History

A farmhouse built on a derived longhouse plan, erected in the mid C17 (date of 1655 above the main entrance), by Colonel William Salesbury, Lord of Rug and Governor of Denbigh Castle, who heroically withstood the Parliamentary siege until ordered by the king to capitulate in 1646, after which he retired to Bodtegir. Abandoned as the farmhouse when a new house was built mid C19, and is now used as a farm outbuilding.

Exterior

Built of rubble stonework on large boulder foundations, the slate roof replaced c1995 with profiled metal sheeting. A little external rendering survives on the N side. Single storey, the plan now consisting of an upper end room of 2 roof bays, with a large gable fireplace altered later, and boiler, a main unheated room of 3 bays, and a cowhouse in line of 2 bays, all of one build. The upper end has a stone coped gable with stone kneelers, rising to a short chimney stack. On each side, one small window to the sides of the gable stack, and three stone ovolo moulded mullioned windows in a deep red stone, each with a moulded cornice over and iron casements, the last possibly of a later date. The cowhouse has a single central arched opening of probably later C18 date facing S. The main entrance is to the upper end room, from the S side, and has a deep unshaped stone lintel inscribed IHS / WI 16 55 S, set on megalithic jambs, all under a covered passage linking to the later farmhouse. The cowhouse is continued to the E by a carthouse, and has a later stone building in the angle with the E range of farm buildings enclosing the farmyard on that side.

Interior

The upper end room has a central blackened queen-post truss. Iron range with later oven and boiler on either side, the N window altered internally and later blocked. Stone partition with an off-centre door leads to the main room, and has a door in the gable to the probably contemporary loft over this chamber. Heavy cross beams with long ogee chamfer stops, the floor joists replaced except for the E bay, where they are similarly chamfered and stopped. The W truss of the two has no tie, but is roughly constructed, with chamfered arch braces to the collar. Two high-set windows each side. The N wall retains some original plastering, including a decorative panel in the E bay, placed high, with a moulded surround and raised inscription reading 16 (?) 6 / IHS, the H in the form of an M carrying a Latin cross. The stone end wall has a built in timber lintel, which does not correspond to a well constructed stone jamb visible in the cowhouse. The cowhouse contains 5 double stalls and has a central queen-post truss similar to the high end truss of the house, and blackened as the other two. The E wall has an asymmetrical door leading to a further C18 carthouse.

Reasons for Listing

Included at grade II* as a dated and unusually interesting example of the derived longhouse type farmhouse with good quality detailing, including ovolo-moulded windows and internal plaster decoration; also for its associations with the royalist hero, Colonel William Salesbury, Lord of Rug and Governor of Denbigh Castle at the time of the siege in the Civil War.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17738029

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas