DOL-Y-GAER, Crickhowell, Brecknock 2012
Notes on DOL-Y-GAER, Crickhowell, Brecknock 2012
A long ruined longhouse. The walk up from Crickhowell isn’t long and although rises steeply, is not too strenuous even with 20 kg of camera equipment. Dol-y-Gaer stands alongside the footpath that climbs to Crug Hywel Mountain in the Brecon Beacons. The views, as one would expect, are stunning but on this snowy & frosty day the winter sun struggled to burn through the morning haze.
The main house, according to research on the internet, was built to replace the smaller dwelling seen here, facing west. This older, smaller dwelling is now used as agricultural storage and has a metal roof, as does the long barn beneath it, to protect it from further deterioration. The main house, although once boarded up has been broken into, with the boards kicked/smashed in and within, some furniture remains, all messy and uninviting. The staircase has all but collapsed and I declined the option for climbing them and seeing further debris in the upstairs rooms. Downstairs, the front door opens into the living area and a corridor run along past the kitchen and into a dining area. A strange design, when compared to many other longhouses, and I wondered if extensions or renovations, long ago, had caused this peculiar design.
As the ice and snow thawed from the roof it ran down from where the drains had come apart and this constant trickle of water was the only sound to be heard, that and the birds and far away sheep bleating. Everything was still and silent and I took a number of images. The still morning was unbroken and after I had used up the remaining film I had I folded my camera up and packed it back into my bag. On the slippery walk down I met five different groups of walkers. I was pleased not to be disturbed whilst photographing but was more than happy to stop and talk in the way back down to Crickhowell.
A long ruined longhouse. The walk up from Crickhowell isn’t long and although rises steeply, is not too strenuous even with 20 kg of camera equipment. Dol-y-Gaer stands alongside the footpath that climbs to Crug Hywel Mountain in the Brecon Beacons. The views, as one would expect, are stunning but on this snowy & frosty day the winter sun struggled to burn through the morning haze.
The main house, according to research on the internet, was built to replace the smaller dwelling seen here, facing west. This older, smaller dwelling is now used as agricultural storage and has a metal roof, as does the long barn beneath it, to protect it from further deterioration. The main house, although once boarded up has been broken into, with the boards kicked/smashed in and within, some furniture remains, all messy and uninviting. The staircase has all but collapsed and I declined the option for climbing them and seeing further debris in the upstairs rooms. Downstairs, the front door opens into the living area and a corridor run along past the kitchen and into a dining area. A strange design, when compared to many other longhouses, and I wondered if extensions or renovations, long ago, had caused this peculiar design.
As the ice and snow thawed from the roof it ran down from where the drains had come apart and this constant trickle of water was the only sound to be heard, that and the birds and far away sheep bleating. Everything was still and silent and I took a number of images. The still morning was unbroken and after I had used up the remaining film I had I folded my camera up and packed it back into my bag. On the slippery walk down I met five different groups of walkers. I was pleased not to be disturbed whilst photographing but was more than happy to stop and talk in the way back down to Crickhowell.
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Comments
By Whitney Brown: This website is a true treasure. My friend Stuart Fry told me about you. Thank you so much for sharing your explorations with us. I will be back often. By Natasha de Chroustchoff: This house was rented by my family 1957-69 and we spent all my school holidays there. It had no electricity, no gas, no sanitation, and no vehicular access. One cold water tap and an outdoor earth closet. The older dwelling was a 'bwthyn' (small cottage) with a large fireplace and a single upstairs room. The house that replaced it was bigger and had 2 rooms and a scullery/larder downstairs and 3 bedrooms. Neither dwelling was a longhouse. In the farmyard were a large barn, beasthouses, pig stye and bee boles. The owners (nearby farmers) refused to maintain the house and after we left it remained empty. The place had an incredible view right over Crickhowell. I have not been back for many years. It is very sad to see it now in these photographs but I am glad they exist.Thank you for taking them. By Natasha de Chroustchoff: In this photo the furniture items have been removed from upstairs bedrooms. The drawers formed part of a dressing table and the chair was once a commode, I believe. The coconut matting that was on the floor has been pulled up to reveal the flagstones beneath. The door on the left leads into the larder/scullery where there was a flat sink and a tap that piped in water from a cast iron vessel behind the house where spring water collected, unless there was a period of drought. The rear wall visible was always damp since the house was built into the hillside with only a narrow space behind.