Trecastell Farm

Cadw's description

Location

Set back, along a private trackway, from the E side of the B5109 on its S approach to the village of Llangoed.

History

The history of the holding of Trecastell can be traced back to Ednyfed Fychan, chief counsellor and general of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, Sovereign Prince of Wales. He had 2 sons by his first wife, Gwenllian: Gruffyd and Grono. On his death he bequeathed to Grono the lands at Penmynydd, Tre Castell and Arddreiniog, along with other estates. Grono ap Ednyfed lived at Tre Castell and was succeeded by his son Tudor, who in turn divided the lands between his 3 sons, Grono, Hywel and Madog. Hywel died without issue and his inheritance went to Grono; Madog became the first Archdeacon of Anglesey and left his lands to his own monastery of Conwy. Trecastell passed down from Grono to his son Tudor, a great favourite of Edward III, and on his death the estate was divided up between his five sons: Grono, Ednyfed, Gwilym, Meredydd and Rhys. Trecastell went to Ednyfed, uncle to Owen Tudor (son of Meredydd) and great uncle to Henry VII.
The oldest part of the present farmhouse is the C16 fireplace in the W wing, which is all that remains of the earlier house. The present farmhouse was probably built in the latter part of the C19. The Census returns for the parish gives 2 entries for Trecastell in 1851 to 1871 (the other Trecastell being the adjacent gentry house); in 1881 there is only one entry, suggesting that this may have been when the farm was being rebuilt. Trecastell was quite an extensive holding, of over 167 acres(67.64 hectares), which formed part of the estate of Henry Williams Esq.

Exterior

Late C19 farmhouse, built to an L-shaped plan with lean-to addition in the NW angle and an advanced lateral stack at the SW corner of the W wing. Built of roughly coursed masonry of large rubble with boulders as quoins; some parts rendered. Slate roof with stone copings and shouldered gable stacks with capping. The principal elevation faces E, a 2-storey 3-window range with narrow central doorway under a shallow fanlight. The windows are hornless sashes with slate sills and flat arch voussoir heads; ground floor windows have 16-panes, 1st floor windows are unequal. The L (S) gable return is rendered as is the 1st floor of the R gable return which has a small ground floor casement window of 4-panes.
Entry to the rear of the house is through a doorway to the R (S) end of the lean-to addition, there is a small 4-pane casement to the L and a similar 1st floor window over the doorway with 4-paned horned sash window to its L. The N wall of the W wing has 4-pane horned sash windows to each floor; the rendered W wall has a similar ground floor window and the rendered S wall has an unequal 1st floor sash of 12-panes.

Interior

The house retains a plain wide segmental arch to the original C16 fireplace (now filled in).

Reason for designation

Listed as a good C19 farmhouse which retains a strong character in the simple Georgian styling which is an enduring feature of the regional vernacular. The house is of particular historic interest for its links with the Tudor family and retains a good C16 fireplace.