S T E P H E N H A I G H B u i l d i n g s A r c h a e o l o g i s t
11 Browcliff Silsden Keighley West Yorkshire BD20 9PN Tel: 01535 658925 Mobile: 07986 612548
www.stephenhaigh.co.uk [email protected]
Shippon at Morton House Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire:
Photographic Record
September 2016
OASIS project ID: stephenh1-261892
This report is formatted to allow printing on both sides of the paper and may contain blank pages
Shippon at Morton House Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire:
Photographic Record
CONTENTS List of photographs........................................................................................................ overleaf
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 2 Location and current use................................................................................................. 1 3 Planning background ...................................................................................................... 3 4 Previous investigative work............................................................................................. 3 5 Historical background...................................................................................................... 4 6 Recording methodology .................................................................................................. 4 7 Description of the building............................................................................................... 4 8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 6 Appendix 1: Written scheme of investigation .......................................................................... 7 Appendix 2: Contents of the project archive ......................................................................... 10
Figures:1: Location map (i) .........................................2 2: Location map (ii) ........................................2 3: Site plan (1:500).........................................3 4: OS 1:10560 map, 1847..............................4
After text: Photograph locations: 5: Site plan 6: Floor plans
Selected photographs
SUMMARY
The shippon adjoining Morton House (NGR: SD 68825 40329) is likely to date from about
1800, as is the house itself. It comprises a two bay, storey structure with three gable
doorways facing out onto a middenstead; the ground floor has been altered in the mid
twentieth century with the introduction of vacuum milking, but the hay loft on the first floor
remains a large, open space. Photographic recording was carried out in August 2016 for the
owners Mr & Mrs Hough, prior to conversion to a family annex.
September 2016
S T E P H E N H A I G H B u i l d i n g s A r c h a e o l o g i s t
11 Browcliff Silsden Keighley West Yorkshire BD20 9PN Tel: 01535 658925 Mobile: 07986 612548
www.stephenhaigh.co.uk [email protected]
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS REPORT
Many of the photographs taken during the recording are reproduced at the end of this report, but for a full set of photographs it would be necessary to consult the project archive (see Appendix 2). Photo Subject 1 General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the east 2 East elevation of shippon and farmhouse 4 The shippon, from the south-east 6 Ground floor openings in south gable 8 Open midden yard to south of shippon, with adjacent outbuilding 9 General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the south-west 11 West elevation of shippon 12 Ground floor of shippon, from the north-west 14 Ground floor of shippon, from the south-west 16 Detail of stall arrangement in west side of shippon 19 Detail of pressure gauge on vacuum pipe 20 Hay loft on upper floor, from the north-west 21 Hay loft on upper floor, from the west 23 Hay loft on upper floor, from the south-east 24 Detail of milking pump on upper floor 25 Roof truss, from the south-west 27 Detail of lap joint in east principal rafter, indicating re-use 29 Detail of joint numbering on north side of roof truss
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record page 1
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
SHIPPON AT MORTON HOUSE, KEMPLE END, AIGHTON BAILEY AND CHAIGLEY, LANCASHIRE: PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD 1 Introduction
1.1 This report presents the results of the photographic recording of a shippon
attached to Morton House in the civil parish of Aighton Bailey and Chaigley,
Lancashire, and was commissioned by the owners Mr & Mrs Hough via their
agent Peter Hitchen Architect, to fulfil a condition of planning consent from
Ribble Valley Borough Council (RVBC), for the conversion of the building to a
family annex. The survey was carried out in August 2016.
1.2 The shippon appears contemporary with the farmhouse and is likely to date from
about 1800. It is two bays long and two storeys high, with the ground floor
containing cow housing (mid twentieth century in its present arrangement), and a
tall hay loft over it on the first floor.
1.3 The recording work was carried out in accordance with a written scheme of
investigation submitted in advance to RVBC (Appendix 1), and was confined to a
photographic record. This report will be submitted to the client, the local
planning authority and the Lancashire County Historic Environment Record, and
will be published on the internet via the Oasis Project1. The project archive will
be deposited with Lancashire Archives.
2 Location and current use
2.1 Morton House is one of a small number of dwellings within the hamlet of Kemple
End, situated at the east end of Longridge Fell, about 1km west of the River
Hodder and 6km west of Clitheroe (figures 1 to 2). The site’s altitude above sea
level is approximately 170m and the NGR for the building is SD 68825 40329.
The surrounding land is for the most part pasture, with some woodland.
2.2 The farmhouse and shippon form a single range aligned north-south, with the
shippon standing at the south end (figure 3); there are a number of other
traditional buildings in the vicinity including a barn standing 80m to the south,
and pig sties and privy nearer the house, though these were not inspected.
1 Online Access to the Index of Archaeological Investigations
page 2 Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
1: Location map (i)
2: Location map (ii)
Scale: 1:250,000R
epro
duce
d by
per
mis
sion
of O
rdna
nce
Sur
vey
on b
ehal
f of t
he C
ont
rolle
r of
He
r M
ajes
ty’s
Sta
tione
ry
Offi
ce.
© C
row
n C
opyr
ight
. A
ll rig
hts
rese
rved
. Li
cenc
e no
: AL1
0003
4008
Scale: 1:10,000Morton House
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record page 3
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
3: Site plan (1:500)
3 Planning background
3.1 None of the buildings at the site are listed or lie within a conservation area.
Planning consent from RVBC for the building’s conversion to a family annex was
granted on 3 August 2016 (application number 3/2016/0517). In their
consultation response to the application, the Lancashire Archaeological Advisory
Service (LAAS) recommended that the planning authority attach a condition to
the consent, requiring recording, and as a result, condition no. 4 requires a
detailed photographic record of the building. It is anticipated that the contents of
this report and the associated archive will permit this condition to be discharged.
4 Previous investigative work
4.1 No previous investigative work of this type appears to have been carried out at
the site.
page 4 Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
5 Historical background
5.1 Very little is presently known of the building’s history; the Ordnance Survey’s
1847 1:10560 map appears to show the farmhouse and shippon range with their
present extent, so the buildings are presumed to pre-date the 1840s (figure 4).
4: OS 1:10560 map, 18472
6 Recording methodology
6.1 The recording was carried out during a site visit on 22 August 2016, and involved
detailed inspection of all parts of the shippon, together with external and internal
photography. This was done using a digital SLR camera (12 megapixels),
generally using a scale in the form of a 2m ranging pole marked with 0.5m
graduations, or a 0.5m baton with 0.1m graduations. Images were captured as
camera raw (NEF) files, which were converted to 8 bit TIFF files and printed at
approximately 5 x 7”, to form part of the project archive, in accordance with
LAAS requirements. Their locations are shown on copies of the architect’s
plans, and a selection is copied at the end of this report; in the text they are
referred to by numbers in bold.
7 Description of the building
Exterior
7.1 The shippon occupies the lower end of the building range and appears to have
been built at the same time as the main part of the farmhouse, rather than being
an addition to it (1). It has walls of local sandstone rubble, although the east side
has a cement roughcast coating which masks almost all of the underlying
stonework (2); the roof covering is of modern concrete tiles. There are three
windows in this elevation, none of which has dressed jambs and the left-hand
window is likely to be entirely secondary, as is perhaps the right-hand one, which
2 Lancashire, sheet 46, surveyed 1844 (enlarged here)
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record page 5
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
has a concrete lintel. The central window has a stone lintel with coarse tooling,
which differs markedly from that used in a number of the doorway surrounds in
the building (3). At the eaves is a row of four irregularly spaced breathers; a
second such row lower down the wall is hidden by the render, with the openings
themselves being blocked.
7.2 The south gable has three ground floor doorways with substantial jambs and
lintels which tie into the quoins (4-6), though the two outer openings have been
reduced to windows and the central one altered. The stonework around the west
doorway retains its rather fine diagonal tooling with margins (7). Higher up the
wall is a forking hole, and there is an owl hole at the ridge. The symmetrical
group of three doorways is characteristic of shippons, including those within
combination barns in the region, and it is usually the case that the central
doorway gave access to a feeding passage serving two rows of stalls, with the
outer doorways providing access for the animals. Here they face onto a small
yard which presumably served as an informal middenstead, partly enclosed by a
curving wall and the nearby outbuilding (8); its surface is of cobbles and setts,
and incorporates a causeway along the width of the building, which returns along
the east elevation towards the farmhouse entrance.
7.3 At the rear, west side, the ground floor again has three openings, none of them
original features (at least in their present forms), as well as two more forking
holes to the hay loft, at least one of which is an insertion (9-11).
Interior
7.4 The present arrangements on the ground floor are the result of mid twentieth
century re-organisation, and comprise two rows of paired stalls between
concrete boskins or dividers, the stalls facing towards the outer walls, with a
wide, central manure passage between (12-16). As part of this re-arrangement,
the softwood beams overhead appear to have been altered, though mortices in
their soffits do hint at the previous internal plan (17); as noted above, this is likely
to have had a central feeding passage with manure passages to the rear along
the outer walls, a traditional pattern which became frowned upon later because
of the perceived risk to animal health from stalling cattle “head-to-head”. The
vacuum pipe of a mid-twentieth century Gascoigne mechanical milking
apparatus survives attached to the beams, together with a pressure gauge near
the north wall (18-19).
7.5 An opening in the first floor over the north-west corner of the shippon gives
access to the hay loft; this first floor space is undivided and open to the roof (20-
23), with the only fixture being the milking machine near the north-east corner
page 6 Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
(24). The roof truss is original: it appears to be of oak and is of queen strut form,
with outer raking struts, typical for the period around 1800 (25-26). One of the
timbers shows evidence for re-use, namely the east principal rafter, which bears
a shallow dovetail halving (27). The north side of the truss has some carpenter’s
numbering at the joints, in the form of chisel marks indicating “I” and “II” (28,29).
8 Conclusion
8.1 This shippon appears to have provided cow housing at Morton House from about
1800, and may have been additional to that contained within the detached barn
situated about 80m to the south of the farm. It had a fairly standard form both
externally and internally, prior to the twentieth century changes, but it is slightly
unusual in being attached to the farmhouse in this way; more commonly, the
farm building adjoining a house is found to be a combination barn, which served
as a more general purpose building on farms, but it is certainly not unusual to
find the present arrangement at such farmsteads in the region. The owners
suggested that the farmhouse itself may have been converted from a barn
historically, though the absence of any former doorways or other openings in the
shippon’s north wall seems to make that unlikely. In keeping with the majority of
such structures, the building is relatively plain in design, with decoration being
confined to the stone dressings on the gable doorways.
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record page 7
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Appendix 1: Written scheme of investigation
BARN AT MORTON HOUSE, STONYHURST, LANCASHIRE: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION FOR HISTORIC BUILDING RECORDING 1 Introduction
1.1 This written scheme of investigation (WSI) sets out the work proposed for the recording of the barn at Morton House, as requested by the owners Mr & Mrs Hough, via their agent, Peter Hitchen. The work is required by a condition of planning consent from Ribble Valley Borough Council for the conversion of the attached barn to a family annex (application no: 3/2016/0517), included on the recommendation of the Lancashire Archaeological Advisory Service (LAAS).
2 Location
2.1 Morton House lies 200m south of Birdy Brow in the civil parish of Aighton Bailey and Chaigley and in the Forest of Bowland AONB, about 6km west of Clitheroe, at an altitude above sea level of approximately 170m. The farmhouse and barn form a single range, with the barn at the south end, its NGR being SD 68825 40329.
3 Project context
3.1 The barn is not listed and does not lie within any conservation area. Planning consent from Ribble Valley Borough Council for the “Proposed conversion of attached barn into a family annex” was granted on 3 August 2016. In its consultation response, the LAAS recommended that should consent be granted, a photographic and descriptive record should be made beforehand.
3.2 Consequently, condition no. 4 requires that:
“No development shall take place until the applicant, or their agent or successors in title, has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological recording and reporting. This must be carried out in accordance with a written scheme of investigation, which shall first have been submitted to and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The programme of works should comprise a photographic building survey as described in "Understanding Historic Buildings" (Historic England 2016, section 4.4), supplemented with a written description (section 4.5.2, element 6). The work should be undertaken by an appropriately experienced and qualified professional archaeological contractor to the standards and guidance set out by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.”
3.3 It is understood that implementing this programme of work, by carrying out its first stage, ie on-site recording, will permit development work to take place on the site, as far as condition no.4 is concerned. Full discharge of the condition would however only be accomplished when a satisfactory report has been deposited.
4 Archaeological and historical background
4.1 The site has not yet been visited by this author but available information suggests that the barn might more readily be termed a shippon with hay loft, and has three gable doorways. It is likely to date from the late 18th or early 19th century and together with the attached farmhouse forms a linear range, characteristic of the region’s vernacular architecture.
page 8 Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
5 Aims of the project
5.1 The conversion of the building will lead to the loss or masking of some historic features and part of the building’s historic character. The aim of the project is to identify, interpret and record significant evidence relating to its historic character and development, and place this in the public domain by deposition with the Lancashire Historic Environment Record and Lancashire Archives.
6 Statement of recording standards
6.1 All work which forms part of this project will be undertaken in accordance with the relevant Standards and Guidance issued by the Institute for Archaeologists.
7 Methodology
7.1 Recording will be carried out with the building as found and will include photographic and written records, in accordance with the guidelines noted above in Understanding Historic Buildings: A Guide to Good Recording Practice3. Very limited historical research, mainly concerned with historic mapping, will also be carried out.
7.2 The photographic record will comprise general views of the exterior and interior of the
building, along with photographs of the site and setting, and detailed photographs of any structural and decorative features that are relevant to the building’s design, development and use and which are not adequately recorded on the general photographs. Such detailed photographs will be taken at medium to close range and framed in such a way as to ensure that the element being photographed clearly constitutes the principal feature of the photograph.
7.3 Detailed photographs will contain an appropriately positioned graduated photographic
scale (not measuring tapes or surveying staffs). The photographic scale will also include a standard colour bar where colour is considered important. A graduated ranging-rod, discretely positioned, will be included in a selection of general shots, sufficient independently to establish the scale of all elements of the building and its structure. The size, graduations, and any other relevant data relating to the scales and ranging-rods so utilised will be specifically noted in the methodology section of the written report.
7.4 Photographs will be taken using a digital camera with a resolution of 12 mega pixels,
using RAW format files for image capture and converted to 8 bit TIFF files for archive purposes. Prints will be produced for the archive at approximately 5 x 7”.
7.5 Any readily available historic maps may be consulted to assist in the dating and
interpretation of the barn, and copies may be included in the report.
7.6 A written description of the barn will be made in accordance with Historic England guidelines.
8 Report preparation
8.1 A report on the recording will be produced; it will be illustrated appropriately, with location map, any extracts from historic maps, selected photographs and copies of the architect’s existing plans, annotated to show photograph locations. Copies will be supplied to the client and the Lancashire County Archaeology Service, and the owner’s agent will submit it to the local planning authority when applying for the condition to be discharged. It is also anticipated that it will be published on the internet via the OASIS project.
3 Historic England, 2016
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record page 9
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
9 Archive deposition
9.1 The project archive (including a copy of the report) will be submitted to Lancashire Archives. Photographic data will be uploaded to two separate servers.
10 Timetable
10.1 The site work is expected to take place during late August 2016. 11 Personnel
11.1 All work will be undertaken personally by Stephen Haigh MA, an experienced buildings archaeologist with several years experience of investigating and recording historic buildings in Lancashire and elsewhere. He reserves the right to seek amendments to this project design where dictated by professional judgement or health and safety considerations for example, but any changes will be agreed with the planning authority as appropriate.
© Stephen Haigh, 18 August 2016
11 Browcliff, Silsden, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD20 9PN [email protected]
Tel: 01535 658925
page 10 Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
Appendix 2: Contents of the project archive
To be deposited with Lancashire Archives, Preston (reference DDX 2204) Archive contains:
a copy of the report full set of printed photographs CD or DVD with all photographs as TIFF files
Complete list of photographs taken Photo Subject
1 General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the east
2 East elevation of shippon and farmhouse
3 Windows in east elevation of shippon
4 The shippon, from the south-east
5 South gable of the shippon
6 Ground floor openings in south gable
7 Detail of partly blocked west doorway in south gable
8 Open midden yard to south of shippon, with adjacent outbuilding
9 General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the south-west
10 General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the west
11 West elevation of shippon
12 Ground floor of shippon, from the north-west
13 Ground floor of shippon, from the north-east
14 Ground floor of shippon, from the south-west
15 Ground floor of shippon, from the south
16 Detail of stall arrangement in west side of shippon
17 Detail of beam over ground floor, showing redundant mortices from earlier timber boskins
18 Detail of vacuum pipe for milking
19 Detail of pressure gauge on vacuum pipe
20 Hay loft on upper floor, from the north-west
21 Hay loft on upper floor, from the west
22 Hay loft on upper floor, from the south-west
23 Hay loft on upper floor, from the south-east
24 Detail of milking pump on upper floor
25 Roof truss, from the south-west
26 Roof truss, from the south
27 Detail of lap joint in east principal rafter, indicating re-use
28 Roof truss, from the north
29 Detail of joint numbering on north side of roof truss
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Photo 1: General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the east
Photo 2: East elevation of shippon and farmhouse
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
Photo 6: Ground floor openings in south gable
Pho
to 4
: The
shi
ppon
, fro
m th
e so
uth-
east
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Photo 8: Open midden yard to south of shippon, with adjacent outbuilding
Photo 9: General view of the farmhouse and shippon range, from the south-west
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
Photo 11: West elevation of shippon
Photo 12: Ground floor of shippon, from the north-west
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Photo 14: Ground floor of shippon, from the south-west
Photo 16: Detail of stall arrangement in west side of shippon
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
Photo 19: Detail of pressure gauge on vacuum pipe
Photo 20: Hay loft on upper floor, from the north-west
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Photo 21: Hay loft on upper floor, from the west
Photo 23: Hay loft on upper floor, from the south-east
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
September 2016 Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist
Photo 24: Detail of milking pump on upper floor
Photo 25: Roof truss, from the south-west
Shippon at Morton House, Kemple End, Aighton Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire: Photographic Record selected photographs
Stephen Haigh Buildings Archaeologist September 2016
Photo 27: Detail of lap joint in east principal rafter, indicating re-use
Photo 29: Detail of joint numbering on north side of roof truss