Trefecca Fawr, or Lower Trefecca, a minor seventeenth-century gentry house, stands back and above the east side of the B4560 road, about 4km south-west of Talgarth and 0.5km south-west of the hamlet of Trefeca on a small lane about 100m from the road. It is set on a level terrace below a hill, in rolling pasture, which descends to the west. The house (nprn 16288) appears exposed on the south and west, from the road below to the south-west. The house has a small gravelled forecourt to its north front. Formal gardens lie to its west but land to the north, which contains fishponds (306054), also appears to have been ornamented at some period. This land, together with the land to the west and south of the house and garden appears to be utilitarian in origin and contains features of uncertain date but which may belong to the medieval period. None of this land outside the garden boundary was, however, considered to be parkland.

The site has a long history of land use. From at least 1825, and possibly since the medieval period, large orchards of apples and pears were established at Trefecca Fawr, at their height in the mid 1800s covering at least 10 acres (4.1ha) of ground. Little trace of these remain outside the garden aside from a few replantings of the early twentieth century. A new orchard has recently been established. The main remodelling of the south and west area is attributed to the Gwynne family in the early years of the twentieth century. Between about 1903 and about 1930 they laid out a formal stone-paved terraced garden, wild garden and tennis court to the west. The paved terraces and their planting reflect the Arts-and-Crafts style popular during that period but it is unknown whether any noted garden designer was involved in their construction.

The site is depicted on the first-edition OS map (XXIX.1) in 1888 as a modest farm nucleus with a large orchard on the west. To the north is the bank of a pond. There is otherwise no obvious indication of antiquity. By the second edition in 1904 (XXIX.1) an earthwork has appeared at the south end of the property. It looks a little like a tennis court and runs parallel to the county road. Today, its west bank makes the lowest part of the field appear like a canal, though is more likely to have served as a track.

Sources:
Cadw 1999: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Powys, 246-9 (ref: PGW (Po)8(POW)).
RCAHMW air photo: 065094/43
Additional notes: C.S.Briggs

RCAHMW, 28 June 2022