The cottage's roof is supported by oak
crucks or trunks which give the building its name.
Many cottages were little more than hovels, constructed with wooden supports called
crucks. The walls were made from clay, twigs and straw known as wattle and daub.
Black Poplars were regularly used by medieval housebuilders and cartmakers: when split, branches made perfect
crucks for
cruck barns.
The posts, beams and
crucks of these buildings are round poles, usually harvested on or near the building site.
Handsworth Old Town Hall, in Slack Lane, is one of the best early examples of the rare "
crucks" method of timber frame construction to be found in the UK.
Fortunately Cadw will be contributing to the renovation costs, as Gwastad is recognised as one of the most important early farms in West Wales, retaining early oak
crucks, panelling and two immense back fireplaces.
Three massive oak frames fastened together with oak pegs are the main structure of the cottage and it is these
crucks from oak tree trunks left in their natural state (with just the bark removed) which gives the building its name.
There are four pairs of curved
crucks, creating a house of three bays.
'The room was once dark and gloomy but we put extra windows in and there are now huge swathes of oak
crucks that were previously covered with layers of plaster and a balcony around 12 feet up wraps around the room, leading to the bedrooms.
And Stewart attributes some of this to the house itself, which seemed to communicate to them that it was full of hidden treasures such as beams,
crucks, inglenooks and stonework.
The
crucks had to be repaired by fashioning huge nails, the size of a broom handle, out of local oak.
It is believed that each pair of
crucks was made from the same tree.