If you enter Delfryn on the Cefn y Hendy estate, then you will be at the site of the former Hendy farm.
Both the Bute Estate map of 1824 and the 1st edition OS map of 1885 show Hendy as a small settlement or perhaps a large farm consisting of at least seven buildings. Situated to the south was the post-medieval Hendy Farm.
The actual farmhouse still exists at the rear of Delfryn, and you can pass it using the footpath that heads downhill from the end of Acorn Close
Prior to building the modern housing estate the area was surveyed and the following 6 buildings identified
Building A
This building appears to have undergone several stages of alteration since its construction. Its original usage was as a cart shed and at this stage its form was of a symmetrical two-storied building whose frontage was pierced by two large arches supported by well-constructed masonry columns giving access to the ground floor. It is likely that this upper storey was used for storage or perhaps as a granary.
Building B
This single-storied building belonged to the pre-1824 phase, although it is probably late 18th century at earliest. The northern range had been severely affected by the construction of a more modern cow shed; however, some earlier features were still detectable. Along the northern wall were a series of blocked in windows and the eastern wall was pierced by a door giving access to the track leading from the yard up Cefn-yr-Hendy. The western range was a cattle shed with and open frontage divided into bays by tapering circular pillars.
Building C
This building had been much disturbed by modern activity and little of its original form or usage could be determined. It belonged to the post-1840 construction and was built of random rubble blocks set in a lime mortar. Its surviving form was of an open-fronted building built against the west of building D, which was pierced by a first-floor door, since blocked, implying that building C was also originally of two stories.
Building D
This was a long narrow building of two stories butted by building C on its western side. Access to the ground floor was gained by a wide archway in the southern face, and by a partially blocked doorway in the northern wall. The ground floor was partitioned in two and the southern portion was probably used as a cart shed. First floor access was gained by steps set against the eastern wall.
Building E
This barn was part of the pre-1824 construction. It appears to have been a typical 18th/19th century barn with two large opposing doorways to allow access by carts.
Building F
This building post-dated the 1840 Tithe Map and was constructed from random rubble set in lime mortar. It consisted of two separate elements, two pigsties and an outhouse. The two elements are separated from one another by the wall enclosing the farmyard.
More information can be found here
For more information about the history of the community of Pontyclun please visit our online museum
https://pontyclun.net/?p=9003&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=4864
