Stable and cow house at Lanelay Farm

Location

Approximately 3km E of Llanharan, set back on the W side of minor road to Ynysmaerdy and N of Lanelay Hall at Talbot Green.

History

Built in the third quarter of the C19 and first shown on the Ordnance Survey of 1875, replacing an earlier range shown here on the Llanharan Tithe Map of 1846. Part of the earlier range is incorporated into the later building. The range was built against the kitchen garden wall of Lanelay Hall, and was a multi-purpose farm building incorporating cart shed, cow house and stables, while an integral additional range was probably a pigeon and poultry house, later converted to a stable.

Exterior

A long stable and cow house range with loft, aligned E-W, and with a former pigeon/poultry house attached to the NE angle. Of rubble stone, part limewashed, with tooled dressings, and slate roof replacing original stone tiles. The S wall has 11 round-headed doorways. The doorway on the R-hand side is open and leads to the cart shed. The next 2 have boarded doors and lead to the stables. The remaining doorways open to the cow shed and, from the R side, the first is open, followed by 4 doorways part blocked and with inserted casement windows, followed by an open, then a half blocked doorway and with double boarded doors to the L end. Spanning the 3 doorways at the L end are 2 loft openings beneath the wall plate with boarded doors. Above the remaining 8 doorways are round-headed loft windows that formerly had casements but are now open except 2 which are blocked. The W gable end is built on to the former kitchen garden wall of Lanelay Hall. In the N wall are central external stone steps leading to a loft doorway. To the R of the steps the lower storey incorporates part of an earlier range and has a doorway and casement window under wooden lintels. The remaining openings have stone heads, which are segmental to the doorways and round-headed to the windows. There are 2 loft windows R and L of the steps. Immediately L of the steps is a doorway, while further L is an external stone stack, with a blocked former doorway on its L side. The E gable end of the main range has a wide segmental doorway for the cart shed and a window above similar to the S side.

Attached to the NE angle is a lower former poultry house under pitched stone tile roof. In the W gable end is a segmental arched opening. In the N wall are 2 narrow openings with brick jambs and stone ledges. The E gable end has a blocked doorway under segmental stone head, while above it is a pointed opening with a boarded door and stone ledge. The S side has inserted stable doors with brick jambs.

Interior

Cross walls divide the interior into 4 units, comprising a cart shed at the E end, 2 stables and the cow shed. The W of the 2 stables and the cow house retain wooden stalls.

Reason for designation

Listed as an especially well preserved C19 multi-purpose farm building of regional interest.