Summary
A small agri-industrial building, in the N part of the Bransdale Mill complex.
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- DOVECOTE (Mid 19th C - 1848 AD to 1857 AD)
- BLACKSMITHS WORKSHOP (Mid 19th C - 1848 AD to 1857 AD)
Description
From NT VBS Yorkshire 1022 Building 4:
"This is a two-room, single-storey smithy, still intact at the time of the RCHME's visit in 1975, but now unroofed and ruinous. It is set apart to the N of the main mill complex, on the brow of the steep bank which shelters the E side of the Mill, at the point where the track to Cow Syke executes a hairpin bend. The building dates from after Moon's 1820 plan but before OS 6" 1854. Nearby damson trees probably survive from what appears to be an orchard marked on the 1854 map.
The building is constructed on a N-S axis with the fireplace in the S gable. Both compartments open W and there is an internal communicating doorway in the cross-wall. A further doorway in the N gable served a lean-to, built between 1854 and OS 25" 1912, and seen by the RCHM, but now vanished. The gable and cross-walls are still standing, along with substantial sections of the side walls. A single set of purlins, lapped at the cross-wall, remain in place, as do a few rafters and a short length of the ridge at the S end.
Construction is of squared coursed sandstone with irregular tooling. Rectangular lintels are similarly tooled, except that to the N door, which has vertical tooling between horizontally- tooled margins. Gable copings have mainly disappeared but, like the ridge copings, were of sandstone, and rested on square notched kneelers. In the apex of the N gable are a pair of pigeon holes and a stone landing platform. Other large square holes lower down in the gable are presumably associated with the demolished lean-to.
The S compartment remains a stone hearth built against a flue in the S gable wall. The RCHM identify remains alongside of a stithy and a water bosh. No trace of bellows remains." [1]-[4].
Site visit 22/03/2000:
The building has been repaired and is weathertight with a new blue slate roof, and stone gable and ridge copings. There are new doors and shutters to the windows. There are several sockets in the N gable associated with the demolished lean-to, and three not two, pigeon holes. The repairs have used much new stonework in the east side, tooled to match the existing masonry. The building is not shown on the 1848 tithe map, which would narrow the date of construction to between 1848 and 1857 [5] [6]. It is named as a blacksmith's shop, with a privy behind, in the 1910 valuation [7]. The RCMR book contains a ground floor plan of the building [8].
References
- SZU13083 - Photograph - black and white: A Menuge. 01/10/1987. Ruined smithy, from NW. 59.
- SZU1515 - Vernacular Building Survey: A Menuge. 1987. NT VBS Yorkshire 1022: Bransdale Mill, Bransdale. Building 4.
- SZU22582 - Photograph - black and white: A Menuge. 01/10/1987. Ruined smithy, remains of hearth and flue. 60.
- SZU26579 - Photograph - black and white: A Menuge. 01/10/1987. Ruined smithy, general view. 61.
- SZU50001 - Unpublished document: Ed Dennison. 2001. Archaeological Property Survey, Bransdale.
- SZU50022 - Document: 1909-10. 1909-10 Valuation.
- SZU50025 - Map: J H Phillips. 1848. 1848 Bransdale East Side tithe map. no scale marked.
- SZU50046 - Monograph: RCHME. 1987. Houses of the North York Moors. page 183, fig 332a.
Designations
None Recorded
Other Statuses and References
Associated Events
- ENA3857 - Field Survey, Archaeological Property Survey
- ENA3870 - Field Survey, Vernacular Building Survey, Bransdale Mill, Bransdale, 1987 (Ref: 1022)
- ENA6858 - Heritage Assessment, Impact assessment, repairs to the forge, Bransdale Mill
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded