Ty Coch Cruck Barn, Llangynhafal, Denbighshire

The Cruck barn on the Ty Coch estate at Llangynhafal, Denbighshire, is a timber framed building, which has been dated by dendrochronology to 1430.[1] It is one of the earliest timber framed buildings in Wales. Although there is evidence that the building was a house originally, it was converted to agricultural use and is often described as a barn.

Cruck barn, Ty Coch, Llangynhafal, Denbighshire
Cruck barn, Ty Coch, Llangynhafal, Denbighshire
Location in Denbighshire
General information
LocationDenbighshire, Wales, UK
Coordinates53.164192°N 3.303767°W / 53.164192; -3.303767
OS gridSJ1293263800

The significance of the barn was recognised by Cadw in 2002 when it was listed as a Grade II listed building.[2] Previously the building had been thought to be 17th century.[3] It has recently been restored by the Denbighshire County Council, with European and other grant funding, as part of a small workshop complex.

Description

It is a 5-bay cruck structure. The building was originally a house consisting of an inner room (one bay), a hall with passage (2 bays), and a cow house (2 bays).[4]

The end gables were replaced in stone, probably in the 18th century with side walls that are 3-panel high timber-framing, infilled originally with brick nogging, resting on a plinth of rubble stonework. To the north side the timber-framing is largely intact, but to the south, much of the timber-framing has had to be replaced. Timbers at the upper end show signs of smoke blackening, indicating that it was formerly a house. Mortices survive for wind-braces – two to each bay. The matching ‘blades’ of each cruck truss are sawn on only one surface, with the other surface curved. This is a result of the vertical separation of the matching curved branch that formed the cruck, after being cut from a tree..

  • Timber framed Cruck Barn at Ty-Coch
  • End bay to barn with new metal support to cruck frame
  • Cruck frame, lower three bays.
  • Detail of Cruck frame at Ty-Coch
  • Detail of Cruck frame at Ty-Coch

Literature
  • Alcock N W Cruck Construction: An introduction and catalogue. CBA Research Report no 42, 1981.
  • Alcock, N. W., Barley, M. W. et al. (1996), Recording timber-framed buildings – An illustrated glossary, Council for British Archaeology, York. ISBN 1872414729
  • Smith P Houses of the Welsh Countryside, 2nd Edition, 1988, HMSO/ RCAHMW
  • Suggett R and Stevenson G Introducing Houses of the Welsh Countryside. Cyflwyno Cartrefi Cefn Gwlad Cymru, Y Lolfa/ RCAHMW, 2010

References
  1. Miles, D, Worthington, M & Bridge, M , 2006 , List 181: Welsh Dendrochronology Project – Phase 10, ‘‘Vernacular Architecture’’ Vol37.
  2. Cadw. "Cruck Barn at Ty-coch  (Grade II) (26794)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. Hubbard E, The Buildings of Wales: Clwyd, Penguin/ Yale 1986, 226
  4. E Wiliam, Traditional Farm Buildings in North-East Wales (1982) p.89
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