NHER 69506 (Building record) - Late post-medieval farm buildings

Group of three adjoining farm buildings of late post-medieval date. These buildings appear to be shown on the Denton tithe map (S1) (although the copy consulted is damaged at this location) and are clearly depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition Six-inch map (S2).

July 2014. Photographic Survey.
Survey undertaken ahead of the proposed conversion of these buildings to residential use.
This range of buildings consists of (from north to south) a stable, a small shed and a cattle shelter.
The stable (Building 1) is of brick construction with a corrugated asbestos sheet roof. Its plan is irregular, with no right angles and the west wall longer than the east wall. The west and north walls are of soft red bricks laid in English bond, while the east wall is constructed of coursed brick rubble. There is a large full-height barn door in the western elevation – it is suggested that this potentially represents a modern insertion, although it would seem to correspond with some form of small structure shown protruding for this wall on (S2). At some point the roof was rebuilt, incorporating some reused timbers. The floor of the hayloft does not match the level of the wall plate and tie beams, suggesting it is a later insertion.
The space between the two larger buildings is occupied by a small shed with brick walls and a pantile roof (Building 2). Its west wall is of soft red brick lain in English Bond, while its east wall is lain in Flemish Bond. There is an opening at the southern end of its east wall and a door its southern wall that links it to the cattle shelter. The roof trusses appear to be of sawn and reused timber, with many joints being nailed.
The cattle shelter (Building 3) has similar brick walls to the adjoining shed and provides accommodation for 16 cattle in stalls constructed from concrete and iron railings. The late 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps such as (S2) suggest this building originally had a tripartite structure - consisting of two opposing shelters separated by an open space. These two shelters were later linked by the additional of a roof over the west side of the open space. The western brick wall is slightly bowed in plan and has been reinforced by the addition of three crude buttresses constructed of harder red bricks. Internally the open frontages of the building are supported by several wooden posts, all of which rest on tall post pads (replacing their rotted bases). The post supporting the later central roof is a reused timber with joint holes.
The brickwork seen in these buildings is thought to be indicative of a late 18th- to 19th-century date. The irregular plan of the stables and the large number of older timbers does though suggest that this building was considerably older. It was potentially originally a timber-framed structure, with its walls being rebuilt in brick when the structures to the south were erected.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 8 October 2025.