Cruck barn, Ty Coch, Llangynhafal, Denbighshire | |
Location: | Denbighshire, Wales, UK |
Pushpin Map: | Wales Denbighshire |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Denbighshire |
Grid Name: | OS grid |
Cadw Listing: | II |
Date: | 1440 Modified 18th and 19th centuries |
Ecclesiastical Parish: | Llangynhafal |
Historic Parish: | Llangynhafal |
Historic County: | Denbighshire |
Unitary Authority: | Denbighshire--> |
The Cruck barn on the Ty Coch estate at Llangynhafal, Denbighshire, is a timber framed building, which has been dated by dendrochronology to 1430.[1] It is one of the earliest timber-framed buildings in Wales. Although there is evidence that the building was a house originally, it was converted to agricultural use and is often described as a barn.
The significance of the barn was recognised by Cadw in 2002 when it was listed as a Grade II listed building. Previously the building had been thought to be 17th century.[2] It has recently been restored by the Denbighshire County Council, with European and other grant funding, as part of a small workshop complex.
It is a 5-bay cruck structure. The building was originally a house consisting of an inner room (one bay), a hall with passage (2 bays), and a cow house (2 bays).[3]
The end gables were replaced in stone, probably in the 18th century with side walls that are 3-panel high timber-framing, infilled originally with brick nogging, resting on a plinth of rubble stonework. To the north side the timber-framing is largely intact, but to the south, much of the timber-framing has had to be replaced. Timbers at the upper end show signs of smoke blackening, indicating that it was formerly a house. Mortices survive for wind-braces – two to each bay. The matching ‘blades’ of each cruck truss are sawn on only one surface, with the other surface curved. This is a result of the vertical separation of the matching curved branch that formed the cruck, after being cut from a tree..