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| Boundary walls on the public footpath to Wooley's Yard |
Arriving at West Bank along the path from East Bank, where I obtained a good appreciation of the physical characteristics of the underlying dolomitised Carboniferous Limestone, the first building on my list to photograph was the Grade II listed early C19 Harness Room Squire Whites, originally a house and stable but with the latter since converted to residential use.
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| Views of Harness Room Squire Whites |
Gritstone ashlar with some reddening, from the Ashover Grit, is used throughout, with some of the original stone slates to the roof of the house being replaced with concrete tiles. These have been occasionally used on other properties as an alternative to Welsh slate, but would probably not satisfy the current requirements for materials used in the Peak District National Park.
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| Views of Rose Cottage |
Rose Cottage, which is Grade II listed for its group value, is described by Historic England (HE) as “Mid-C18 incorporating parts of an earlier house. Coursed rubble with gritstone dressings, quoins, coped gables with moulded kneelers, east gable ashlar ridge stack, concrete tiles”.
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| The dovecote at Rose Cottage |
The mixture of limestone and gritstone for the walling is not mentioned and, very surprisingly, there is no reference to the much later west extension or the rebuilding of the north elevation, which has snecked masonry with an unusual partially rock-faced finish and incorporates a dovecote.
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| Views of Bank House |
At Bank House, described by HE as “C17 with C18 refashioning and C19 additions. Coursed rubble gritstone with quoins”, taking advantage of the Winster Secret Gardens event, with visitors wandering around the grounds of houses that
would not normally be accessible, I was able to have a look at the west and rear elevations, where coursed limestone rubble is mainly used for the walling and part of the stone slate roofing has been replaced with Welsh slate.
The provenance of the gritstone used in Winster is not known but, from my working knowledge of the area and having obtained several samples of stone for the Triton Stone Library – now housed in the Redmires Building at Sheffield Hallam University - I am aware that reddened gritstone often occurs in the area.
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| The stone library in the Redmires Building |
The most reddened variety is quarried at Birchover, although other buff/pink varieties are obtained from outliers of the Ashover Grit (renamed as Corbar Grit) to the north of Winster and on the main outcrop to the east of the River Derwent, where it has been described as ‘Matlock stone.’
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| A view of the Birchover Quarry |
The former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (1837) is built entirely with red gritstone, with a Welsh slate roof, and the front elevation has tall Venetian windows and a round arched doorway. Also included in the Grade II listing are the railings and the boundary walls into which they are set – described erroneously by HE as being built with limestone.
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| The former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel |
A little further down on the west side of the road is the mid C18 Old Shoulder of Mutton Inn, now converted into a residence, where the frontage is again built with red gritstone with an inscription next to the former entrance, but the extension with a carriage arch to the south uses a mixture of limestone and gritstone.
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| The Old Shoulder of Mutton Inn |
Opposite this is West Bank Cottage, a substantial 4-bay mid C18 house that is again built in gritstone, with a very large reddened block used for the lintel above the door. Uniformly buff gritstone has been used for the window dressings, which according to HE are C20 replacements of the original mullioned and transomed windows.
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| West Bank Cottage |
Taking a diversion down the footpath to Woolley's Yard, the dry stone boundary walls provide further examples of the local dolomitised Carboniferous Limestone, which made me wonder if these may have been a biproduct of the lead mine that operated here.
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| The path to Woolley's Yard |
Continuing past the Grade II listed outbuilding to the north of No. 11 Woolley’s Yard, the C18 Nos. 9 and 10 is a pair of 3-storey cottages that have been converted into one residence, with red gritstone mullioned windows and massive lintels to the doorways – one of which has been blocked up to form a window.
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| Nos. 9 and 10 Woolley's Yard |
I didn’t look at the walling to the front elevation close up, but it is mainly built with very pale cream coloured limestone with a few courses of red gritstone and these materials, along with quite thickly bedded grey limestone, are again used for Nos. 6 to 8 Woolley’s Yard.
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| Nos. 6 to 8 Woolley's Yard |
Although the HE description is again not very clear, these seem to have originally comprised a terrace of three C18 terraced houses with the northernmost house having its stone slate roof replaced with Welsh slate and its dormer window altered.
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| No. 6 Woolley's Yard |
To this has been added a slightly smaller cottage, which is built with more thinly bedded pale cream/buff limestone that looks to be dolomitised. After taking a few general record photos, I retraced my steps back to West Bank, where I next stopped at the Burton Institute, which is marked as a hall on the 1889 Ordnance Survey map and is still the focal point of the community.
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| The Burton Institute |
With its late Perpendicular Gothic style first floor windows and the quatrefoil window to the right of the entrance are interesting details, it further contributes to the aesthetic quality of the Conservation Area and I am surprised that it is not even listed for its group value. The front elevation is built with buff gritstone with red gritstone for the side elevations – both of which have sections of coursed and random rubble walling incorporated into the ground floor.
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| Ashton House |
A little further down West Bank is a substantial early C19 house listed by HE as “House Attached South of Kirkby House and Attached Shop” but since named Ashton House, which is only listed for its group value but I thought was quite impressive, with its tall chimney stacks, projecting quoins, hoodmoulds and other architectural details.
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| The gate piers to Dower House |
The very ornate gate piers to Dower House, at the corner of West Bank and Elton Road, are described by HE as having grotesque masks, foliage, cartouches, guttae and serpents. The house was opened for the Winster Secret Gardens and this enabled me to see the late C17 rear elevation of this large house, which is built with limestone walling and gritstone dressings.
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| Views of Dower House |
