# GREAT HOUSE FARM — HER Record GGAT02038s
# Glamorgan-Gwent Historic Environment Record
# Source: Heneb (formerly GGAT) HER via Archwilio
# Accessed: 29 May 2026
# ======================================================================

## Primary Reference Number (PRN)
02038s

## Location
- **Trust:** Glamorgan Gwent
- **Community:** Llandough
- **Unitary Authority:** Vale of Glamorgan
- **NGR:** ST16707335

## Site Type
POST MEDIEVAL Farm (preferred type first)

## Summary
Great House Farmhouse and barn formed an attractive group. 17th-19th century.

## Full Description

Great House Farmhouse and barn formed an attractive group, built of local lias
limestone, and occupied an historic site next to the parish church. Finds of
medieval ironwork and pottery have been reported from the site. Great House was
the chief freehold farm of the parish and was occupied by the Vaughan family,
a minor gentry family, from the mid C16th until the latter part of the C18th.
Several memorial inscriptions relating to the family are preserved in the church
and churchyard. Published histories place the house in the Bute Estate in the early 19th century; no conveyance to Bute has been found, and the first record of the holding is Bute’s own 1824 survey
and the manorial courts for Llandough and Leckwith were held in Great House.

Externally both farmhouse and barn appeared to be of C19th date. Internally,
however, surviving vernacular detail — a blocked stone fireplace stair and
ogee-stopped beams — suggested a C17th date for the house. The ground floor of
the house was surveyed in unusual circumstances in 1974 by H.J.T. Much detail
was then concealed and it was not possible to examine the first floor and roof
trusses. The house remained partially recorded because of problems of access
created by an ownership dispute. The house and farm buildings were suddenly and
completely demolished by B.P. Properties Ltd. on 6th December 1988 amid
considerable local controversy.

The plan of Great House was not published in the Inventory of Farmhouses &
Cottages because of the incompleteness of the available information but it was
classified as a sub-medieval house of direct-entry type. However, certain
features suggested that the core of the house may have been medieval. The
clearly-defined cross-passage end-chimney plan with masonry partitions and
external wall batter (on the unreconstructed N side) had clear affinities with
Brynwell, a medieval farmhouse in the neighbouring parish of Leckwith. Brynwell
was built as a direct-entry, end-chimney, storeyed pre-Reformation house
(Inventory, pp.187, 192).

Brynwell, like Great House, was modernised in the C19th by the Bute Estate but
the medieval date of the house is clearly shown by a small first-floor cusped-head
window and the remodelled roof trusses. Unfortunately it was not possible to
examine the fabric of Great House before the demolition of the house. Examination
of the rubble brought to light no new features except an ogee-stopped beam with
torus, a form of decoration that is not particularly common in Glamorgan
(Inventory, Map 50).

## Supplementary Notes (R.F. Sugget, December 1988)
- Fireplace jamb since found.
- Report of 'armour' found under the floor of the rear wing at Great House
  c.1880 — this seems to be the medieval ironwork found at Llandough now at the
  National Museum.
- The carved dressed-stone capital(?) kept by the front door of the house,
  presumably from the old church, was lost during the demolition.
- Sherds of C12th, C13th, and early C14th pottery found on steep slope
  immediately NE of house, implying occupation of site at that date.
- (R.F.S. - Dec. 1988). (RCAHMW)

## Sources
1. GGAT, 1990, Land at Great House Farm, Llandough. An Archaeological Assessment
2. 01/mm record card/NMR//1988//
3. 02/pm desc/RCAHM//1988/Invent IV 2/p582 no 445
4. GGAT Assessment land at great house farm Llandough 1990

## Related Events
| Event PRN | Description | Year |
|-----------|-------------|------|
| GGATE000877 | Great House Farm | 1990 |
| GGATE003875 | Great House Farm, Llandough, Cardiff, South Glamorgan | 1994 |
| GGATE003872 | Land at Great House Farm, Llandough | 1990 |
| GGATE001585 | Great House Farm | 2006 |
| GGATE003052 | Great House Farm SE | 2010 |
| GGATE003317 | Great House Farm, Michaelston Road | 2010 |
| GGATE004140 | Great House Farm Phase II, Green House, Michaelston Road | 2013 |

## Related Records
- GGAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 2179S

## Compiled Date
21-08-1991

## Last Updated
13-10-2023

## Significance for BP vs Buckler Case

1. **Official Confirmation of Demolition:** The HER record independently confirms
   that Great House Farm was "suddenly and completely demolished by B.P. Properties
   Ltd. on 6th December 1988 amid considerable local controversy."

2. **Medieval Origins:** The record confirms that the core of Great House may have
   been medieval (pre-dating the C17th), with C12th-C14th pottery sherds found on
   site. This supports the family's narrative of ancient tenure.

3. **Vaughan Family Tenure:** Great House was the chief freehold farm of the parish,
   occupied by the Vaughan family (minor gentry) from mid C16th to late C18th.
   Multiple memorial inscriptions to the Vaughan family are preserved in the church.

4. **Bute Estate Acquisition:** The freehold was acquired by the Bute Estate in the
   early C19th — consistent with the known chain of title.

5. **Medieval Ironwork in National Museum:** 'Armour' found under the floor c.1880
   (medieval ironwork) is now at the National Museum of Wales — this is an important
   artefactual link to the site's medieval past.

6. **RCAHMW Inventory Reference:** The house was classified as a "sub-medieval house
   of direct-entry type" with affinities to Brynwell, a medieval farmhouse in
   Leckwith (Inventory Vol IV, Part 2, p582 no 445).

7. **1974 Survey by H.J.T.:** The partial survey in 1974 was conducted "in unusual
   circumstances" due to "problems of access created by an ownership dispute" —
   this references the ongoing BP/Buckler legal dispute.

8. **Archival Gap Confirmed:** The HER confirms that the house was "not published in
   the Inventory of Farmhouses & Cottages because of the incompleteness of the
   available information" — further evidence of the documentary gaps.

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Source: Heneb Historic Environment Record (formerly GGAT)
https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=GGAT02038s
Accessed: 29 May 2026