Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi

Farmhouse in Llangybi, Monmouthshire
51°39′28″N 2°55′10″W / 51.6577°N 2.9194°W / 51.6577; -2.9194Builtearly 17th centuryArchitectural style(s)VernacularGoverning bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameTon FarmhouseDesignated4 March 1952Reference no.2686
Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi is located in Monmouthshire
Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi
Location of Ton Farmhouse in Monmouthshire

Ton Farmhouse, Llangybi, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century. John Newman, in his Monmouthshire Pevsner, describes it as a "perfect Monmouthshire farmhouse". Ton is a Grade II* listed building, its listing noting that it is a "remarkably good survival" of a prosperous 17th century Welsh farmhouse.

History and description

Sir Joseph Bradney records the site of the farmhouse as Ton-y-beddau, which he translates as "the glade of the graves" and refers to a "vague tradition of a battle and the burying of corpses".[1] His multi-volume study, A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time, also provides a lengthy pedigree of the owners of the surrounding lands.[2] Cadw dates the construction of Ton Farm to the early 17th century.[3] The farmhouse was "greatly enlarged" in 1663,[3] with an inscribed datestone recording the date.[4] In the 1895 Monmouthshire edition of Kelly's Directory, the farm is noted as being under the management of John Griffiths, farmer.[5] Ton remains a privately owned house and is a Grade II* listed building.[3] The architectural historian John Newman describes it as a "perfect Monmouthshire farmhouse".[4]

The farm is of two-storeys, built in whitewashed old red sandstone rubble. The roofs are of Welsh slate.[3] Most of the windows were replaced in the 19th century but the house has been "little altered" since this date.[3] Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan include a plan of Ton in the third volume, Renaissance Houses, c. 1590–1714, of their three-volume study of the vernacular architecture of the county, Monmouthshire Houses. Their plan shows the three-room ground-floor layout of the house after the 1663 alterations, with the hall and parlour divided by a cross-passage, and a pantry to the rear of the hall.[6] The plan includes illustrations of the elaborate joinery in the parlour,[6] a feature also noted by Cadw.[3] A line drawing of a section of moulding from the house is given in Peter Smith's Houses of the Welsh Countryside.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Bradney 1993, p. 105.
  2. ^ Bradney 1993, pp. 105–108.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cadw. "Ton Farmhouse (Grade II*) (2686)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Newman 2000, p. 314.
  5. ^ "Llangibby / Llangybi (Monmouthshire) – Extract from Kelly's Directory, 1895". places.wishful-thinking.org.uk.
  6. ^ a b Fox & Raglan 1994, p. 90.
  7. ^ Smith 1975, p. 309.

Sources

  • Bradney, Joseph Alfred (1993) [1921]. The Hundred of Usk, first part. A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time Volume 3, Part 1. London: Academy Books. ISBN 9781873361177. OCLC 896118895.
  • Fox, Cyril; Raglan, Lord (1994) [1954]. Renaissance Houses, c. 1590–1714. Monmouthshire Houses. Vol. 3. Cardiff: Merton Priory Press Ltd & The National Museum of Wales. ISBN 1898937001. OCLC 776066469.
  • Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. The Buildings of Wales. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.
  • Smith, Peter (1975). Houses of the Welsh Countryside. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-700475-8. OCLC 868639211.