Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse

Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse, Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse of late medieval origins. It is a Grade I listed building.

Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse
The farmhouse in November 2018 with major renovations complete
Type	Farmhouse
Location	Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire
Coordinates	51.8905°N 3.0047°W / 51.8905; -3.0047
Built	Late medieval
Governing body	Landmark Trust
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse
Designated	9 January 1956
Reference no.	1937
Location of Llwyn-celyn Farmhouse in Monmouthshire

History

The original farmhouse is a late-medieval hall house of c.1420.^[1] In the late 17th century, both the hall, and the attached solar block were horizontally divided to create two-storeyed buildings.^[2] An outhouse, with what was originally a free-standing kitchen, was linked to the main block in the 19th century, when the farm was part of the Llanthony Priory estate and owned by the poet Walter Savage Landor.^[3]

There were subsequently almost no alterations made to the building for over 100 years.^[2] By the early 21st century, the house was in a state of decay and, in 2014, ownership passed to the Landmark Trust. The Trust commenced a £4.5m restoration, which is largely complete as of November 2018.^[4]

Architecture and description

The architectural historian John Newman describes the farmhouse as "quite exceptional, a complete late medieval hall house, all of stone."^[5] Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan, in the first of their three-volume study Monmouthshire Houses, give a construction date of c.1500, slightly later than that posited by Cadw and the Landmark Trust.^[6] The roofs of the, now two-storeyed, hall and parlour show evidence of smoke-blackening, indicating that they were "originally open full-height."^[5] Peter Smith, in his study Houses of the Welsh Countryside, notes the innovatory treatment of the hall and cross-passage.^[7] The exterior is of Old Red Sandstone rubble.^[3]