History

This is an early C17 single unit gable entry house which was greatly enlarged in 1663 when the upper floor was rebuilt and the porch, parlour wing and a dairy wing were added. This created an almost symmetrical house which was upgraded with new windows and some fittings in the early/mid C19 and was further added to at that time. The house has been very little changed since then and is a remarkably good survival of a well-to-do late C17 Monmouthshire farmhouse.

Exterior

The house is wholly limewashed over local rubble stone and has Welsh slate roofs. The main house is two storeys and attics with two storeys to the rear wing and the extension and there are also two single storey lean-tos. The main block is a single depth central entrance plan which is roughly symmetrical (see History). A kitchen wing has been added to the left gable and a wing with a dairy and an additional bedroom has been added to the rear of the left hand room. The entrance is in a three storey porch with a gabled roof. The entrance is a narrow 2-centred arch of undressed stone and goes to the original plank door with three vertical planks with the joints covered by moulded strips, original strap hinges. The oak frame is moulded with a quarter round to the chamfer and the doorhead is shaped and carries the inscribed date 1663. To the left of the porch is a C19 3-light casement under an oak lintel, the form of the window above suggests that the ground floor opening, which was the early C17 one, has been slightly enlarged. To the right is a 3-light casement under an elliptical head. This has been altered from a C17 opening. The first floor of the porch has an original 2-light casement with ovolo mullion and leaded glazing. To the left is a 3-light Victorian casement as before, but apparently in an original opening. To the right a dripmould survives above a blocked window. Steeply pitched roof with single flue gable stacks with diamond set flues and in the cross passage position a two flue, square set stack. The right gable end of the main house is blind and has a lean-to with small window covering the ground floor. The left gable is covered by the kitchen wing apart from a 2-light casement window to the attic. The wing has one 2-light casement to each floor to the front and a lesser pitched roof. The gable end has a door with a 4 4 pane casement to the left, blocked door above; this was perhaps intended as a workers' loft. Lean-to to the rear filling the angle between the rear wing and the main range.
The rear elevation of the main block has, from the left, an enlarged 2 x 2 pane stair window at the storey level, a 4-light ogee moulded casement under an oak lintel (this is original as is the 3-light one above it), plain plank door to the cross passage, a similar stair window to the original stair and a 2 x 2 window to the original living room. This was originally wider but was cut off by the dairy wing. This has a small 2 x 2 window on the return and another on the gable, while the bedroom above has a 3 3 casement. These windows are Victorian.

Interior

The doorway enters the cross passage which has the stack wall of the original house on the left and panelling of 1663 on the right. The original house is entered through the gable door with a fine studded door of three planks with moulded raised strips to the joints. The door has its original strap hinges and the knocker and catch are also ancient. The door frame is moulded with ogee stops and a shaped head. Chamfered ceiling beams to the passage. The panelling is of two vertical panels with moulded studs and bar; 4-panel door in moulded architrave. The original living room/hall has an altered Victorian fireplace. and a stone firestair behind a C17 plank door with strap hinges. The ceiling beams are plain stop chamfered, as are the joists. This room leads to the much later kitchen, which is featureless, and through a doorway in the back wall into the dairy wing. This wing was added in 1663 and the moulded doorway with its 4-centred head and three plank door with strap hinges is original. The dairy was refitted in the C19 and retains some of its slate shelving and its flagstone floor.
The parlour, beyond the panelled screen, has a curious fireplace with an oak lintel decorated with incised flowers and scrolls as is the one in the room above. The jambs have been panelled with oak and have caps. The salt cupboard door to the left is also moulded. Timber stair to the left of this. This room has ceiling beams with quarter round chamfers and ogee stops as does the room above and both have plaster ceilings with combed mouldings. The upper room has an original plank cupboard door with strap hinges. Another room has a boarded ceiling supported by close set beams as if for a store room above. The attic stair is stone and reaches two unceiled attic rooms with a tiny room over the porch. Massive principal rafter roof with collars and with the principals halved and pegged at the apex, three tiers of trenched purlins some of which have been replaced. The ridge piece and secondary rafters seem all to have been replaced.

Reasons for Listing

Included and highly graded because of its exceptional preservation as a developed C17 Monmouthshire farmhouse. It is particularly well finished with many original features especially joinery.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Ton Farmhouse at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17744022

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

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair