History

Built from timber felled in 1436. The house was probably built by a rhyngyll, or reeve, responsible for judicial administration in the lordship of Maelienydd. It was celebrated in a praise poem written by Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdal of Newtown in praise of Llywelyn Fychan ab Ieuan of Bryndraenog. In it the house is described as a 'proud maiden of lime and timber'. The original house had a U-shaped plan and consisted of a 3-bay great hall with base crucks, one of seven C15 examples known in Wales, with storeyed gabled wings. It also had a storeyed porch, an exceptional feature for the period, whose upper chamber had special status, and was perhaps a chapel or oratory. The outer wings comprised parlour, privy and solars at the upper end, kitchen and service rooms at the lower end.

In the C16 the house was described as the seat of the heirs of Hywel ap Madog of Maelienydd. From the C16 to the C18 the house was owned by Morgan Maredudd of Pantycaregl and his descendants. The house was altered in the early C17 (dendrochronology has given a date of 1615 for a repair phase). During this period the N wing was rebuilt in stone, with a short parlour wing added to the E front. In the great hall a gallery was inserted in 1636 with panelling to the ends of the balcony. Later alterations include, in the C19, extension of the S wing, and of the N wing by adding a stable and granary, and adaptation of the N wing as a separate dwelling. Much of the fenestration is C19, with replaced C20 windows.

Exterior

A U-shaped 2-storey house comprising hall with gabled wings. Of pebble-dashed and rubble stone walls, slate roof and brick stacks to the wings. Windows are mainly 2-light casements in earlier openings. The E front has a 2-storey gabled porch L of centre, which is open-fronted in the lower storey on timber posts and lintel. The boarded door to the passage bay has studs and strap hinges. To the R of the porch is a tall square-headed 4-light transomed hall window with ogee-headed wooden tracery. Further R is an added short parlour wing with lateral external stack, rebuilt in brick above the eaves. In its gable end it has a 3-light window in an earlier wider opening, and above it a 4-light wooden mullioned and transomed window with ovolo mouldings. The N wing gable end has a similar window a under hood mould in the lower storey. The window above it has been replaced by a 3-light iron-framed casement in a similar hooded opening. The S wing has 3-light replaced casements in both storeys.

The N wall of the N wing forms a 4-window front to a separate dwelling, with windows under concrete lintels. It has a central boarded door and 2-light casements, except at the R end where the window has boarded shutters. Further R is a vertical joint and the added stable and granary. This has a stone segmental-headed doorway L of centre with boarded door and 2 loft openings beneath the eaves. The gable end is weatherboarded, with a wide doorway on the R side. The corresponding S wall of the S wing has a 5-window elevation with uneven C19 and C20 fenestration, including an upper-storey window in an older opening, and French doors lower R. Further L it has been extended and is brought slightly forward, with two 3-light casements in each storey. The S wing has a further, C20 extension to its gable end.

Facing the courtyard at the rear of the house, the hall range has two 3-light casements in the lower storey, 2-light casements above. To the R end is a glazed door in a slight projection in the position of the hall passage bay, with small window above. The 2-window N wing has a doorway to the L, 2-light and 1-light lower-storey windows and 2-light upper-storey windows. A vertical joint separates the wing from the stable and granary. This has inserted wide boarded doors, above which is the segmental head of an earlier doorway. To its L are stone steps, with treads renewed in concrete, to a boarded loft door, to the R of which are 2 loft openings. A later flight of steps, also with replaced concrete treads, has been added to the outer side of the original stairs. The 3-window S wing has 2-light casements and replaced door to the R where the wing was lengthened.

Interior

The 3-bay hall retains its moulded base crucks with arched-brace trusses. Concealed by a plaster ceiling are 3 tiers of cusped windbraces, arcades of trefoiled ogee tracery above the collar beams, and subsidiary arched-brace trusses. The passage bay has a short section of castellated wooden bressumer inside the E door, but it is obscured by the inserted gallery, dated 1636, with stout turned balusters. A straight stair has similar balusters but sawn flat on the inner side. Wooden panelling is at either end of the gallery. In the S wing is a hall with fireplace and timber lintel, and with a plain joist-beam ceiling. The E wall has a section of exposed timber framing. The former solar above, now subdivided, retains 3 tiers of windbraces. The chamber over the porch has an arched-brace roof with cusped struts.

Reasons for Listing

Listed at grade I for its outstanding historic and architectural interest as an almost complete medieval house of lordship status, especially notable for its fine carpentry of the C15 and C17.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Bryndraenog at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17742956

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)