DescriptionA late sixteenth-early seventeenth century house with earlier origins. Identified as the birthplace, in 1545, of Bishop Morgan, the translator of the first complete Welsh Bible, published in 1588. The house was restored and modified in 1888 and 1987-8, to commemorate this event.
A two storey house, with walls of flat stone slabs above massive boulder foundations. It has a (modern) slate gabled roof framed by massive stone end chimney stacks. Few original features remain. Vestidual cruck timbers are thought to survive from an earlier building (see below).
Sources: RCAHMW Caernarvon Inventory I (1956), 173-4
National Trust Guidebook (1988)
CADW Listed Buildings Database (3578)
John Wiles 17.04.07
[Additional:] House of Snowdonian type with late-medieval origins associated with Bishop Morgan. Plan and account in RCAHMW's Caernarvonshire Inventory with revisions by Peter Smith in the National Trust Guide. Restoration work by the National Trust revealed the remains of two cruck-trusses cut off flush with the walls. Cores for tree-ring dating were taken from the crucks and fireplace beam in Oct. 2001 by the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory. (2001.10.23/RCAHMW/RFS). The samples have failed to date. (RFS/2002)
[Additional:] Further sampling work showed that the present house was reconstructed in the mid-C16th during the life-time of Bishop Morgan. Tree-ring dating and site description reported in Vernacular Architecture 42 (2011):
PENMACHNO, Wybrnant, Ty-mawr (SH 7700 5240)
(a) Phase 2: Reconstruction of roof Felling dates: Spring 1559 and Winter 1564/5
(b) Reused timber in adjacent cottage Felling date range: 1521-51
(a) Principal rafters 1564(20C//0, 1558(28?C), 1545(3); Joists (1/2) 1492; Floor beam (0/1); Mantelbeam (0/1). (b) Timber reused as mantelbeam 1515(5). Site Masters (a) 1437-1564 WYB (t = 7.0 BELFAST; 6.9 WALES97; 6.7 BRECON1); (b) 1442-1515 wyb10 (t = 7.4 STJLICH; 6.9 HABBERLY; 6.7 GORC_T17).
A large, three-unit, storeyed house of Snowdonian plan-type famous for its association with Bishop William Morgan (1545-1604), translator of the Bible into Welsh (1588). The stubs of cruck blades cut off flush with the walls suggest that Ty-mawr originated as a late-medieval hall-house. These cruck fragments failed to date but the collar-beam trusses (a) of the Snowdonian house were successfully sampled, showing that Ty-mawr was improved during the life-time of Bishop Morgan. Plan and description in RCAHMW, Caernarvonshire Inventory, Volume I: East (1956), pp. 173-4. The mantelbeam of the reconstructed guardian's 's cottage adjacent (b) was sampled as it had evidence for reuse and was found to date from 1521-51. However, the provenance of this timber is unknown. Dating commissioned by The National Trust Wales in association with by NWWDP and RCAHMW. (R.F. SUGGETT/RCAHMW/JULY 2011).
