Pennarth Fawr

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Cadw names no parking. A visitor in July 2025 found free parking on the left of the lane opposite the building; nothing is published, so the status is recorded as unknown. The drive and gate to the right of the hall are private, with the owners' house attached.

Driving pin: Cadw's marker on the hall itself. The postcode LL53 6PR comes from the owners and Google, not Cadw, and its centre lies 860 m away on a scattered rural postcode, so follow the pin. By road: 1.9 miles south-west of Chwilog off the B4354, signed off the A497 near Hafan y Mor. National Cycle Network route 8 passes 3.6 km away.

About

Pennarth Fawr, Penarth Fawr medieval hall, gives a rare glimpse of how the Welsh gentry lived in the 15th century near Chwilog on the Llyn peninsula. While most of the wood-built houses of the era are long gone, its sturdy stone construction has let it survive almost unchanged for centuries: tree-ring dating puts the hall at about 1476, built by Madog ap Howel ap Madog. The heart of the house is the large hall, originally heated by a central hearth with the smoke escaping through a vent in the roof. Its most striking feature is the elaborate internal truss system that holds it up, an impressive network of carved timber beams rising from floor to ceiling. Privately owned and in Cadw's guardianship, with the family's house attached, it is reached by following the garden path through the small iron gate in the stone wall to the front door. Reviewers find it beautifully preserved and peaceful; it opens from April to September only, with roadside parking opposite.

ClosedPick a day for times and prices

Until 31 Mar: Closed
From 1 Apr: Daily 10:00–17:00, last admission 16:30

Today, Saturday 24 October

Pennarth FawrClosed

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open 1 April to 30 September, 10am to 5pm, last admission 30 minutes before closing; closed 1 October to 31 March. No admission charge and no key-keeper. The hall is also used by its owners for wedding ceremonies, and one summer visitor found it shut. Cadw may close monuments at short notice in extreme weather.

Terrain level 1, accessible: the garden path and the hall's single room, with high thresholds and low door frames and some narrow, steep historic steps to any upper spaces; the grounds outside may be slippery or muddy. No toilets or facilities. Drones are not permitted.

Photo: Pennarth Fawr's stone hall with its slate roof and arched front door, seen through the iron garden gate in the surrounding stone wall, with the Cadw name board at the right. Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panarth_Fawr_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7996442.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.