Site Event/Activity record ECH6562 - Barn at Drove Hey Farm, Meg Lane, Sutton, Macclesfield, Cheshire: Historic Building Report

In 2018 an historic building survey was produced for the barn at Drove Hey Farm, Meg Lane, Sutton, in support of a planning application to convert it to a dwelling. The barn forms part of a laithe house (dwelling and attached barn) dated 1702. Drove Hey Farm is likely to be of much greater age than the buildings which stand today, and is understood to have been in existence by 1512. The 1702 datestone commemorates its occupation by the Allen family, who were in residence until around 1892. Historic mapping demonstrates that the form of the building has altered little since the mid-19th century. Drove Hey Farm is a long, low stone-built range of buildings which consists of the farmhouse at the north end and the barn, which occupies the greater part of the structure, to the south. The house is a two-storey, three-unit property with a single-storey porch, and the datestone of 1702 is located on the barn. The barn itself consists of a long main range along with a mid-20th century rear wing (on the site of an earlier structure) and mid-20th century sheds at the south end. Internally it consists of three bays, all with haylofts over. The first and third bays, along with the rear wing, contain shippons while the second is a store. Joints in the masonry reveal the barn was built in two stages: the second and third bays were added post-1702, but probably relatively soon afterwards. The interior has been altered throughout. The significance of Drove Hey Farm resides in the local context as an unlisted example of an altered but still legible laithe house dated 1702. This significance is contained in the original elements of the building, while the 20th century rear wing and sheds are of little interest except to document the alteration of the barn at this time. (1)