Penrhos Cottage Museum

Penrhos Cottage stands in a quiet corner of north Pembrokeshire, a single-storey stone building with a low thatched roof. It lies south-east of the village of Maenclochog, reached by narrow lanes that wind through farmland and woodland. Built as a ty un nos around 1800, it was later rebuilt in stone but still keeps the shape of the original overnight house. The cottage was last lived in during 1967, long after most of its neighbours had been modernised. Its thick walls and small windows show how people once kept out the weather in this exposed part of Wales. The cottage is worth the journey because it is the last thatched roofed house left in Pembrokeshire. Inside, the original Welsh oak furniture has stayed in place for more than a hundred years. A family of twelve once shared the single room, sleeping on box beds and using the settle by the fire. The roof still carries the weight of centuries of rain and wind, yet the timbers have not been replaced. Visitors can see how ordinary families organised their whole lives in one small space. Inside, the single room is divided by low partitions into sleeping and living areas. The box beds line the walls, each big enough for two people to lie head to toe. The settle beside the hearth shows where the family gathered for warmth and stories. A dresser holds simple earthenware and iron tools that were used every day. The thatch above is so thick that no daylight shows through, keeping the room cool in summer and warm in winter. Outside, the garden is a patch of rough grass with a single apple tree, just as it was when the last tenant left.