Felindre Farmhouse

Cadw's description

Location

Set back from W side of minor road through Felindre, approximately 0.7km SSW of Cwmdu church.

History

Early C17 house consisting of hall and inner room, and an outside cross passage originally wide enough for animals, suggesting that the outer room was a beast house and that the building originated as a longhouse. The outer room was later subdivided to create a dairy. A stable and cart shed were added probably early C19 at lower end, contemporary with a barn SE of house.

Exterior

Two-and-a-half storey house with lower stable and cart shed at S end. The house is of rubble stone finished in pebble dash, and has a pantile roof with brick stacks L of centre and to R replacing original stone stacks. Main doorway to cross-passage is L of centre and has a boarded door under a C19 canopy consisting of a slab on 2 moulded stone brackets. To R of centre is a casement inserted 1950s, to R of which is an inserted doorway with boarded door and a canopy consisting of a stone slab on wooden brackets. At the R end is a horned sash window. Three similar windows to upper storey. In the R gable end is a corbelled first-floor stack flanked by 4-light attic windows with diamond wooden mullions (originally open but now with glazing behind). Inserted window R of stack in 1st floor. The rear has a central 2-storey gabled stair projection with inserted windows lighting the stair and doorway inserted L of centre with half-lit boarded door. L of stair projection is 6-pane horned sash (with C20 pantry window to its L) with early C19 8-pane hornless sash further L. In the upper storey are 2 C19 horned sash windows. To R of stair projection is a narrow Tudor-headed doorway (probably of later C17) with chamfered surround and a boarded door, beside which is a horned sash window, all contained within the original and wider early C17 cross-passage doorway. To R is a 4-light opening with diamond mullions and in the upper storey an enlarged window now boarded up.

The stable and cart shed is of rubble stone with substantial traces of limewash, and slate roof. To the front is a boarded stable door with strap hinges and an opening to R. The cart shed doorway is in the gable end and has a wide segmental arch, above which is a boarded door with segmental head.

Interior

The narrowing of the original cross-passage doorways is visible inside the building. At the lower end of the house, beyond the cross passage, is a dairy with salting slabs. In the dividing wall of the cross passage is a bread oven and original doorway to hall previously blocked up but lately re-opened. Hall and parlour now have modern partitions but retain cross beams with stepped stops. Boarded door from hall to stair has Tudor head. Full-height stone stairs (the lower treads replaced in concrete). On 1st floor the doorway to the attic stair has a Tudor head and a chamfered surround with broach stops. Its boarded door with strap hinges has been cut to fit and was evidently brought from elsewhere in the house. The stairs to attic are mostly repaired. At the top of attic stairs are doorways to each end of the house: at the higher end the door frame is chamfered with broach stops, at the lower end the doorway has a segmental head. The roof has tenoned collar beams and stop-chamfered principals.

Reason for designation

A good example of a local sub-medieval farm house retaining original detail of high quality and much of its original plan form.