Transcript Upper Moor Site Visit - School

Brookfield School
History Dept
Upper Moor Site Visit
The early period, C18 – c.1840
Stone Cottages, Upper Moor Street
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
The stone cottages at the end of Upper Moor Street are among the earliest
surviving buildings in Upper Moor. They stood in what was, in the late-C18,
a mainly agricultural area surrounding the small hamlet of Upper Moor.
Although now three cottages, this block probably started life as a stone
barn which was converted into two cottages and later extended to three
dwellings. The barn most likely belonged to the farm at Elm Lodge towards
which the cottages are aligned. Note the uniform but relatively rough local
stone and pitch of the roof. Originally, the roof may have been covered in
stone flags and there would have been no gardens at the front of the
cottages. The gardens seem to have come later and are aligned to Storrs
Road. The block now has slates on the roofs. Local materials were used
when this building was put up but from the 1840s the railways allowed the
bulk transport of cheap and hard wearing materials from further away, such
as slate and 9” x 3” bricks mass-produced in places like London and West
Bromwich.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
On this cottage the rough stone has been covered in a thin white coating, a new
brick chimney was added at some time in the past and a modern extension has been
added. It probably had a stone flag roof when it was first built.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
Here again, the original stone cottage has been extended. The extension is
9” x 3” red brick and so dates to the second half of the C19. The roof is
made from modern terracotta tiles, the roof of the extension has its original
tiles. The stone part of the building may have had stone flags before it was
tiled. The next picture shows the extension.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
Note the two periods of construction: stone to the left, brick to the right.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
Another example of a late-C18 - early C19 stone cottage in Upper Moor. This was
originally two cottages, look carefully and you can see the dividing line down the
middle. The roof, porch, front garden and garage are all modern. Again, modern tiles
have replaced the original roofing material. The chimney on this cottage retains some
of the original stucco which once covered the whole building.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
A short distance from the hamlet of Upper Moor stood Rye Hill House.
Today, two semi-detached houses but originally one large house dating
from the late-Georgian period. The right-hand side of the building has many
original and easily recognisable Georgian features: symmetry, stucco,
classical panelled door, Georgian fan light, small paned sash windows, lower
pitched roof, to name just a few. At the back is an original stone built, stone
flagged barn/stable block showing us what many of the C18 stone buildings
of Upper Moor most probably looked like. To the right of the whole building
you can see the original wide entrance to the other buildings at the back of
the house, there are metal hinges on which iron gates once hung. It is
possible that the house was built around the same time that Elm Lodge on
what is now Storrs Road was re-built. Many English farmers were able to
make good profits during the Napoleonic Wars (1893 -1915) and up and
down the country some of this profit went into re-building farms. Early C19
maps tells us that three other buildings helped complete the settlement of
Upper Moor around the 1830s, one was the Old Pheasant Inn and the other
two were the lodges at the top of the drive running down to Somersall Hall.
The early period, C18 – c.1840 cont’d
The Old Pheasant disappeared long ago but the two lodges, one for the
gate-keeper and the other for the game-keeper, of Somersall Hall are still
standing. You can also see the stones to which iron gates were once fixed.
These gates opened to allow visitors to proceed along the drive to the Hall.
The lodges have both Georgian features and Gothick features. Gothick
architecture was becoming popular from the 1830s. The lodges are
stuccoed buildings but they have lancet windows and tall chimneys.
Victorian Upper Moor
The railways are part of what we call the Industrial Revolution. During the
C19, the midlands and the north of England saw the rapid growth of
industrial towns. Many places grew so big that, as they expanded outwards,
they soaked-up smaller, outlying settlements. These smaller settlements
became suburbs of the new, industrial towns. New housing was built and,
as more and more people moved to the suburbs, new facilities had to be
provided such as new forms of transport. From the mid-C19, the railways
made it possible to transport bulk loads of very heavy materials like bricks
and slate from one part of the country to another at a relatively low cost.
Very soon, houses sprang up made from mass-produced 9” x 3” red brick,
roofed with Staffordshire or Welsh slates. For the working classes, these
houses were usually terraced or small semi-detached houses, the middle
classes could afford the extra for the larger detached and semi detached
Victorian villas.
Victorian Upper Moor cont’d
Within the settlement of Upper Moor a number of Victorian semi-detached
houses were built (perhaps replacing older stone buildings) such as these
examples:
Note the 9” x 3” red bricks, steep roofs and slates. The house on the far
right still retains its original Victorian door !
Victorian Upper Moor cont’d
This row of six terraced houses on Chatsworth Road is typical of lateVictorian terraced housing. Again, note the 9” x 3” red bricks, slate roofs,
large paned sash windows, cast iron guttering and downpipes, and plain
fanlight above the doors. In 1876 a law was passed saying that builders
had to provide a one yard front garden which this block of terraced houses
has, so we can tell that these houses must have been built after 1876. Of
course, most of these houses have been modernised in one way or another,
none are completely original, but the green painted house on the left
retains its original windows.
Victorian Upper Moor cont’d
As the C20 dawned Upper Moor had become a suburb of Chesterfield, the
population expanded and a new place of worship was built, the Methodist
Chapel on Upper Moor Street. This was again constructed out of 9” x 3” red
brick with a steep-pitched, slated roof, but other Gothick features were
incorporated into the building: fake buttresses, lancet windows, massproduced terracotta decorative tiles, a pointed-arch door and doorway.
Victorian Upper Moor cont’d
By the early-C20 Upper Moor had become a suburb with new Victorian
terraces and villas running all the way along Chatsworth Road from West
Bars right up to Upper Moor itself. To transport these people, the tram
system was extended and up to Upper Moor and a brand new mock Tudor
hotel, the Terminus Hotel, was built. It was called the Terminus because
this is where the trams terminated and turned to run back down
Chatsworth Road to the town centre and beyond to Whittington Moor. The
hotel has gone but part of the old tram turning circle can still be discerned.
C20 - The Inter-War Years
Maps show that, by 1918, the once separate settlement of Upper Moor had
become surrounded by new housing that had spread further along
Chatsworth Road and along Storrs Road. This was a different sort of
housing, often quite large detached houses, individually designed, some
nestled at the end of long drives. Mostly made of brick, some of these
houses had pebble-dashing.
Some had garages in which to keep the latest mod-con – a motor car.
Others would have their garages added later.