Former Cider House at Coed Ithel Farm

Cadw's description

Location

Immediately adjoining the east side of the A466 about 1500m to the south of the Church of St Oudoceus.

History

This building appears very likely to date from 1716. It is known as 'The Old Cider House' and its lack of chimneys and fireplaces supports an industrial use, but at the same time it is extremely domestic in appearance and has very smartly finished windows and other features. This farm is the site of the Coed-Ithel Iron Furnace (Scheduled Ancient Monument MM164 MON), but there is nothing to suggest that this building had anything to do with the iron manufacturing processes. The building was burnt in 1935.

Exterior

This house is constructed of roughly squared and coursed sandstone conglomerate, with ashlar dressings and neatly squared quoins, and has a pantiled roof, but this is almost entirely missing. It has a single depth plan and is built into the sharply falling hillside, the west end abuts and is well below the main road (A466), but this was probably regraded at a higher level when it was turnpiked in 1829. The building is of a gabled 'Cotswold' type appearance and is unlike any of the local houses contemporary with it. The falling ground means that it is one storey and attic at the west end and has an understorey at the east end. Two gabled main elevation with the entrance door between the gables. The left hand gable has a 2-light mullioned window to each floor, but not in line, hollow chamfered mullions. The doorway has a dressed stone surround, but the lintel is missing; this would appear to have been incorporated into the adjacent house, it is inscribed with a reversed winged bell dated 1716. The right gable has a slit window and a large dressed doorway to the under room, two windows to the room above and one in the gable, 2-light with hollow chamfered surrounds as before. The east and west gable walls are hidden by ivy and appear featureless, apart from a staircase to a first floor doorway on the east. The rear elevation has a pantiled shed attached. The west end is only single storey on the rising ground and has a dressed doorway and a later window. The roofing survives only over a part of the walls and there are no chimneys.

Interior

The interior has been burnt out and destroyed so as to be very difficult of interpretation. Charred floor and roof timbers remain. There is no evidence of any fireplaces having ever existed.

Reason for designation

Included as a cider house dating from 1716 and having a distinctive 'Cotswold' architectural character unusual for the area.