Pen-y-Garn farm is located about a mile and a half north west of Alltwalis and five miles south of Llandysul. The first edition of the 25 inch OS maps, published in 1889, shows that the farmyard was surrounded by buildings on three sides. Theses buildings consisted of two parallel rectangular buildings, both roughly 17 metres long, one on the northwest side of the yard, the other on the south east. The third building was smaller and more square-shaped, situated on the northeastern end of the yard and measuring approximately 9m by 7.5m. The second edition of the 25inch OS maps, published in 1906, showed that the farm had undergone very little change in the intervening years.
Modern aerial photography, however, reveals a very different picture. When the farm was photographed by Toby Driver during the Royal Commission's programme of archaeological aerial reconnaissance on 28th February 2013, it became clear that Pen-y-Garn farm had acquired a large, modern building with orange walls and a white roof, situated to the south of the original three buildings. To the south east was another large, modern, shed-like structure with corrugated roof. The original three buildings seem to have survived - they are wooden structures and seem older than the other buildings. Finally, to the north west of the original buildings were a selection of smaller sheds, all roofed with corrugated iron. Interestingly, to the south west there is a garden with ornamental bridges, chicken coops, and some small buildings. Perhaps these are related to the Skanda Vale Buddhist temple, 400 metres to the south west.
Sources: modern and historic OS maps; aerial photography taken by Toby Driver on 28th February 2013
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 25th June 2019