History
In its present form, Gwar-ffrwd woollen mill was founded in 1884 by Thomas Jones and continued to be owned by the Jones family during its working life. The mill was water-powered, supplemented by a diesel engine from 1942. In 1948 the mill machinery is said to have included two looms, carding machine, hand mule, an old weft winder, a hand winder and a homemade fulling machine. Output of the mill was mainly flannel and tweed, although by 1947 it was limited to knitting yarn. Following a flood in 1948 production declined rapidly and had ceased altogether by 1952. In 1965 the mill was bought by Margaret Bide, who restored the mill between 1987 and 1992 and adopted the name Glanffrwd Mill, after the name of the C18 fulling mill on the site. Restoration involved renewing the roof, insertion of new windows, removal of the original cobbled floor and replacing it with slate slabs (mostly re-used and the majority from Stradmore Farm, Cenarth), and reconstructing the first floor with new stairs, floorboards and joists. Some of the machinery belongs to the Jones period of woollen manufacture, whereas other items, such as the spinning jack on the first floor, were brought from elsewhere.
Exterior
The mill is a 2-storey 3-window range of rubble stone with larger quoins, brick dressings, and a renewed slate roof. The S front has camber-headed windows with 2-light small-pane casements renewed in original openings, and double boarded doors to the L. The rear wall, on the bank of Ffrwd Cynon, has fixed windows in earlier openings, below a line of projecting drains at ground-floor level. The waterwheel is detached from the R-hand (E) gable end, where there is a single 2-light first-floor window similar to the front, replacing a former first-floor doorway. The wheel is within a rebuilt stone-lined wheelpit and is a cast iron overshot wheel cast by Ellis Brothers of Aberystwyth, restored by the Outlane Engineering Company of Huddersfield. In the L-hand (W) gable end is an external stone stairway added in the late C20 with re-used materials, leading to a first-floor doorway, which is also a modern insertion using salvaged bricks for the cambered head.
Interior
Most of the interior detail is restoration work. There is a flagstone floor, replacing original cobbles, beneath which is the line shafting for the machinery. This was a scheme introduced during restoration, as the line shafting was originally overhead. The line shafting is new and the pulley wheels were salvaged from scrap yards during the restoration. The first floor has new floorboards and joists, reached by a modern dog-leg stairway. In the upper storey is a 3-bay roof with sawn collar-beam trusses, and the underside of the roof is plastered. All windows have fielded-panel shutters.
The mill has machinery on both floors. In the ground floor is the carding machinery, in the form of a picker cast by Rhodes & Son of Hope Foundry, Leeds, a scriber and a condenser, which were made c1860 and bought for the mill in 1884. All of this machinery has been restored. In the upper storey is a loom for weaving rugs, of unknown provenance, and a spinning jack brought from a woollen mill in Aberarth.
Reasons for Listing
Listed for its special architectural and historic interest as a surviving C19 building associated with an important rural industry in Wales, notwithstanding some inauthentic alterations and additions, which retains some well-restored but original machinery and waterwheel. The mill has group value with the adjacent mill house and other listed items in Pentrefelin.
External Links
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
Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2