Great Cefnyberen
Great Cefnyberen, or Cefnyberen Fawr, is a Grade II timber-framed house in the hamlet of Cefnyberen in the historic Kerry parish, Montgomeryshire, now part of Powys, Wales. The house is built in a T shape and is a high-status 16th‑century building, with a stone-front added to the south in 1743. Dendrochronology shows the main construction dates from about 1545–1566, and the property sits around a medieval hall.
The north side, which was the original front, has a thick wall-plate supported by carved pilasters, with a lobby-entry layout and a star-pattern chimney. Inside, the house retains some 16th‑century details, including a roll-moulded beam in the outer chamber and a dais in the hall. The wing holds the inner parlour with decorative beams and a 17th‑century staircase.
Cefnyberen formed part of the Monastic Grange of Gwernago in Kerry, which belonged to the Cistercian Abbey of Cwm Hir in Radnorshire. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–7), Gwernago was bought by Sir John Williams, a very wealthy landowner who played a major role in Tudor politics and royal finances. His purchase of Cwm Hir and Gwernago is recorded in the mid‑16th century.
Cefnyberen does not appear in Williams’s later sale of Gwernago, and it seems to have been sold earlier to John ap Rees, who later used the surname Pryce. John ap Rees, who is considered the likely builder of Great Cefnyberen, came from Ednop in Shropshire. He died in 1579, and his will and inventory are in the National Library of Wales. The house then passed to his son Maurice, who died in 1588 and left the estate to his wife Jane and to their children.
The Pryce family continued to own Great Cefnyberen for generations, with records showing descendants such as Stephen, Hugh, and Morris Pryce. Morris Pryce was declared an outlaw in 1672, probably for his Puritan beliefs. The property stayed in the Pryce line into the early 19th century.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:46 (CET).