Two interpretations of this house are possible. One is that the building was of two dates with the one-and-a-half storey section built first, probably round about 1600, and the taller section added to it quite soon afterwards, maybe in c1625 (Fox and Raglan). Alternatively the whole thing was built together as parlour wing and service wing, again dating from the early C17. The first interpretation is perhaps more likely, but the second is not impossible. Since that date the principal alteration has been the removal of all the main original windows and their replacement by Victorian sashes and casements. Some of the rooms have been partitioned in the C20, the interior is otherwise remarkably unchanged. A similar type of house, but rather grander, is illustrated in Peter Smith, Houses of the Welsh Countryside, p.187, and this gives some idea of what Ty-mawr may have looked like in the C17. The farm was purchased by the Pontypool Park estate from the trustees of the Duke of Beaufort in 1759.

The entrance front to the main block is almost blind with very small windows and covered mostly by the projecting wing which contains a lateral stack and the staircase. This has a small casement window with dripmould over which lights the stairs. To the right of this is a pent roof to the porch, which contains a late C16 or early C17 nailed plank door with moulded cranked head, and timber frame with broach stops to the jambs, in the baffle entry position against the stack. This may have been the original front door if the lower part of the house was built first. It would have stood at right angles to where it stands now for the end entry against the stack. Above the pent roof is a small 4+4 casement. Ridge stack to the right and an end stack on the wing, both of which are rebuilt in C19 red brick with weathered caps. The gable ends only have small garret windows. The garden elevation has two windows on each floor, small paned casements below, six over six sashes above, all under timber lintels, with strainer arches above. These replace the original mullioned windows the outlines of which can be traced faintly in the walling, and recognised by the infill of red sandstone. They were considerably wider than the present windows and probably had four lights with recessed chamfers to the frames.

Kitchen wing is one and-a-half storeys and has two small paned casements and one gabled dormer with small paned casement facing the yard; and two 3 light small paned casements with wooden mullions facing the garden. Small rebuilt red brick chimney stack on gable end.

Source: Cadw Listings database
S Garfi 31/8/06