A traditional stone farmhouse, which, restored over the years, now forms the rear of the house as we see it today, Mor Isaf later became known as ‘The Green’. However with two other ‘The Greens’ not more than a mile distant the house was once again renamed to avoid confusion and became ‘Hardwicke Green’, being situated in the village of Hardwicke while the other two are in the neighbouring village of Clifford.

In around the1860s the substantial red brick Victorian addition was built onto the back of the stone house and thus became the front. At this time there was a dairy where the present Garden Room stands. The solid oak porch is believed to have been constructed for Hardwicke Church (the church's unusual open bell tower is visible across the meadows) which was also built in the 1860s, but when it was decided instead to provide the church with a stone porch, the original wooden one was acquired for Hardwicke Green. It lends itself perfectly to the ecclesiastic appearance of the very solid oak front door with its stained glass lights in typical Victorian Gothic Revival style. The entrance hall decorations carry this theme through into the house with its ‘faux stone’ walls, tapestry fabric wall hangings and Pre-Raphaelite prints depicting scenes from the Grail Legends. The present owners have carried out major renovations and redecoration to both parts of the house and whilst the style of the latter and the furnishings are essentially modern, an attempt has been made to incorporate an historical ‘feel’ into the décor. The white-painted extension and the garden room, although built in 2002, harmonise well with the older parts of the house.

The house adjacent to Hardwicke Green was a stone built barn, originally part of the property and contemporary with the old farmhouse. It was converted about ten years ago by a former owner of Hardwicke Green and as a Welshman, it was quite natural for him to revive the old name of Mor Isaf for his new home. At this time the land was divided so that Hardwicke Green now stands in six acres with a fine, uninterrupted view to the hills.

Farmers Charles Morgan and David Llewellyn, tinkers William Evan and David Morgan, barber William Spiggott and saddler William Morris were hanged on March 30, 1770 at ‘Gallows Tumps’ one mile from the city [Hereford] at a spot where the Hereford to Abergavenny railway was later to run.

The sinister sixsome, heavily disguised and with faces blacked, had rushed into the parlour of a Carmarthenshire man and stabbed and slashed him to death with swords and cutlasses.After the hangman had carried out his task, the bodies of Spiggott and Evan were hung in chains on Hardwick Common, near Hay-on-Wye, while the mortal remains of the other four Welshmen were dissected."

To this day certain of the more elderly local residents refer to Hardwicke Green as 'Gibbety Green'!

The boot was taken to Hereford Museum to see if it could be dated and some light thrown on the reasons for incorporating it into the structure of the building.  An extract from their letter is as follows:

“This is probably a man’s boot placed in the wall for a ritualistic purpose – the concealing of shoes and boots in buildings is well documented.  This practice tends to be confined to southern England and spans a period of nearly five centuries with the earliest example being from the fifteenth century and the latest from the mid-twentieth century.  Although little is known about the exact motives for concealing shoes and boots in buildings, this certainly focuses on superstitions to do with luck and fortune.  Boots and shoes have been found concealed in a number of places in houses such as walls, under floorboards, above door lintels, under window ledges and in roofs.  While they are rarely found in pairs, they can be discovered with other single shoes, in groups, with families sometimes being represented by the concealment of a man’s shoe, a lady’s shoe and several children’s shoes.  The shoes and boots used for this purpose were generally old and well worn, shown in this case by the hole through the toe of the boot.  The date of the shoe or boot normally coincides with the construction of the building or some major building work.” 

There was apparently also a tradition of burying a boot in the ground before a long journey to ensure a safe home-coming.  The Hardwicke Boot is very well-worn and has a hole through the upper such as may have been made by a garden fork having been driven through it!