Fair House Farmhouse
Encyclopedia
Fair House Farmhouse is a 17th century building situated on Annet Lane in the village of Low Bradfield
within the boundary of the City of Sheffield
in South Yorkshire
, England. The farmhouse is a Grade II* Listed Building while the stable
and garage buildings immediately to the west of the main house are Grade II listed..
which has been dressed into coarse, squared blocks while the roof is of stone slates. The farmhouse consists of three storeys with most of the windows being at the front of the house which unusually faces away from the road (Annet Lane) and looks out over the valley of the Dale Dike. The ground floor of the front of the house consists of two large four light windows with the entrance door at the west end. The first floor also has two windows of similar size and design to the ground floor while the second storey has four smaller windows. The sides and rear of the house have only occasional small windows.
The interior has much of the original panelling to the walls and doors intact, the ground floor has a bressummer
beam. There is a stone staircase to the first floor and an oak
staircase with a blustered
rail to the second.
The outbuildings are detached from the main house and run at right angles to it on its western side. They are approximately 12 metres in length and slope down to the valley of the Dale Dike, so much so that the downhill end of the building has two storeys while the uphill end has only one. The building materials are the same as the main house, being gritstone blocks and stone slate and the mainstay of the building is believed to be 17th century. However there have been some changes to the original design with a large boarded double door being added and resulting changes to the stonework to make a garage. There have also been some modifications to some of the other openings.
of 1864 when the dam wall of the Dale Dyke Dam
fractured sending millions of gallons of water down the valley. The original dam wall stood just over a kilometre to the west of the house, there was great devastation in Low Bradfield but Fair House survived because it is in a slightly elevated position approximately 20 metres higher than the Dale Dike. Nearby stone built structures such as Annet House and Annet Bridge which stood by the Dike were completely swept away.
Low Bradfield
Low Bradfield is a village within the in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated within the boundary of the city of Sheffield in the upper part of the Loxley Valley, 6¼ miles west-northwest of the city centre and just inside the northeast boundary of the Peak District National Park...
within the boundary of the City of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England. The farmhouse is a Grade II* Listed Building while the stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
and garage buildings immediately to the west of the main house are Grade II listed..
History and architecture
Fair House Farmhouse is believed to date from the 1630s and was originally called Swinden House, panelling within the house has the date 1687 on it. The house is constructed in the locally available gritstoneGritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
which has been dressed into coarse, squared blocks while the roof is of stone slates. The farmhouse consists of three storeys with most of the windows being at the front of the house which unusually faces away from the road (Annet Lane) and looks out over the valley of the Dale Dike. The ground floor of the front of the house consists of two large four light windows with the entrance door at the west end. The first floor also has two windows of similar size and design to the ground floor while the second storey has four smaller windows. The sides and rear of the house have only occasional small windows.
The interior has much of the original panelling to the walls and doors intact, the ground floor has a bressummer
Bressummer
A bressummer, or breastsummer, in timber-building, is a beam in the outward part of the building, and the middle floors, into which the girders are framed...
beam. There is a stone staircase to the first floor and an oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
staircase with a blustered
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
rail to the second.
The outbuildings are detached from the main house and run at right angles to it on its western side. They are approximately 12 metres in length and slope down to the valley of the Dale Dike, so much so that the downhill end of the building has two storeys while the uphill end has only one. The building materials are the same as the main house, being gritstone blocks and stone slate and the mainstay of the building is believed to be 17th century. However there have been some changes to the original design with a large boarded double door being added and resulting changes to the stonework to make a garage. There have also been some modifications to some of the other openings.
Great Sheffield flood
Fair House Farmhouse managed to survive the Great Sheffield FloodGreat Sheffield Flood
Not to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke.- Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam :...
of 1864 when the dam wall of the Dale Dyke Dam
Dale Dike Reservoir
Dale Dike Reservoir or Dale Dyke Reservoir , famous for causing the Great Sheffield Flood, is in the north-east Peak District, in the City of Sheffield South Yorkshire, England, a mile west of Bradfield, eight miles from the centre of Sheffield, on the Dale Dike, a tributary of the River...
fractured sending millions of gallons of water down the valley. The original dam wall stood just over a kilometre to the west of the house, there was great devastation in Low Bradfield but Fair House survived because it is in a slightly elevated position approximately 20 metres higher than the Dale Dike. Nearby stone built structures such as Annet House and Annet Bridge which stood by the Dike were completely swept away.