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U3 Allt y bela Llangwm Usk NP15 1EZ
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Property description: Grade 2* medieval farmhouse with biomass log boiler and pellet boiler, and extensive gardens.
Technology categories:
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Detailed information about features:
Allt y bela is a medieval farmhouse from about 1420 which was originally a cruck from construction single storey building with a central hearth. The roof was raised and a chimney stack built in about 1480 creating an upper floor. It remained largely unaltered until 1599 when the owner Roger Edwards significantly engrandised the property with the construction of a Renaissance tower, the first of its kind in Wales, and a kitchen block. Roger Edwards left his estate in trust to establish some alms houses in Llangwm and the Grammar School in Usk. The trust is still in operation, granting a travel scholarship each year to an Usk student, but the school closed in the 1950’s.
Allt y bela gradually fell into disrepair and was finally abandoned in the early 1960’s from which time its condition deteriorated rapidly. By 1980 the tower had lost 3 walls and the main house was partly roofless. After a long legal battle with the owner and many repair orders, Monmouthshire County Council served a compulsory purchase order in 2004 and then sold the property to the Spitalfields Trust who were keen to carry out a conservation repair project outside of London, their natural home. The repair took 5 years and was supported with grants and loans from Cadw, the Architectural Heritage fund some smaller parties, after which it was placed on the open market and bought by the current owners in 2008.
The house has 5 bedrooms and bathrooms, 3 reception rooms and a large kitchen. It is fully centrally heated with radiators in all the rooms. The heat is provided by a 50KW log fired gasification boiler, buffered with 3000 litres of water maintained at 70 - 85°. There is a back-up 35KW wood pellet boiler to seamlessly maintain the house’s heating and hot water requirements if the log boiler has not been fuelled. The log boiler requires about 15 tons of cut and split wood each year. During the summer it is fuelled once every 2 days and during the winter twice a day. The pellet boiler uses about 6 tons of pellets which are automatically fed from a 1 ton hopper.
Open times:
Getting there:
Take the A449 Newport to Monmouth road. Take the A472 turning for Usk and immediately turn right onto the B4235 towards Chepstow. Turn right after ¼ mile into an unmarked road and follow for ½ mile until you reach a T junction. Turn left into the no through road and continue ½ a mile to Allt y Bela.
Please follow directions as Sat Nav does not always work.
Parking is difficult and restricted to about 6 vehicles at the property. More parking is available near the B4235 (a one mile walk) or in the narrow single track lane to the house, but be aware that there are few vehicle passing points.
Grid Reference:
Disabled access:
Partially accessible for wheelchairs.
