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Ty-Mawr, Wybrnant

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NPRN16966
Map ReferenceSH75SE
Grid ReferenceSH7700152407
Unitary (Local) AuthorityConwy
Old CountyCaernarfonshire
CommunityBro Machno
Type Of SiteFARMHOUSE
PeriodPost Medieval
Description
A late sixteenth-early seventeenth century house with earlier origins. Identified as the birthplace, in 1545, of Bishop Morgan, the translator of the first complete Welsh Bible, published in 1588. The house was restored and modified in 1888 and 1987-8, to commemorate this event.
A two storey house, with walls of flat stone slabs above massive boulder foundations. It has a (modern) slate gabled roof framed by massive stone end chimney stacks. Few original features remain. Vestidual cruck timbers are thought to survive from an earlier building (see below).

Sources: RCAHMW Caernarvon Inventory I (1956), 173-4
National Trust Guidebook (1988)
CADW Listed Buildings Database (3578)

John Wiles 17.04.07

[Additional:] House of Snowdonian type with late-medieval origins associated with Bishop Morgan. Plan and account in RCAHMW's Caernarvonshire Inventory with revisions by Peter Smith in the National Trust Guide. Restoration work by the National Trust revealed the remains of two cruck-trusses cut off flush with the walls. Cores for tree-ring dating were taken from the crucks and fireplace beam in Oct. 2001 by the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory. (2001.10.23/RCAHMW/RFS). The samples have failed to date. (RFS/2002)

[Additional:] Further sampling work showed that the present house was reconstructed in the mid-C16th during the life-time of Bishop Morgan. Tree-ring dating and site description reported in Vernacular Architecture 42 (2011):

PENMACHNO, Wybrnant, Ty-mawr (SH 7700 5240)
(a) Phase 2: Reconstruction of roof Felling dates: Spring 1559 and Winter 1564/5
(b) Reused timber in adjacent cottage Felling date range: 1521-51
(a) Principal rafters 1564(20C//0, 1558(28?C), 1545(3); Joists (1/2) 1492; Floor beam (0/1); Mantelbeam (0/1). (b) Timber reused as mantelbeam 1515(5). Site Masters (a) 1437-1564 WYB (t = 7.0 BELFAST; 6.9 WALES97; 6.7 BRECON1); (b) 1442-1515 wyb10 (t = 7.4 STJLICH; 6.9 HABBERLY; 6.7 GORC_T17).
A large, three-unit, storeyed house of Snowdonian plan-type famous for its association with Bishop William Morgan (1545-1604), translator of the Bible into Welsh (1588). The stubs of cruck blades cut off flush with the walls suggest that Ty-mawr originated as a late-medieval hall-house. These cruck fragments failed to date but the collar-beam trusses (a) of the Snowdonian house were successfully sampled, showing that Ty-mawr was improved during the life-time of Bishop Morgan. Plan and description in RCAHMW, Caernarvonshire Inventory, Volume I: East (1956), pp. 173-4. The mantelbeam of the reconstructed guardian's 's cottage adjacent (b) was sampled as it had evidence for reuse and was found to date from 1521-51. However, the provenance of this timber is unknown. Dating commissioned by The National Trust Wales in association with by NWWDP and RCAHMW. (R.F. SUGGETT/RCAHMW/JULY 2011).


Resources
DownloadTypeSourceDescription
application/pdfRCAHMW Dendrochronology Project CollectionDating Old Welsh Houses Project house history report relating to Ty Mawr, Wybrnant, produced by Frances Richardson, Iola Wyn Jones and Tony Scharer, as part of the North West Wales Dendrochronology Project in partnership with RCAHMW.
application/pdfDHHS - Discovering the Historic Houses of Snowdonia Collection(a) Elevation of 1565 storeyed house (b) reconstructed 1565 ground-floor plan (c) later ground-floor plan (d) gable end with chamber chimney at T? Mawr, Wybrnant. Drawn by Charles Green for 'Discovering the Historic Houses of Snowdonia,' by RCAHMW, 2014.
application/pdfRCAHMW ExhibitionsBilingual exhibition panel entitled Partneriaethau Dendrocronoleg. Dendrochronolgy Partnerships, produced by RCAHMW for the Royal Welsh Show, 2011.
application/pdfRCAHMW Dendrochronology Project CollectionEngineering Archaeological Services Report 2011/06 for Ty Mawr, Wybrnant, commissioned by The North West Wales Dendrochronology Project in partnership with RCAHMW.
application/pdfRCAHMW Dendrochronology Project CollectionDating Old Welsh Houses Project house history report relating to Ty Mawr, Wybrnant researched by Richardson, Jones and Scharer as part of the North West Wales Dendrochronology Project in partnership with RCAHMW.
application/pdfRCAHMW Dendrochronology Project CollectionOxford Dendrochronology Laboratory Report 2011/21 The Tree-Ring dating of Ty Mawr, Wybrnant, Penmachno commissioned by The North West Wales Dendrochronology Project in partnership with RCAHMW.