Tre-Ddafydd-uchaf also known as Treddafydd-fawr

Cadw's description

Location

Located on a minor road 1.2 km WNW of the village of Bethel.

History

Late C16 single-unit farmhouse aligned N-S with entrance facing E; C17 cross-wing added to N gable to form L-plan. The cross wing was extended to the W in C18 to form the present T plan. Back kitchen added to W side of original part, probably C18, with dairy added to S gable, and lean-to to SE angle of 'T' probably C19. The house forms part of the Bodorgan estate, Anglesey seat of the Meyrick family and by late C19 the largest estate on the island; and is recorded on the survey of the estate, carried out by Lewis Morris in 1724, at which time it was leased, along with Tre-Ddafydd-Isa, to Owen Owens.

Exterior

Two-storey vernacular farmhouse, T-shaped in plan with minor additions. All parts have rendered masonry walls, thin slate roof covering with rendered stacks. The original (late C16) part of the house forms the stem of the 'T'; an asymmetrical 2-window range with main entrance facing E. Moulded sandstone architraves and cornice. Gable end stacks, the original to the right (N) with hollow-chamfered capping, marking the extent of the original house. The S stack was added in C18. The entrance, to the right (towards the centre of the original range), has quarter-round moulded jambs with a round head set in a square frame, and a dropped and returned moulded label. To the left is an original 3-light mullioned window with chamfered mullions and moulded label. Moulded jambs, lintel and sill, hewn from single sandstone blocks, with an inscription to the right jamb reading: 'H W 2 6' (over) '1730' (or 80?). Two windows to first floor, that to the right a small square-headed with quarter-round moulded jambs, and small-panes. Six-pane sash with vertically-proportioned panes to left. On the W side is a modern doorway with some C16 moulded jambs reset on the inside (doorway now leads into back-kitchen). To the left is a C17 squared-headed window with plain chamfered jambs, above which is a smaller square-headed window with moulded jambs. A blocked doorway to the S end may mark the position of the original W entrance.

The head of the 'T' comprises a C17 cross-wing to the E, lengthened to the W in the C18. The cross-wing probably had its W wall in line with the rear wall of the earlier house, removed when the wing was extended to its present size in C18. Gable end chimneys with a projecting chimney in the N lateral wall. In the N wall, right of the lateral stack, is a re-set doorway of the late C16 with double roll-moulded jambs with broach-stops, and a square head with a moulded label. To the left of the chimney is a 16-pane hornless sash window to the ground floor with a 4-pane sash over. Above the doorway in a narrow 4-pane sash. To the right, the C18 addition has a 16-pane horned sash window to the ground floor with a narrower 12-pane horned sash over. In the E gable end of the cross wing is a 16-pane sash to the ground floor with a 4-pane sash to the first floor, not aligned.

Abutting the rear (W) side of the C16 house is a C19 single-storey back-kitchen with gable end chimney; rendered walls and grouted slate roof. Door to N side with window to right. Abutting the S gable wall of the C16 house is a single-storey dairy, with rendered walls and pitched slate roof, grouted; and there was formerly a horse engine to the S, used for churning. In the SE angle of the 'T' is a lean-to with a catslide slate roof (following the pitch from the cross-wing) with a raking dormer window.

Interior

The C16 house originally had one room only to the ground floor, with the principal entrance to the E, and probably a secondary entrance to the W side. At the N end is a large fireplace. The interior has been sub-divided and modernised. The older cross-wing is said by RCAHM(W) to contain two rough-hewn cross beams carrying the stop-chamfered floor joists; over the fireplace opening is a flat chamfered beam. The later wing and the whole of the 1st floor have been modernised.

Reason for designation

Included as an interesting example of a multi-phase vernacular farmhouse. Its origins as a single-unit vernacular farmhouse (a very rare surviving example of the type) are still clearly traceable, and some original detailing survives; successive C17 and C18 enlargements (with further service additions in the C19) formed a vernacular farmhouse of some ambition, which forms part of a virtually complete farmstead group.