Croiddur Barn History
Croiddur barn was built at about the same time as Cwmcroiddur Farmhouse, in the early 1800's. Previously, the only substantial building at Cwmcroiddur was Barcud Cottage, which, with its metre-thick walls, is an ancient Welsh longhouse - the original farmhouse at Cwmcroiddur.
The Stonework
When Croiddur Barn was built, the roof of the Cottage was probably replaced with slates - and the stone roof tiles from the Cottage were used as building material in the walls of Croiddur Barn.
The barn was built with a floor on two levels. The two large doorways with wooden doors allowed access to carts and the breeze through the Barn when both doors were open enabled threshing to be done - basically hitting bunches of stalks of corn - separating the corn from the chaff.
Croiddur Barn was used for almost 150 years before it was converted into a living space for people. As well as the two large doors, there were two smaller doors - now the windows of the single and twin bedrooms. Sheep were driven in so they could be sheared and the wool put in bags - all in Croiddur Barn. William, our next-door neighbour remembers this happening until as recently as the 1960's.
When Cwmcroiddur changed hands in the mid 1980's, the Farmhouse hadn't been lived in for eight years. A major sequence of conversion and refurbishment then started. First the rock behind the House and Cottage was cut back, to give more space behind the buildings and to provide more light in the rear facing rooms.
The rock was used to landscape in front of the buildings and behind the Barn (both of the lawned areas).
Building work planning
Once the House was habitable, the work on the Barn began. The drawings show that many major changes were made, such as installing the upstairs floor and bathroom and double bedroom windows, cutting the wall away between the two arrow-slit windows in the Lounge area at the end of the Barn.
Building work begins
When we arrived in 2006, Croiddur Barn was much as it had been when the conversion was completed in about 1990. The décor was tired, there were numerous electrical problems, the staircase was close to collapse and there was a big damp patch on one wall. Although the wood-burning stove was in place, the main means of heating was off-peak electric heaters. We tried them for a few weeks and were astonished at how costly they were to run and how ineffective they were!
Croiddur Barn development
We continued the process that had been started with the conversion of the Barn and undertook a major refurbishment. We replaced the concrete paving stones of the floor with green slate, removing a dangerous small step in the process. While the floor was up, the central heating was installed. The solar panels on the roof were added and linked into the new hot water system.
Work on the Barn kitchen
The kitchen was a long, narrow area, so we put in the island unit, with gas hob and electric oven. The single bedroom was added in part of the old kitchen, so increasing the capacity of the Barn to five.
Making the arrow-slit windows in the Lounge area openable and removing a blockage from the rainwater downpipe solved the damp patch problem - the central heating helped too.
The Barn was redecorated throughout using Farrow and Ball colours and the hand-built vanity units in the bedrooms were installed.
Finishing touches
We felt that Croiddur Barn needed a balcony and barbecue area, so we built the large timber structure using larch logs from our woods and pressure treated decking. On sunny mornings, it's a great place to have breakfast.
Also outside, we added the stone walls, patio and flower beds, giving Croiddur Barn an entrance courtyard and more privacy.
Upgrading the Barn is a continuing process. FreeSat television has been installed recently and we are hoping that high speed Wi-Fi Broadband Internet will be with us soon.