History

Late C19 cottage(s). Following the death of William Gruffydd Oakeley of Plas Tan-y-bwlch in 1835, the estate was left to his widow Louisa Jane Oakeley and then on to William Edward Oakeley, William Gruffydd's nephew. Louisa suddenly left Maentwrog in 1868 and did not return before her death in 1878. The estate was therefore left under the management of William Edward Oakeley from 1869 onwards and despite the depletion of the family fortune and the decline in the slate industry towards the end of the C19, he embarked on a programme of rebuilding and improvement of the estate. He rebuilt many of the houses in the village and also extended the village with the erection of several new properties to the S and W end of the village. One of the buildings built at this time was the school, erected in 1871-2, the cottages were probably built shortly after.
Offered up for sale in the auction of the Plas Tan-y-bwlch estate, 1910, in Lot 12 'The Picturesque Rural Village of Maentwrog'. The property is thought to have been that described as Storehouse - a pair of cottages, occupied by G M Richards and J Richards, for an annual rent of £2-15s-0d and £2-10s-0d respectively.

Exterior

Two storey cottage, originally a pair, a linear range of mortared rubble masonry with long stones as lintels. Vernacular character, in contrast to the estate signature employed elsewhere in the village. Slate roof with stone gable stacks with dripstones and capping. A long 5-window range with doorway offset to the L (E); former doorway in the 2nd opening from R end, now partially blocked and with a window in the upper part. The doorway houses a simple boarded door and the windows are timber casements of 2-lights; first floor windows over alternate ground floor openings and set under the eaves.

Interior

The interior was not inspected at the time of the survey (June/July 2003).

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a former pair of late C19 estate cottages retaining simple traditional character and forming a group with the haybarn opposite.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29506116

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

• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)