History

The Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal was promoted in 1792 to connect the upper Usk valley to the Monmouthshire Canal at Pontymoile and from there to the sea at Newport. Construction began in 1797, with Thomas Dadford Jnr. as engineer, and the first section, from Gilwern to Llangynidr was completed in that year, with the stretch as far as Brecon following in 1800. Work then stopped for a time with the result that the section to the Blaenavon Road east of Govilon was not completed until 1805, now with Thomas Cartwright as engineer. Further funds had to be raised and the last section from west of Llanfoist to Pontymoile was completed betwen 1809 and 1812, with William Crossley as engineer. Linked to the tramroads the canal was an important artery for trade in iron, lime and coal. In 1865 the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal Company merged with the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company who owned the connecting canal from Pontymoile to Newport. Later still in 1880 the MR&CC was bought out by the Great Western Railway and gradually the canal was run down until it was abandoned finally in 1962. Restoration work was begun in 1964, and the canal is once again open between Pontymoile and Brecon with the title Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. Goytre Wharf was opened in 1812 and the buildings there must date from then or very soon after. This building could be all of c1812 or have been partly built later in the C19.

Exterior

A tiny cottage built close against the canal emabankment and presumably intended for a lengthman. It is constructed of random local sandstone rubble with red brick dressings and Welsh slate roofs. An L-shaped plan with a main two storey block with a slightly lower extension and a single storey kitchen wing. This could be all one build or perhaps partly mid/late C19 to correspond with the window alterations. The entrance is on the inner angle of the L and has a later timber porch into the main block. This is gabled with slate roof; above this is a 2 2 casement with a brick arched head, a later C19 alteration. The lower wing on the left is blind but has a plain doorway with brick arched head. To the right the kitchen wing has a single light window and a gable roof with large end stack. The left gable of the main block has a 3-light casement below and a 2-light one above, all as before. The rear elevation has a 2-light casement to the ground floor of the lower section and one to each floor of the higher section. The gable into the bank is blind but has a partly protruding stack. The main block has one roof slightly above the other. The higher part has end stacks which have been rebuilt.

Interior

Interior not available for inspection at resurvey, but it must have very small rooms.

Reasons for Listing

Included for its special interest as a well built canal cottage, one of the structures surviving in use from the early C19 Brecknock and Abergavenny canal and a part of the important and attractive canal group at Goytre Wharf.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29502483

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

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living