Welsh Journals

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Ceido cruck-truss unique. On the upper side of the hall is a passage with a room above. The trusses here are of a collar and tie-beam type raised on a box-frame. The framing was in large squares with wattle-and-daub filling, as was the framing of most of the houses before it was altered. Two doors lead into the hall from this passage, while one central door led to the upper room. Below the hall was a further room, possibly a parlour. This had two cruck-trusses with collar and tie-beams the dividing truss contains a post-and-panel partition below the tie-beam, in which is one door. There is close studding with wattle-and-daub infill above the tie- beam. No external features survive, but certainly no other extension would have been possible, as the house is on a good platform site, cut into rock on the upper side while a steep slope is found at the lower end. CRUCK HOUSES This type of roof structure has a distribution throughout the whole of Radnorshire. (Fig. 2). Cruck-trusses are found in most forms of house from the humblest cottage to the most ornate "Hall" house. Indeed three have already been mentioned under the latter heading. Certainly more houses in the county with cruck trusses will fit into the "Hall" house plan, MAES-YR-HELM, Llanbadam Ffynydd, SO 08547599, now used as a barn, to name one example. But owing to alterations, mainly the fitting of a first floor, many of these "Hall" houses had their distinguishing features hidden. Only by making measured plans and looking carefully for the possible use of rooms can any solution be obtained. The dating of the cruck house is also difficult. The earliest surviving cruck-trusses date back to the 13th century, and continued being used right through to the 17th century. One factor that helps in dating this type of truss is the type of joint made to take the collar-beam. The mortised joint to take the tenoned collar-beam was mainly used until the mid-16th century, from when it was mainly replaced by a lapped joint. The advantages of using the cruck-truss are firstly that it gives a good room height, as it needs no tie-beam, and secondly that it is self-supporting, directly transferring any weight placed upon it down to the ground. This makes the cruck-truss particularly apt for timber-framed building. Such structures are found in the eastern area of Radnorshire. Two examples are Burfa, Evenjobb, SO 27946134, now in a ruinous condition, where cruck-trusses of an early building survive with square framing, and WALTON COURT FARM, Walton and Womaston, SO 25725985, where again the cruck-truss is found with square framing. In both cases altera- tions have made the original plan obscure. To the west the containing walls are more commonly of stone. Some were changed to this media in the 17th century. HONDON, Bryngwyn, SO 15484932, was built as a timber-framed building, but it is now com- pletely encased in stone. Another to have undergone this change is NEUADD, Llandrindod Wells Urban, SO 06706200, a house crowned with a splendid central chimney-stack. A house retaining its timber-framing encased in stone surround is DOLAU, Nantmel, SO 02166646; this house, recently destroyed, contained three cruck-trusses and fine post-and-panel partition, probably the remains of a hall-house. In the mountain areas timber-framed and stone-walled structures with cruck-trusses are found side by side. For example stone-walled Gwenlas, Llanbister, SO 11448038, and half-timbered Maes-yr-helm are near