Gwynedd Archaeological
Trust Regional Historic Environment Record
Hafoty Hall House, Llansadwrn
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 2650 Trust : Gwynedd Community : Cwm Cadnant Unitary authority : Ynys Mon NGR : SH5621678171 Site Type (preferred type first) : MEDIEVAL HOUSE Status : Scheduled Monument , Listed Building I, Cared for by the State
Description : This site was previously recorded as PRN74103.
Built in C14th. H shaped in plan. Fireplace in the hall and stack added in C16th. In C17th N and S gable walls of E wing re-built, the W wing re-roofed, external stone stair and doorway added at N end. House partially modernised and E wall reconstructed. (RCAHMW, 1937)
Haffoty now derelict and becoming ruinous. C16th chimney stack remains. <2>
Excavation and survey in advance on consolidation and repair of the Medieval house founds that the earliest structure was a timber framed hall, and two storeyed cross-wing. During the C15th the clay walling was replaced by stone rubble in two stages, first the wing and then the hall, when the earlier partition was also rebuilt in stone and the ground floor of the wing was converted to service use. Subsequently a cross-wing was added at the outer end of the building. <3>
Hafoty, in the parish of Llansadwrn, is probably the most complete medieval house on Anglesey. It presents the appearance of a W-E hall with projecting wings, perpendicular to the hall axis, at each end. There are projecting external chimney stacks on the S wall of the hall and on the W wall of the W wing.
The present house was built around the middle of the C15th and further modified in the C16th. In the 1970s Hafoty was acquired by the Ministry of Works and, subsequently, Cadw who initiated a programme of conservation and restoration works which are now complete.
The earliest surviving structural evidence suggests a timber box-framed construction of probable C15th date comprising a hall of two bays and an E wing, perpendicular to the hall, housing service rooms and a great chamber. Elements of the box-frame are still visible in the N wall of the hall.
The E wing was rebuilt in stone followed by the probable addition or replacement of a unit at the W end. By this stage the house was entirely stone-built but retained the king-post trusses of the original construction in the hall and E wing. In the first decade of the C16th the putative chamber block at the W end of the hall was replaced by a significantly larger construction with a large first floor chamber, roofed by collar-beam through-purlin trusses in four bays.
A little later, a monumental fireplace and massive projecting stack was added to the S wall of the hall. This bears the motto of the Bulkeley family: 'Si Deus Nobiscum, Quis Contra Nos' - 'if God is with us, who is against us'.
It is probable that the early stages of the house, represented by the hall and E wing, are the work of the craftsmen of Henry Norres, originally of W Derby and later Beaumaris, in, say, the 1450s. The later modifications are likely to be a product of Bulkeley tenure from 1511. (Longley, 2007)
Medieval type house. 'H' plan. Central hall. Flanking wings. 16th Century fireplace. 17th Century alterations. Mainly recessed sashes. (Ancient monument). (RCAHMW, Undated)
Timber framed hall house constructed sometime during the mid-15th century by Thomas Norres. The house was later rebuilt in stone, however the timber frame was retained. The house passed to Richard Bulkeley in 1511 and was remodelled into the H-shaped house that stands today. Further additions and remodelling took place during the 18th and 19th centuries, most of which were removed during conservation work undertaken by Cadw in the 1990s. (Yates, 2008)
Description, plan and photographs of Hafoty Hall House (Ty Neauadd), Llansadwrn, Ynys Mon (Longley, 2013).
“An inscription cut over an arched chimney piece in the kitchen. The characters appear to be about the time of Henry the eighth or his successor and are read “Si deus nobiscum quis contra nos.” “ (Skinner, 1802) (Sketch on p. 86).
Description of 'Hafodty Rhydderch', Llansadwrn (Jones, 1847).
