Gatehouse range including stabling, cowhouses and walls enclosing yard to south at Madryn Farm

Cadw's description

Location

Situated directly on north-west side of A 55 dual-carriageway with farmhouse to north-east and large modern farmbuildings to north-west and south-west; the gatehouse range is located on the eastern side of the yard.

History

Built in the 1880s as the model farm for Gorddinog, a large house nearby in severe Tudor Gothic style, built for the Platt family, industrialists from Oldham (Lancs.), who created a small country estate here, of which the farm manager's house and highly mechanised farmbuildings at Madryn formed an integral part.

Exterior

Model farmbuildings with long cowhouse/stable range on east divided by Tudor Gothic style gatehouse (the gatehouse range), a large yard for cows on south with mock crenellated wall to south side and 2 substantial parallel ranges north of the yard (the south containing a cart shelter, barn with granary above and smithy, the north housing the main stabling), linked by a connecting range on west. Mixture of uncoursed and roughly coursed rubblestone to main buildings with regularly coursed and dressed rubblestone blocks to gatehouse; slate roofs, of gable ended or lean-to form except for north end of connecting range on west which is half-hipped. The whole complex was formerly protected by a screen wall to the north (as still exists on the south side of the large yard) but, apart from a short section of crenellated wall in the north-east corner, this has now been demolished.

Gatehouse range is a long single-storey range on the eastern side of the yard containing stables to the north and cowhousing on the south, the gatehouse itself forming the division between the 2 parts. The range is of lean-to form externally (as it is on the inner [yard] face) and has a series of mullioned and transomed windows, occasional plank doors and scattered glazed panels in roof. Gatehouse has voussoirs to Tudor archway, above which is moulded cornice and clock flanked by narrow slits; crenellated parapet, continued to returns, and octagonal corner turrets; lead-capped cupola with weathervane behind parapet. On the yard side the gatehouse range is much as externally, the stables being particularly well lit by paired mullioned and transomed windows alternating with boarded doors and ventilated by triangular vents in roofslope with further vents to ridge; 3 full-height wide openings at north end.

Wall on south side of large (southern) yard is crenellated with ventilation slits in the form of cross-shaped arrow loops to lean-to calving sheds facing on to yard; slightly projecting square corner turrets with lower section of wall terminating in another turret to east on roadside. Range of west side of this yard is also of lean-to form but the slates have been replaced by asbestos sheeting.

Interior

Stables retain partitions, hay racks, slate and cobbled floors; A-frame roof trusses to both stables and cowhousing.

Reason for designation

Included, despite a degree of C20 alteration and limited demolition, as an integral part of a largely complete late C19 model farm of a comparatively small country estate, important for showing the extent to which such farms were by this date becoming highly mechanised, almost industrial units.