Hafotty

Hafotty, Llansadwrn, Anglesey, Wales is a medieval hall house dating from the mid 14th century. Described in the Gwynedd Pevsner as "one of Anglesey's classic small medieval houses", Hafotty is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.

Hafotty
"One of Anglesey's classic small medieval houses"
Type	House
Location	Llansadwrn, Anglesey
Coordinates	53.281°N 4.1581°W / 53.281; -4.1581
Built	14th century
Architectural style(s)	Vernacular
Governing body	Privately owned
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Hafotty
Designated	28 May 2003
Reference no.	81136
Scheduled monument
Official name	Hafoty Old Farm House
Reference no.	AN097
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Agriculture range at Hafotty
Designated	28 May 2003
Reference no.	81130
Location of Hafotty in Anglesey

History

The original house at Hafotty was built of wood.^[1] This house is recorded as "Bodiordderch" ("the house of Iordderch"), and has also been called 'Bodarddar'.^[2][3] Anthony Emery dates this wooden house to the second quarter of the 14th century.^[4] Its original owner was Thomas Norres from Lancashire.^[2] In 1535 the house was in the possession of Henry Norris, Constable of Beaumaris Castle.^[a][6] By the 16th century, Hafotty had passed to the Bulkeleys, another prominent North Wales family,^[b] and had acquired its present name, meaning summer house, or summer dairy.^[1] Cadw records extensions to the house in the 16th century, and its re-casing in stone in the 17th.^[6] By the 20th century, Hafotty was in a state of some dereliction,^[10] but was restored in the 1970s and again in the early 21st century.^[5] The house remains in the possession of the Bulkeleys, although under the care of Cadw, and is occasionally open to the public.^[2][11]

Architecture and description

The Gwynedd Pevsner considers Hafotty "one of Anglesey's classic small medieval houses".^[5] Peter Smith, in his Houses of the Welsh Countryside, categorises it as a three-unit hall house and notes that, despite its "relatively modest" size, it was still a "house of status".^[12] Built to an H-plan, and constructed of rubble masonry, it is of two-storeys.^[6] Dendrochronology from tree rings dates the beams in the extension to between 1509 and 1553.^[2] The interior contains some notable medieval fittings, including fireplaces and window surrounds.^[5] The fireplace has a Tudor arch and the inscription in Latin: Si deus nobiscum, quis contra nos ('If God is with us, who can be against us') which is a Bulkeley family motto. The arch also has carvings of the heads of a Saracen and a bull, another Bulkeley family motif.^[2] Hafotty is a Grade I listed building^[6] and a scheduled monument.^[13]

Footnotes

1. Although Cadw record the house as still being in the possession of Henry Norris in 1535, Pevsner suggests that it had passed to the Bulkeleys by 1511.^[5]
2. The Bulkeleys are commemorated on the island by the Bulkeley Monument, on the Beaumaris to Llanddona road,^[7] and by the Bulkeley Hotel^[8] and Bulkeley Terrace, both in the town of Beaumaris.^[9]