Building record 5330 - Roughwood Hill Farm, Sandbach Road, Betchton

<1> Cheshire East Council, 2010, Cheshire East LDF Local List of Historic Buildings (Report). SCH5404.

Locally Listed Building: This three-storey 18th century farmhouse is of red Flemish bond brickwork with a tile roof. The main notable feature is the style of window, having a grid of very small panes over the larger ones.

Village/Town: Betchton
Roughwood Hill Farm
Roughwood Lane
CW11 4XY

<2> Lanpro (Norwich), 2917, Archaeological Desk-based Assessment: Roddymoor Mill House, Hassall, Cheshire East, R4260 (Client Report). SCH8612.

An archaeological desk-based assessment was undertaken in May 2017 for land at Roddymoor House, Hassall, in advance of substantial re-development comprising the creation of a new estate and associated infrastructure. The programme of development is scheduled to include demolition of Higher Roughwood Mill complex (see CHER 7883), also a nineteenth century cowshed at Roughwood Hill Farm. None of these buildings are designated assets, however, the cowshed is associated with the farmhouse at Roughwood Hill Farm which is a locally listed building.

Roughwood Hill Farm is a three-storey 18th century farmhouse of red Flemish bond brickwork and tile roof. The main notable feature is the style of window, having a grid of very small panes over the larger ones. The Flemish bond, however, is actually confined to the front elevation with the remainder being of English garden wall. The significance of the building is largely vested in its architectural value although it does draw some significance from its agricultural setting which demonstrates its original function as a farm house.

The former cow house, located to the south-west of the farmhouse, is depicted on the Betchton Tithe Map of 1841. It is constructed of different brick to the farmhouse (more evenly fired and of a redder hue) and appears to be fairly typical of the nineteenth century cow houses found across the Cheshire plains with a hay loft above cattle stalls. The building appears to be in a poor state of repair and is considered to be of limited heritage significance.

<3> Lanpro (Norwich), 2017, Archaeological Building Recording: Roddymoor Mill House, Hassall, Cheshire East, R4258 (Client Report). SCH8611.

Following on from the desk-based survey (source 2), an archaeological building survey (level 2) was undertaken for the cowshed at Roughwood Hill Farm, in advance of its demolition. The survey comprised a photographic record and an annotated floor plan.

The cowshed is constructed from English bonded red brick with a grey slate roof. In plan, the building is orientated on a north-south alignment with a circular pitching hole in the southern gable end. There are four more of these circular pitching holes, enhanced using a darker coloured brick border, evenly spaced down the length of the east elevation. Along the same elevation there are a number of ground-floor openings with segmental arched heads, again using the same darker coloured brick voussoirs to enhance the appearance of the opening. Some later ground-floor openings have also been added as the building has been subdivided historically. A similar pattern of original and later openings occurs in the west elevation, but on this side of the building there are no pitching holes. Both the east and west facing elevations of the cow house also have high-level diamond set brick ventilators. Continuing the building range, and attached to the northern gable end, there is a single-storey brick-built extension, and between there are stone steps leading to the first-floor of the cow house. Because of the unsafe nature of the building no access was possible to the first floor of the cow house, however, it was noted that Internally the cow house would have been divided into seven regular bays with brick partition walls, and a hayloft over.

<4> Heritage Collective, 2018, Heritage Assessment: Roughwood Hill Farm, Betchton, Sandbach, Cheshire, R4379 (Client Report). SCH8798.

Following on from earlier archaeological mitigation work (see sources 2 and 3), a further heritage assessment was produced in 2018 in support of an application for the proposed demolition and redevelopment of the locally listed farmhouse, Roughwood Hill Farm, Betchton. This redevelopment scheme forms part of a wider scheme for a new dwelling (Roddymore Mill House), to the north-west of Roughwood Hill Farm, which involves the removal of redundant farm buildings, including the cowshed, to the west of the locally listed building. The redundant farm buildings are to be replaced by a new walled garden and greenhouse, as part of a new country estate of which the “new” Roughwood Hill Farm will be a component.

The assessment has confirmed that Roughwood Hill Farmhouse was indeed built in the 18th century, although accurate dating is not possible, a range between c.1720 and c.1780 is suggested, with an inclination towards c.1730 to c.1760. Diagnostic features such as the three-storey plan, gable chimneys, and brick construction containing timber floor beams and joists all point to an 18th century date. Some of the heavy purlins in the roof show signs of reuse, indicating that they were salvaged from an earlier building. Several rooms contain paired ceiling beams with chamfers and run-out stops. There are also several ledged plank doors, including at least one with a lock, of early-mid 18th century type. The windows have all been replaced with uPVC units, so some dating information has been lost. The bricks, which a mix of are relatively hard red and dark grey types, are indicative of a date in the mid 18th century. They are laid predominantly in Flemish bond on the front elevation, and mainly in stretcher bond, with occasional header courses, on the gable elevations. No original fireplaces were observed, and no enriched plaster ceilings were noted. The staircase appears to be a replacement, and the interior has been modernised. The assessment concludes that the farmhouse is of local significance as an example of Georgian vernacular architecture that forms a connection with past farming practice.

<5> The Archaeology Company Ltd (South West Office), 2019, RoughWood Hill Farm, Sandbach, Cheshire: Archaeological Building Investigation, R4396 (Client Report). SCH8826.

A building investigation and archaeological watching brief were undertaken in 2019 at Roughwood Hill Farm as part of a programme of mitigation work prior to the proposed demolition and re-development of the farm. The historic building recording work has illustrated that the original Roughwood Hill Farm has been adapted and considerably extended from its original concept, with at least eight phases of development identified within the building. Initially the building was constructed as a large rectangular building (7.09m by 11.33m) set over 3 floors with accommodation provided on the first and second floors, living rooms on the ground floor, and a small basement area. A series of connected extensions extend from the rear of the original building, each extension was internally linked allowing the building complex to function as a single entity with shared amenities.