Cefnmaen

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in valley S of lane to Gwehelog some 2 km W of Twyn-y-Sheriff.

History

Later C16 and C17 house, two-room plan with attic. Fox and Raglan noted that the typical 2-room plan with gable entry had a hall and an unheated inner room. a third room was added behind the hall chimney in the C17. In the original part, the partition was chamfered on the hall side only and had a Tudor door-head and the massive beams had a bar-stop to the chamfers. The rear wall had six early windows, of which they thought the 2 close-barred stair-lights to the left and the small close-barred 4-light to first floor right were C16 and the three others, two to ground floor and one to first floor, were all C17, probably of different dates as there was a reserved-chamfered windows to ground floor of hall and to first floor, but a slightly later ovolo-moulded window to the inner room. The use of hoodmoulds to the ground floor windows they saw as giving a date of c1630. The later C20 addition of a ground floor lean-to has resulted in the loss of the three ground floor windows.

Exterior

Farmhouse, painted roughcast with slate roofs and brick stacks to E end and ridge only, W end stack missing. Two storeys, 4-window range of renewed windows, two-window range to earliest part left of ridge stack, two-window range closer spaced to C17 section to right, between stacks, and this part has C20 gabled porch to left. Casement pair windows above, pair, triple and 4-light windows below. W end C20 lower addition, two storeys, one-window range.
Rear of main range has first floor single chamfered oak stair light to left, 3-light ovolo-moulded mullion window to centre and 4-light diamond mullion window to right. Ground floor is obscured by C20 slate-roofed lean-to but inside has tiny oak diamond mullion window to left and triple casement and casement pair (replacing the oak mullion windows shown in Fox & Raglan). C20 addition to right has C20 5-light oak window over a lean-to. C17 section to left has rear wing possibly C19, altered in C20.

Interior

From rear lean-to, entry into plain E end room. A massive Tudor-arched oak doorway in chamfered frame in end wall of original house, opens into former hall to right of E fireplace. Fireplace has chamfered lintel, to left is Tudor-arched door to oak winding stairs. Three beams with barred stops to chamfers, fourth formerly had post-and-panel partition and fifth over W end added fireplace. Diagonal stops to exposed oak joists. First floor E has 2 doors, chamfered flat-headed oak frame to stairs from below, and Tudor arched door to left, to attic stairs. On each stair is a diamond-mullion tiny light. Plain square beams to E room, fine post-and-panel screen with chamfered posts and shaped door head between rooms and W room with chamfered beams with stepped hollow stops. Roof has 3 heavy trusses without collars, one a partition, and heavy purlins.

Reason for designation

Included as a C16 to C17 house with extensive surviving interior features notwithstanding alteration to exterior.