Tideswell Local History Club were fortunate in inviting Maureen Taylor – a professional heritage consultant – to enthuse about the Dronfield Hall Barn Project at their November meeting.
This was quite a story, concerning a medieval timber framed hall built around 1450, another hall was built alongside in the 1700s, whereupon the old building was clad in stone and converted into a barn – which still exists. However the most exciting part of this story is that the “modernisers” kept the remarkable medieval roof with it’s elaborate timber work including kingposts, carpenter’s location marks and even evidence of witchcraft.
There are several large fine houses in Dronfield which had been built for lead smelters and lead merchants (who seem to have always come off best financially). John Rotherham, a successful lead and millstone merchant built the newer Dronfield Hall and converted the old hall in the early 18th century. Sprint forwards 300 years and Sainsbury Supermarkets are willing to off-load this property which by now only consists of a small amount of land and the barn to the local history enthusiasts.
They received 300 letters of support for the project, which helped them to obtain substantial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. For this kind of backing, professional archaeologists etc. have to be employed and the whole of the local community engaged.
School classes were invited to view the digs and to have a try themselves. Dendrochronology (boring and testing samples of the timbers) was carried out and proved that the oak was felled in 1428 when Ralph de Cromwell, a mighty and wealthy nobleman in the service of Kings Henry the 5th and 6th was Lord of the Manor of Dronfield. These inspections also revealed a tiny carving of a “daisy wheel”. This symbol is said to be “atropaic” (to avert evil i.e. witches and bad spirits). Similarly, several burn marks were found on the beams which had been made as a charm against accidental fires. Before digging any test pits the archaeologists were aided by geophysics whereby two electronic prongs are repeatedly stuck into the ground over the whole area. Plotted on a computer, the results produce a ghostly shadow map of walls and ditches hidden beneath the surface.
The restoration of the barn is still ongoing, but our club is looking forward to an educational visit in the near future. Thanks Maureen for a very informative talk. Join us in the Institute at 8pm on January the 8th when Axel Chatburn will be delving under the earth with his “lead mining in the Peak District”. All welcome.