Listed Buildings in Marr and High Melton

 

The Grade II Listed shelter shed and Manor Farmhouse in Marr

My very quick look at the exterior of St. Helen’s church in Marr, which is mentioned in Domesday Book, took less than 25 minutes and, before setting off to High Melton, I went to find the 5 buildings in the village that were part of my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for the day. 

 

My British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Marr

 

The first of these is a range of miscellaneous Grade II Listed early C18 to early C19 agricultural buildings at Hall Farm, of which I could see the building that fronts the A635/Barnsley Road, and the cartshed arcade on its east side. 

 

Agricultural buildings at Hall Farm

 

Both Marr Hall and its associated outbuildings are set back from the road and inaccessible, so I continued west along the A635 unti I reached the remains of the shelter shed, which Historic England (HE) suggests is probably early C19 in date.

 

The remains of the shelter shed

Although the whole village falls within the Conservation Area, the traditional building materials - dolomitic limestone and red pantiles – are from being ubiquitous, with brick and render being quite common in the C20 buildings. The early C19 Manor Farmhouse is rendered and roofed with concrete tiles and I just took a few general record photos of this from a distance. 

 

Manor Farmhouse

 

I then set off along Blacksmith’s Lane and following the public footpath to Melton Wood, the land was surprisingly undulating, which probably relates to a pair of faults to the east that border a small depression that is quite clearly shown on a topographic map. 

 

Undulations in the land on the public footpath to Melton Wood

Walking quickly through Melton Wood, a plantation of mixed woodland that is now a country park, I didn’t notice anything to divert me from the path and before long I arrived in High Melton, where 6 of its 8 listed buildings were on my Photo Challenge. 

 

Listed buildings in High Melton

 

The first of these was the late C19 Red House Farmhouse, a substantial red brick house, whose only features relevant to this Language of Stone Blog are its dressings, which an enlargement of my photos show are made of sandstone and not dolomitic limestone. 

 

Red House Farmhouse

 

Making my way back towards St. James’ church, next on my list was a milestone, which was quite difficult to find, being set against a garden wall and covered in algae. It is very weathered and much of the inscription is missing, but HE state that it is probably late C18 and one of several such milestones that mark the distance to Wentworth House. 

 

The milestone on Doncaster Road

Continuing further along the road past Church Lane, The Leylands was the next building on my list. This farmhouse dates to the late C18 and is built with well squared and coursed stone, with massive stone for the quoins and dressings and a stone slate roof. 

 

The front elevation of The Leylands

 

I was so preoccupied by trying to get some good general photos that I didn’t get close to look at the stone; however, from my photos I can see that although the west elevation is built with limestone rubble walling for part of the building that has now been removed to leave an old roof line, the stonework above it and to the front elevation looks like it is in fact sandstone. 

 

The west elevation of The Leylands

 

On the opposite side of the road is Manor House, which HE date as C16 to C17, but has been extensively altered with the walls being covered with roughcast render and the original roofing material replaced with C20 concrete tiles. 

 

Views of Manor House

Returning to the south side of Doncaster Road, the former school and village hall, which an estate agent’s board stated had planning permission for conversion to apartments, is an Arts and Crafts style building that HE dates to the early C20. The whole of the fabric has been pebbledashed, leaving only stonework to the dressings revealed; however, again I didn’t look at the stone used, but although I can’t readily identify this from my photos, it doesn’t look like dolomitic limestone. 

 

Views of the former school and village hall

The last building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 1 to 7 Doncaster Road, a terrace of four houses built in an Arts and Crafts style in 1904. It has snecked dolomitic limestone walling, with massive limestone for the dressings and, as at the former school, it is roofed with Westmorland slate - a metamorphosed volcanic ash from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group in the Lake District. 

 

Nos. 1 to 7 Doncaster Road

The door surround to No. 7 has raised lettering with the date and the initials F.J.O.M, which the HE descriptions states “Said to be by 'Mr. Johnson' of Doncaster, for Frederick Montague (sic) of High Melton Hall”, which makes me wonder if he also financed the building of the school.

A detail of the door surround to No. 7 Doncaster Road