.. Glyn Bran  ..

Situated on the Mountain Road (Upper Cwmbran), just above Siloam Chapel, stands Glyn Bran, apparently dated to around the 16th Century. The walls are sandstone and the roof tiles were originally made of stone. Over the years additional rooms and windows have been added.

    Two interesting features of the house:

• Wooden Corbels protrude from the main wall which at one time supported a verandah.

• A bread oven which can be seen projecting out from one of the end walls.

Bread making in the 16th century consisted of preparing dough for baking and leaving it for a time to `rise` followed by the preparation of the oven for baking, which required several `faggots` (a collection of small twigs and tinder) being laid in the bottom of the oven; the faggots were then ignited and the front of the oven sealed with tiles and bread dough. When the oven was hot enough to receive the bread dough, the tiles were removed, the ash quickly drawn out, the bread dough placed inside and the tiles replaced.

    .. Have you ever wondered where the term " The Upper Crust" came from ? ..

Even though the ash was removed from the oven, obviously some residue remained; when the baked bread  was removed, the bottom of each loaf  had an ash deposit `Baked in`  .... Although acceptable to the  peasants, farm workers etc; the gentry or `Upper Crust` preferred their loaf of bread with the ash covered, `Lower Crust` removed.

.. The Bread Oven  and the `Wooden Corbel` supports for the verandah ..

    *Adrian Mahagan, formerly of Pontnewydd, now St.Dials, remembers Mr Cocker lived there and delivered milk by horse and cart.