops. The plank-and-muntin screen is complete with the original doors at either end. The dairy behind the screen still has no fireplace. To the left of the stack an oak winding stair with solid treads rises to the upper floor which is still lit only by garret windows in the gable ends. The floor boards survive, and there is a three bay roof with two raised cruck trusses with tie beams and two tiers of purlins. The truss between the rooms continues with the original lath-and-plaster in-fill, and the door also survives. The rear wing was not inspected so its date remains uncertain. It may be an addition or it may even be contemporary as the small upstairs window perhaps suggests.

Reason for designation

This is an exceptionally unaltered house from early in the C17 and has a number of good quality interior features.