Upper Wernhir

Sir Joseph Bradney, in his History of Monmouthshire, remarks that in the hamlet of Glascoed “there are three farms called Wern-hir …” (the long meadow). “In 1295 Wern-hir, in the inquisition of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hereford and Gloucester, is said to consist of 200 acres … purchased by Sir Bogo de Clare … who had died without issue, when his estates reverted to the earl.”[1]

Upper Wern-hir (Plate II A and B) stood on the eastern-facing slope of Craig-y-coed, backed by the wood and fronting its farmlands. The farm building seen in Plate II B, set at right angles to the house, was a barn, stable and cowshed in one, probably dating from the late seventeenth century. The house, built on a rectangular plan, was of two stories with attics, and measured 58 ft. by 23 ft. It was rubble-walled, whitewashed, and roofed with local stone (in part replaced by Welsh slates owing to a construction weakness (p.26). The walls were up to 2 ft. 6 in. thick on the lower (eastern) side, with slight batter at the northern end where the ground slopes, 2 ft. elsewhere. The main axis of the house was nearly north and south; of the three chimney stacks on at the south gable projected, and had two offets on one side; it is no doubt an (early) addition.[2]

There was a string-course of slabby stone on the east front, seen in the Plate; its abrupt end marked the point where the first building phase stopped. All the original window frames of this phase survived on this side, and the photographs show those on the upper floor; but on the ground floor they were hidden by a shed. The windows and doors at the service end of the house, built a little later, were replaced in the eighteenth century.

We have concentrated on the east side of Upper Wern-hir because it was, on the whole, better preserved than the other, and because it was the principal front, facing the farm-yard and the valley and including the largest mullioned windows on each of the two floors.

The article goes on to explain the layout of the house and provides a floor plan.

The ground floor consisted of four rooms which were a Kitchen, Dairy, Living room (“Hall”) and Inner room.

The house seemed to be separated between the family quarters (to the right hand side of the front door, and the service quarters (containing the Kitchen), which were to the left. The Dairy was opposite the front door, through a doorway. “The cross-passage was the main traffic-way in the house, giving access from the farm-yard and from garden to the family quarters on the one side, and the service quarters on the other.”

Regarding the family quarters, the “Hall” was also described as the “Living room” and beyond this, at the far end of the building the “inner room” was found, along with a partitioned closet.

In the “Hall” there was a large fireplace in an unusual position below a gable chimney stack. A staircase from the “Hall” led to two adjoining bedrooms. A further staircase from Bedroom 2 led to the Attic bedrooms. These must have been the rooms where the family slept.

The Kitchen contained a fireplace, recessed cupboard and a doorway (“not original”). A second staircase led to a Sleeping loft above the Kitchen, which must have been the servants’ sleeping quarters. The Service and Family Quarters were separate, with no passages adjoining them above the ground floor.

The book itself goes on to explain in great detail what the architectural features of Upper Wernhir were. If you are interested in this level of detail, you would find the book fascinating. It also contains sketches of some of the key features of the house and other significant Monmouthshire houses. 

[1] Vol. III, Part I, p. 65. Lower Wernhir is a modern farm-house. Little Wernhir is now represented by farm buildings only.

[2] See p. 26; also C. Fox “Some South Pembrokeshire Cottages,” Antiquity, 1942, pp. 307-19, for this type of chimney stack.