Llanveynoe

44 LLANVEYNOE (A.c.).

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)XXXVII, S.W., ^(b)XLIII, N.E., ^(c)XLIII, N.W., ^(d)XLIII, S.E.

Llanveynoe is a parish on the W. border of the county and on the eastern slopes of the Black Mountains, 14 m. W.S.W. of Hereford. The church is the principal monument, but a comparatively large proportion of the buildings in the parish, which are of the small farm-house type, come within the Commission's survey, and a few date from mediæval times.

Ecclesiastical

^b(1) Parish Church of St. Peter stands towards the E. side of the parish. The walls are of local sandstone rubble with some ashlar dressings. The church, consisting of Chancel and Nave without structural division, was re-built in the 13th century. It was restored in the 19th century, and in 1912 it was lengthened towards the W. and the W. end entirely re-built.

Among the fittings the stone crucifix and the early inscribed stone are noteworthy.

Architectural Description—The Chancel and Nave (43¾ ft. by 17¼ ft.) are undivided. In the E. wall is a window of two cinque-foiled lights in a square head, apparently all modern. In the N. wall are two modern windows each of one trefoiled light; between them is a blocked 13th-century lancet-window; the original W. angles of the nave show in both the N. and S. walls. In the S. wall are two modern windows similar to those in the N. wall; between them is a modern or much-restored doorway into the vestry; W. of the windows is a modern doorway and porch; along the external face of the ancient part of the S. wall is a stone bench. The W. wall is modern.

Fittings—Crosses: (Plate 40) Re-set in S. wall— (1) irregular shaped stone (4¼ ft. by 1¾ ft.) with rudely carved crucifix with feet shown in profile, perhaps 11th-century; (2) irregular shaped stone (2 ft. by 1 ft.) with part of plain incised cross with partly defaced letters, XPC, M (? Ω) and IHC, at side the inscription HAEFDUR FECIT CRUCEM, IHC, A Ω., perhaps 11th-century. In external face of S. wall, (3) small slab with plain incised cross. Lying in churchyard—plain square shaft and head (6 ft. long) of churchyard-cross.

Condition—Fairly good, much restored, crack in E. wall.

Secular

Monuments (2–27)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of late 16th or early 17th-century date and of two storeys with attics. The walls are of stone rubble and the roofs are covered with stone slates. Most of the buildings have original chimney-stacks and exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good or fairly good, unless noted.

^b(2) Upper Cwm, small farmhouse, 400 yards E.S.E. of the church, is built on a T-shaped plan with the cross-wing at the S. end. The N. wing is a one-storey addition of early 18th-century date, and, with its more recent extension, is roofed with modern slates. Most of the window-openings in the S. wing are original and have stone flag labels over the heads. In the S. wall is a blocked five-light window with diamond-shaped mullions. Inside the building, on the ground floor, the cross-partition in the S. wing is original and of timber with stop-chamfered posts and a doorway with a shaped head and an old battened door hung with strap-hinges.

^b(3) Great Cwm Farm, two houses, connected by small wash-house and now in one occupation, 320 yards N.E. of (2), is of an irregular half-H shaped plan with the wings extending towards the N.E. The S.E. house is of 16th-century date and is of one storey with attics. It was either added to or remodelled and raised another storey at the S.W. end in the 18th century. The N.E. house is of late 17th-century date and of two storeys, and the connecting one-storeyed wash-house appears to be contemporary with it. The S.E. house has in the N.W. wall an entrance-doorway with a moulded frame, the N.W. building has in the S.E. wall an original three-light window with oak frame and mullions, and there is a similar window of two lights in the N.E. wall of the wash-house. Inside the S.E. building, on the ground floor, is an original partition with stop-chamfered post and wood panels and an old battened door.

^b(4) Oldmill Barn, on the S.W. bank of the River Monnow, 250 yards N. of (3), was built in 1666. It is of one storey and in four bays; two of the roof-trusses have sloping struts between the tie-beam and principal rafters, and two trusses have tie and collar-beams only. The E. gabled wall has been partly re-built but retains an old battened door. Two small doorways in the S. wall have chamfered wood frames in the head of one of which is cut the date 1666; over the doorways are stone-slab labels. There are two loop-lights in this wall and one in the N. wall; to the E. of the latter is a four-light window which originally had diamond-shaped mullions, but only one of these now remains.

Condition—Poor.

^b(5) Oldhouse Barn, 520 yards N.E. of (4), is of one storey with a basement under the easternmost bay. It is of 17th-century date and was originally of timber-framing on a stone base. The easternmost bay was re-built in stone, probably early in the 18th-century, as was the remainder of the S. wall in modern times; a modern extension has been made at the W. end. The lower part of the timber-framed N. wall is weather-boarded and the upper part filled in with interlaced slats. Two roof-trusses are of the tie-beam and struttedrafter type, and the two which surmount the cross partitions are of queen-post type. A second barn to the N.E. of the above has been re-built but incorporates some timber-framed walling of 17th-century date.

Condition—Poor.

^b(6) Lower Cwm Farm, farmhouse and outbuilding 270 yards S.E. of (5). The House is of two storeys with cellars, and was built late in the 17th century; it was altered in the following century when the roof was probably re-built and covered with slates. In modern times the entrance-front has been altered.

The Outbuilding, 15 yards S.W. of the house, is of one storey with a granary-loft above. It is of late 17th-century date, re-modelled and partly re-built late in the 18th century. It is in three bays and has roof-trusses of the tie-beam and strutted-rafter type. A re-set lintel to a door in the N. wall is inscribed A.P. 1690.

^b(7) Pontymoody, farmhouse nearly ¾ m. E. of the church, has a modern slate roof. The house is of mid 17th-century date and has a late 17th or early 18th-century addition on the S.W. end of the N.W. side. The N.E. end of the original building is now used as a barn, and against it modern stables have been erected. The entrance-doorway has an original moulded frame, and on the same front is a five-light transomed window with moulded frame and mullions. Some of the other windows retain their old frames. Inside the building, on the ground floor, is an original panelled partition with stop-chamfered posts and a doorway at one end with a segmental head.

^b(8) Wern Farm, small farmhouse, 450 yards S. of the church, is of one storey with attics; the roof is covered partly with stone slates and partly with corrugated iron. The building consists of two rooms with a semi-circular stone staircase projecting at one end on the S.E. side of the house; a later barn has been added at the S.W. end. Some of the windows retain their old frames. Inside the building there is a framed partition dividing the two ground-floor rooms.

Condition—Derelict.

^b(9) Olchon Farm, small farmhouse, 270 yards W.S.W. of (8), is partly of one storey with attics and partly of two storeys. The S.W. end of the house is roofed with modern slates. It has been altered in the 18th century and in recent years, and has later low additions on the N.W. side. The entrance-doorway has a chamfered frame and battened door hung on old wrought-iron hinges. The window to the staircase is of two lights and has an old frame and diamond-shaped mullion. Inside the building are some old battened doors with strap-hinges.

^b(10) Brass Knoll Farm, farmhouse ¼ m. S. of (8), consists of one wing of a 16th-century house the rest of which has been destroyed and replaced by a modern addition. The end walls of the old wing are gabled, and from the middle of the N. wall is a rectangular projection containing a semi-circular staircase. Most of the window-openings are original and have flat stone labels, and some retain their old frames. Inside the old wing all the partitions on the ground floor are constructed with stop-chamfered posts and wood panels with segmental-shaped lintels over the doors. There are three old battened doors hung on strap-hinges. The window-boards are solid oak slabs about 5 in. thick, and the windows of the dairy and staircase have old oak shutters.

^b(11) Black Daren Farm, small farmhouse, 950 yards W.S.W. of (10), is of one storey with attics. The house dates from late in the 14th or early in the 15th century, but was much altered and possibly lengthened late in the 18th or early in the 19th century. Inside the building are four exposed crutches with tie-beams at the level of the upper floor and framing above. On the ground floor are five battened doors, one of which has moulded edges to the planks; they are all hung on iron strap-hinges.

Condition—Poor.

^b(12) Whitehouse Farm, farmhouse, 450 yards S.S.E. of (10), is of one storey with attics. The original house is a small rectangular building which has been added to in the 18th century and in modern times. The doorway in the N.E. wall has a chamfered frame and an old battened door hung on strap-hinges. One or two of the windows have old mullioned frames. Inside the building are three old battened doors. The stone staircase has thick oak slabs on the steps.

^b(13) Lower House Farm, small farmhouse, 230 yards E. of (12), was built in the 16th century on a rectangular plan with a projecting chimney-stack on the middle of the N. wall; it has modern additions on the S. side. Enclosed within the W. side of the chimney-stack on the N. wall is a semi-circular staircase over which the main roof is carried down as a lean-to; the two diagonal chimney-shafts have been re-built. Most of the window openings are original and have flat projecting labels; nearly all retain their heavy oak frames with diamond-shaped mullions to some of which leaded glazing was pinned during the 17th century. In the S. wall, which is mostly covered by the modern additions, is a doorway with a flat stone hood supported on two moulded wooden brackets. Inside the building the ground-floor partitions are timber-framed with wood panels and have segmental lintels to the door-frames.

Condition—Poor.

^b(14) Olchon Barn, 530 yards E. of (13), has a basement under the S.W. end. It is of 17th-century date. The basement is of stone-rubble as is the re-built S.W. wall but the superstructure is of timber-framing partly covered with boarding and partly with interlacing slats. The barn itself is in four bays with roof trusses of tie-beam and strutted-rafter type. In the S.E. wall are two original windows of five and three lights respectively with diamond-shaped mullions, but the smaller window is now blocked.

Condition—Poor.

^b(15) Olchon House, 320 yards S. of (12), is probably of 16th-century date and appears to have been a small dwelling built on the central-chimney type of plan. Late in the 17th or early in the following century the house was remodelled and a lean-to addition was built along the whole of the N. side of the house; in modern times this rear addition has been heightened to two storeys. Inside the building are several old battened doors with strap-hinges. A cupboard in one of the bedrooms has doors of re-used 17th-century panelling with the rails enriched with carved channelling.

^b(16) Daren Farm Barn (Plate 12), 700 yards W.S.W. of (15), is of late 15th or early 16th-century date. It is of one storey and of timber-framing on a stone base. It is divided into four bays by crutches which rise off the stone base and are tied together by tie-beams at the wall-head level; there are similar crutches in the end walls but these have collars as well as tie-beams. The truss between the two easternmost bays instead of a crutch is of tie-beam and strutted-rafter type. The E. wall is carried up in stone as far as the tie-beams. In the other walls the framing is for the most part open. In the second bay from the E. in both side walls is a large doorway.

About 40 yards N.W. of the barn are the remains of a ruined farmhouse. In a length of wall now standing are two single-light stone windows with chamfered heads, jambs and sills. There is little evidence as to the date of the building which is possibly of about the same age as the barn.

^d(17) Sneeds Barn, nearly ½ m. S.E. of (15), was built on a rectangular plan as a cottage or small farmhouse but has since been converted to its present use and had the upper floors removed from the E. end of the building. Low modern additions have been added at the E. end and on the N. side. Several of the windows retain their old frames and diamond-shaped mullions. Inside the building, on the ground floor, is an original door-frame with chamfered posts and two-centred segmental head and a battened door hung on strap-hinges; on the first floor is a door-frame of a similar character.

Condition—Poor.

^d(18) Lower Turnant, farmhouse, 320 yards W.S.W. of (17), is partly of two storeys and partly of one storey with attics. It is built on an L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the N.E. and N.W. It was probably a timber-framed building but has since been encased in stone and had most of the N.W. wing re-built. In the upper part of the N.E. wall of the N.W. wing is some old exposed timber-framing. Inside the building, on the ground floor, the partition between the two wings is of heavy timber-framing and the doorway between the Living Room and entrance-passage has heavy stop-chamfered door-posts and a segmental head.

^d(19) Great Turnant, farmhouse and barn, ¼ m. S.S.W. of (18). The House is partly of two storeys with attics and partly of one storey with attics. It is built round the nucleus of a house of probably late 15th or early 16th-century date, but the later alterations have obscured the original plan. The portion containing the Porch and Living Room with the attics above and possibly part of the range on the E. side of it appear to belong to the original house. In the first half of the 17th century a wing was added at right angles to the block on the W. side of it, and a small wing at the back or N. side of the house may be of the same date. A chamber, now used as a cider-cellar on the W. side of the W. range, is a late 17th or 18th-century addition. Outbuildings projecting eastwards from the Living Room and a similar range on the N. side of the house are probably also of the 17th or 18th century. The projecting part of the S. front has on both the ground and first floors two early 17th-century windows, the lower pair of three and the upper pair of two lights, with moulded oak frames and mullions and all with segmental stone arches above. The entrance-doorway to the porch is of late 15th or early 16th-century date and has chamfered jambs and a four-centred head; above it is a two-light window with a plain oak frame. Towards the W. end of the projecting block is an external stone staircase leading to a loft above the cider-mill. On the W. side of the building is an original window to the cider-cellar of five lights with an oak frame and diamond-shaped mullions, and in the N. wall of this addition is an old door of oak battens. On the N. side of the house the back door to the central block has a chamfered oak frame and an old battened door (Plate 35) with two strap-hinges with foliated ends and a twisted ring for use as a knocker. Inside the building against the E. wall of the Living Room is the lower part of a truss with curved braces of crutch-type, the upper part of which is visible in the attic above, tied in with a heavy collar-beam. The Living Room has in the S. wall a doorway with a square-headed frame and an old battened door retaining one strap-hinge with a foliated end. The doorway in the E. wall has an old frame with a four-centred head and an old battened door. The timber-framed lobby between the Living Room and the N. range is of close studding and the fireplace in the ground-floor room of the early 17th-century addition is spanned by a stop-chamfered oak lintel.

The Barn, S. of the house, is probably of 17th-century date. It is of three aisled bays with roof-trusses of the tie-beam and strutted-rafter type and has heavy timber-framing dividing the middle from the side aisles. At either end of the middle aisle are large barn-doors.

^d(20) Upper Turnant, farmhouse, 300 yards S. of (19), is of one storey with attics. It has later outbuildings at either end and a small projecting wing at the back, but the latter may be a rebuilding on the site of an original wing. A timber-framed gable in the back wing suggests that the house may originally have been timber-framed and afterwards encased in stone. Inside the building a small cupboard on the ground floor has a door of early 17th-century panelling.

^d(21) Barn at Cayo, nearly ¾ m. E. of (20), is of two storeys and probably was built as a dwelling-house. In modern times a new upper floor has been inserted, an addition made against the E. wall and a large barn built at the W. end. In the N. wall is one and in the S. wall are two doorways with old chamfered frames and battened doors. Some of the old windows remain and have solid oak frames and diamond-shaped mullions. The W. wall which is now incorporated in the later barn is timber-framed. Inside the building three roof-trusses are exposed.

^b(22) Charity Farm, small farmhouse, 1,450 yards W. of the church, is of one storey with attics. A later barn has been built at the S. end of the house. Inside the building the partition between the two ground-floor rooms is timber-framed with wood panels between the framing.

^b(23) Glan-dŵr, farmhouse, 590 yards N. of (22), is partly of two storeys and partly of one storey with attics. It was built on an L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the S. and E. In modern times low additions have been built along the whole of the W. side of the house. On the E. front immediately S. of the projecting E. wing is a small porch (Plate 35), the lean-to roof of which is supported at the eaves by a shaped lintel carried on the projecting ends of two of the main ground-floor ceiling-beams. Inside the building one of the ground-floor rooms has an old battened door and on the upper floor is a framed partition with large wooden panels between the framing.

^b(24) Upper Olchon Farm, farmhouse, 550 yards W. of (23), is of one storey with attics. An additional room to each floor was built in the latter part of the 17th century on the N.E. end of the house and further additions have been made in modern times. One window in the S.E. front is of three lights and has its old frame and mullions, and a blocked window in the back wall has a flag-stone label. Inside the building three doorways on the ground floor have segmental-headed frames.

^c(25) Olchon Court Farm (Plate 14), farmhouse, 1,050 yards N.N.W. of (24), is partly of two storeys and partly of one storey and attics. The dressings to the W. end of the building are of ashlar. This end is of late 15th or 16th-century date, the eastern end being a 17th-century extension which possibly incorporated an existing dairy or outbuilding. A lean-to addition was built on the S. side of the E. end of the extension about the same time or a little later and the roof of the original building was raised. The porch and a barn at the E. end of the house were added in modern times. The entrance doorway in the W. end of the S. wall is original and has stop-chamfered jambs and a four-centred head. On either side of the doorway is an original window, each of two narrow lights with chamfered head, sill, jambs and wide mullion. In each of the lights to the westernmost window is an iron grate. In the W. wall by the lean-to additions is a doorway with an old stop-chamfered frame and battened door. A stone doorway in the W. wall has a stop-chamfered lintel. Inside the building, on the ground floor, in the stone cross-wall between the older part and the later extension is an original doorway with chamfered jambs and a four-centred head. There is a 17th-century battened door in the attics.

^a(26) Firs Farm (Plate 15), small farmhouse, nearly ¾ m. N.N.W. of (25), is of one storey with attics. The projecting porch on the S. side of the building is of the 17th century, and the house itself is probably of the same date but has been largely remodelled and added to at a later date. The porch is gabled, and over the entrance is a stop-chamfered bressummer with a deep projecting stone string-course above.

Condition—Poor.

^a(27) Blaen-Olchon, small farmhouse, 450 yards N.N.W. of (26), is of one storey with attics. The W. half of the house is probably of late 17th-century date and the E. half is a slightly later extension. In the S. wall is a three-light window with an old frame and mullions, plain externally and moulded on the inside.