{"id":106,"date":"2014-02-08T15:01:28","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T15:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/?page_id=106"},"modified":"2014-02-08T18:42:23","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T18:42:23","slug":"1686-cefnamwlch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/penllech\/seciwlar-secular\/1686-cefnamwlch\/","title":{"rendered":"(1686) CEFNAMWLCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

(1686) CEFNAMWLCH (Figs. 100-1, plates 51, 60) was from\u00a0the end of the 15th until the end of the 18th century the seat of\u00a0the prominent family Griffith of Lleyn, who during the 17th\u00a0century played a vigorous part in the politics of Caernarvonshire\u00a0in opposition to the predominance of the Wynnes of\u00a0Gwydir. To this central period of their history belong the\u00a0gatehouse, which is dated 1607, and the main domestic\u00a0buildings, in part modernised. Their earlier house has been\u00a0pulled down but from sketches made in 1796 and 1813, shortly\u00a0before its demolition, it evidently contained work of the late\u00a015th or early 16th century, notably an oriel which suggests that\u00a0it contained a hall at first-floor level; it lay a little to the N.E.\u00a0of the present house and on the same axis as the gatehouse (see\u00a0site plan, Fig. 100). Hence the later domestic buildings, themselves\u00a0arranged around a courtyard, once formed the S. side\u00a0of a main court which remained incomplete, open towards the\u00a0N. except perhaps for gardens.<\/p>\n

The gatehouse (Fig. 101, Plate 51), dated to 1607 by an\u00a0heraldic tablet, is of two storeys, the upper rising above the\u00a0modern boundary wall which flanks the gateway. The walls\u00a0are built of roughly coursed rubble with well-made quoins;\u00a0on the W. front the lower courses project crudely as if this\u00a0front was at first meant to extend further; on the E. front\u00a0there is a pair of straight joints, only as high as the archway,\u00a0which may represent an alteration in plan but cannot be related\u00a0to any corresponding junctions, none being visible either to
\nN. and S. or on the W. The first-floor windows are square\u00a0with chamfered mullion and frame of gritstone (partly\u00a0renewed). The roof is cross-gabled and covered with modern\u00a0slates. The chimney at the S. is squared and capped.<\/p>\n

The gate-passage has outer and inner arches, both segmental\u00a0and built of thin slabs of even depth. Just above the<\/p>\n

\"1686\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FIG. 100<\/p>\n

\"1686-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FIG. 101<\/p>\n

\u00a0outer (or W.) arch is a stone tablet (Plate 60) which is carved in\u00a0relief with a shield-of-arms, a lion rampant within a border\u00a0indented (Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, for Griffith) impaling a\u00a0chevron between 3 lions rampant<\/em> (although much weathered these\u00a0charges can be restored from a contemporary heraldic painting,\u00a0sec (ii) below; hence Hwfa ap Cynddelw, for Owen of\u00a0Caerfryn); above, the date 1607, below, the initials IG IO.\u00a0The niches in the passage have rough stone heads and seats.\u00a0The door is of two leaves now boarded over apart from the\u00a0original wicket, which is nail-studded and panelled, ogee shaped\u00a0at the head. The central ceiling beam is stop-chamfered.\u00a0The first floor is reached by external stone steps with modern\u00a0balustrade. The fireplace has been concealed, the roof\u00a0reconstructed.<\/p>\n

The older portions of the present house (Fig. 100) date from\u00a0late in the 17th or early in the 18th century. All are rough-cast,\u00a0hence their construction and sequence are obscured. But the\u00a0main block at the N.E. has on the S. side of its free-standing\u00a0W. half a large fireplace in a projecting stack that cannot be\u00a0much later than ca. 1700; and its second storey had in 1796 a\u00a0row of dormer windows that cannot have been much earlier\u00a0than 1700. The S. wing (the E. side of the court) has equally
\nmassive walls for about 50 ft., its original length. The W.\u00a0wing, which completes the N. side of the court, formerly\u00a0detached by 15 ft., and traditionally called the ‘Mule Stables’,\u00a0is of similar build for 80 ft. from the former gap, and contains\u00a0stop-chamfered ceiling beams typical of the 17th or at latest\u00a0the early 18th century. The additions on the N.W. and S.E.\u00a0of these wings belong to the completion of the courtyard\u00a0during the 18th century. The upper windows are of the 18th\u00a0century or later, those of the second storey having replaced\u00a0dormers after 1796. The taller and larger chinmey stacks of
\nrubble are probably original. The roofs are covered with\u00a0modern slates.<\/p>\n

On the ground floor ofthe main (N.E.) block the two large\u00a0rooms flanking the entrance passage probably represent the\u00a0original plan, but both rooms have been enlarged to include a\u00a0closed verandah, and the main fireplace on the S. of the W.\u00a0room has been decorated. Yet the ceilings are low enough to\u00a0suggest that they conceal the timber work of the original\u00a0ceilings. The first floor of this block has doors and doorframes\u00a0of bolection mould typical of the late 17th or early\u00a018th century; and similar mouldings have been used to\u00a0decorate some of the fireplaces. The roof, open to the second\u00a0floor, is on heavy trusses of sawn timber with tie-beams and\u00a0raking struts, probably of the early 19th century, in place of a\u00a0roof with dormer windows as noted above.<\/p>\n

Hung in the entrance passage are four armorial paintings on\u00a0wooden panels from the older house which was demolished\u00a0soon after 1813. They are all of the early 17th century, and\u00a0commemorate: (i) the marriage of John Gruffith of Lleyn,\u00a0ob.<\/em> 1585, to Dorethie Mostyn, ob<\/em>. 1597, daughter of Thos.\u00a0Mostyn the elder of Mostyn, with arms, \u00a0gu. a lion rampant\u00a0within a border indented or<\/em> (Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, for Griffith)\u00a0impaling\u00a0party per bend sinister ermine and ermines a lion rampant\u00a0<\/em>or armed and langued gu.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0(Tudor Trefor, \u00a0for Mostyn); (ii) the\u00a0marriage in August, 1599, of John Gruffith of Llyn to Jane, \u00a0daughter of Owen ap Robert Owen of Gairfryn (sc.<\/em> Caerfryn), with\u00a0arms of Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr (as (i) above) impaling\u00a0gu. a chevron between 3 lions rampant or<\/em> (Hwfa ap Cynddelw, for\u00a0Owen); (iii) the marriage of John Gruffith to Margaret, ob<\/em>.\u00a01624, daughter of Sir Richard Treuer of Treuafren (sc.<\/em> Trevor\u00a0of Trefalun), with arms of Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr (as above)\u00a0quartering az.<\/em> (now black) a chevron between 3 dolphins hauriant\u00a0arg.<\/em> (Trahaearn Goch, also for Griffith); (iv) the consecration in\u00a01633 of Edmund, son of Gruffith John Gruffith of Keuenamulch,\u00a0as bishop of Bangor, with arms quarterly as (iii)\u00a0impaling gu. a bend or gutte de poix between 2 mullets or<\/em> (sic<\/em>\u00a0for See of Bangor). From the dates included and the exclusion\u00a0of the bishop’s death in 1637 and that of the third John Gruffith\u00a0in 1643, all four paintings clearly fall before those dates and\u00a0after ca.<\/em> 1600; possibly they are the work of Randle Holme\u00a0of Chester, heraldic painter, and deputy to Norroy King of\u00a0Arms there from 1601 until the Civil War. They measure\u00a0(i) 27 by 28 ins., (ii-iii) 22 by 25 ins., (iv) 23 by 26 ins.<\/p>\n

The outbuildings<\/em> ranged along the other two sides of a courtyard\u00a0complete the layout of the late 17th or early 18th century
\n(Fig. 100). The low S. range retains its old roof of coarse\u00a0slates on trusses of rough timber, their cambered collars\u00a0pegged on. It contained the bake- and brew-house, the large\u00a0fireplace of which remains. The coach-house and stabling in\u00a0the W. range have been much altered. The barn to the W.\u00a0has been repaired at the S. gable end and re-roofed.<\/p>\n

Beyond the gardens to the N. of the house is the walled\u00a0kitehen-garden, 80 yds. from W. to E. by 70 yds., enclosed by a\u00a0wall of local bricks which is rounded at the angles. It contains\u00a0a two-storeyed gardening house, built of brick with stone\u00a0quoins, and roofed with slates on wide eaves. Both the garden\u00a0wall and the house are probably of the late 18th or early 19th\u00a0century.<\/p>\n

Near the gatehouse are preserved: (i-ii) Early Christian’\u00a0inscriptions from Capel Anelog, see above under Aberdaron,\u00a0Inscribed Stones (No. 1479); (iii-v) medieval font and two\u00a0human-headed corbels, one of which is built into the boundary\u00a0wall near the gatehouse, all from the old parish church of\u00a0Tudweiliog (No. 1760, q.v<\/em>.); (vi) stone rain-water head inscribed\u00a01674\/W G; (vii) lead plaque with shield-of-arms in\u00a0relief, quarterly, 1 and 4, a chevron between 3 griffins passant\u00a0<\/em>(Finch), 2 and 3, a lion rampant within a border engrailed<\/em> (Rhys\u00a0ap Tewdwr Mawr, for Wynne), early 19th-century; (viii)\u00a0rotary quem with rubber, 14 ins. in diameter, medieval(?);\u00a0(ix) rough mortar formed from boulder, 8 ins. in diameter.<\/p>\n

Condition: good.<\/p>\n

SH 23403528 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a022 iv 61 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a039 N.W.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(1686) CEFNAMWLCH (Figs. 100-1, plates 51, 60) was from\u00a0the end of the 15th until the end of the 18th century the seat of\u00a0the prominent family Griffith of Lleyn, who during the 17th\u00a0century played a vigorous part in the politics of Caernarvonshire\u00a0in opposition to the predominance of the Wynnes of\u00a0Gwydir. To this central period of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":179,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116,"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/106\/revisions\/116"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/crwydro.co.uk\/edern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}