Flintshire UK

ST ASAPH, Waen (SJ 0644 7333)

(a) Primary phase Felling date:Spring 1503

Cruck 1502(19¼C); Purlin (0/1). Site Master 1394-1502 sta1 (t = 5.8 BRECON1; 5.4 YORKMED; 5.4 LEOMSTR2)

(b) Inserted Fireplace Felling dates: Spring 1660

Mantelbeam 1659(34¼C). Site Master 1492-1659 sta3 (t = 6.2 STOLAFS; 6.3 MOTISFNT; 5.4 OVERTON5)

A derelict lobby-entry brick farmhouse, downgraded to a farm-building in the C19th, but in origin a cruck-framed hall-house of gentry status, presumably the principal house in the township of the same name. The hall-house is of three-unit type with a two-bay hall set between inner and outer bays. Waen has two distinctive features. Firstly, the crucks are of the jointed type restricted to north-east Wales. Secondly, the arch-braced truss is not centrally placed within the hall but set forward towards the dais partition (possibly because a screens passage had in effect contracted the hall). The passage is now occupied by an inserted back-to-back fireplace with boldly-cut ogee stops. The ceiling of the outer parlour has an ovolo moulding, but the hall seems to have remained open until the C19th. The two main phases were both precisely dated. The beam of the inserted fireplace is surprisingly late, but it may have replaced a framed fireplace, possibly a common sequence. Dating commissioned by RCAHMW after an archaeological watching brief by Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) in advance of restoration. Unpublished surveys by RCAHMW & CPAT (NMRW).

(Miles and Worthington 2003, VA 34, list 144)

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