Moel-cerni
Rhyd-meirionydd, Borth, Ceredigion.
NPRN 406468
Site Location:

The farm of Moel-cerni or `Moel-cernau' is located within Rhyd-meirionydd on the B4572 east of Llandre, within the Borth community. The farm is sited on the north facing hillside at a height of 66 m., the hill reaches 137 m. above sea level, there is an old OS bench mark by the east gable end of the house indicating that the house is 261.5 feet above sea level.

Geology:

The geology of this part of Ceredigion is largely comprises Silurian deposited mudstone and sandstone, laid down during the Lower Palaeozoic at around 417 to 443 million years ago.

The Farm House:

The farm house is of a large Cardiganshire `aisled' type structure, that is with the principal rooms at the front and the service rooms in a rear aisle under a catslide roof..
The front has two storeys with a habitable attic; the rear aisle has bedroom lofts over dairy and back kitchen. The house is of mid C19th date and the plan is little altered. Much of the original detail survives apart from the replacement of the windows and the pebble-dashing of the exterior.

Description

Ground-floor plan: direct entry into large stair passage with screened parlour to the right and screened kitchen to the left. The partitions are of late post-and-panel type.
Stair: Generous dog-leg stair with a `cwtsh dan star' and with central beam running through it.
The kitchen has a slightly arched and chamfered oak fireplace beam; with a possible oven projection in the front wall. The fireplace and chimney are situated within a projection out of the gable end of the building. The beams in the kitchen have all been boxed.
The parlour has been modernised, with the beams also being boxed and the original fireplace having been replaced by a smaller modern fireplace. There is also a wall cupboard in the rear wall. The fireplace is internal, with no projection out of the wall.

The first floor: comprise three bedrooms reached from a central lobby at the head of the stairs: a principal room with walk-in cupboard to the left side, small single bedroom to the front, above downstairs entrance passage, and a third double room to the right. There is an entrance to stairs leading to the attic to the right side of the upstairs passage above the aisles.

The four-bay Attic has three oak collar-beam trusses pegged, with the central truss lapped and the other collars mortised. To the left is a portioned off room with blocked window. Trusses and purlins have been white washed.

To the rear of the house there is a lower back kitchen and dairy with salting slabs. This is entered via a door to the rear of the house kitchen and down several steps. There is also a door from the outside into the lower kitchen, opposite the internal door. The dairy has two large slate salting slates still in-situ and characteristic salt sweating of the walls.
This addition to the house is two storied under a cat-slide roof. The first floor of this addition is entered via a door and several steps down into it from a door way at the rear of the first floor passage next to the stair entrance and attic stair entrance. This first floor level comprises a passage with a single bedroom with pitched ceiling to the right and a modern bathroom with pitched ceiling to the left.


Visited Daniel Jones & Richard Suggett 19th July 2007.
Plan and account: Daniel Jones.