Monday 18 August 2008

Hafoty, Anglesey

Hafoty is a medieval house on Anglesey. It has been undergoing conservation work to preserve the fabric of the building, and the front of the house is currently covered in scaffolding, to enable safe access for the man who is currently painting it white!

This house is rarely open to the public, although it will be on various dates in September 2008, under the Civic Trust's 'open doors' scheme:

http://www.civictrustwales.org/ehd/programme2008/handlist0108.pdf


A collection of objects found on site during the conservation work.



A newly created door, in oak.



The fireplace is huge, impressive, and beautifully carved. The carved stone with family crest above the fireplace was added much later. On the close up picture above, you can see the remains of medieval paint (red ochre) staining the grey stone.



One of the windows.



A refurbished window, complete with shutter. They didn't have curtains in early medieval times, they used solid wood shutters to keep the heat in.


An upstairs window. It is unlikely that this is the original window, but was either a replacement or an addition, as it has a stone frame, and the original windows were all wooden framed. The house has been changed through time, as all houses are, and has features created in a range of different times.


The upper part of the bedroom (the floor is on 2 different levels, this is the dias where the bed would have been, about a foot higher than the rest of the floor).


The fabulous roof trusses. Imagine lying in bed and looking at these? This house was originally built as an oak framed house, and the stonework was added a couple of hundred years later, when one of it's owners wanted the house to become a grander dwelling.


The rear of the property.

Monday 11 August 2008

Wonderful Weobley windows

I visited Weobley Castle, on the Gower, near Swansea in south Wales. The Gower coast was declared an 'area of outstanding natural beauty' over 50 years ago, and has had legal protection against any developments which might spoil it ever since.


The castle has been there for about 700 years, and is located on a headland high above an estuary. I may post more pictures of the castle at some point, but for now I'll just share the view from the castle and through the windows!!!