Monument record 1534/1/0 - Cold Arbour Farm, Tytherington

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1138960 & 1329968 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

The farmhouse (see CHER 1534/1/1) and corn barn (see CHER 1534/1/2) were built in the sixteenth centuryand have seventeenth and eighteenth century additions and alterations.

<2> Earwaker, J P, 1877-1880, East Cheshire Past & Present, Vol.II, p.339 (Book). SCH1080.

'Cold Habour, the present name of the farmhouse in this township, occurs in the wills of Jasper Worth and Phillip Worth, of Tytherington, Esquires, in 1573 and 1581, in both of which "John Barbor of Colde Harbor" is mentioned. It is noteworthy to meet with this name in this part of the country, as it is usually held to be indicative of Roman occupation in the neighbourhood.'

<3> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 399/2 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

The house and corn barn are depicted, but they are seperate strcutures. A small building lies to the immediate south of the barn. The buildings lie within a sub-square enclosure with rounded corners. A small pond is located in the north-west corner. They are owned by the Reverend Robert Henry Heppinstall and occupied by James Baguley.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ9276 1871-1873 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

Additional farm buildings are depicted to the north and south east of the corn barn. To the south of the buildings is an orchard.

<5> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R 17/01/2014 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The shape of the enclosure containing the farmstead and the presence of fishponds to the immediate north (CHER 1634/1/3) suggest the site may have been enclosed by a moat. This is a conjectural assessment and should be treated with caution.

<6> Jenny Wetton Conservation, 2016, Cold Arbour Farm, Tytherington: Building History & Heritage Statement, R4501 (Client Report). SCH9024.

A building history and heritage statement was produced in 2016 for Cold Arbour Farm, Tytherington, Bollington, prior to proposed development. The study includes the seventeenth century farmhouse and associated barn, also a mid-nineteenth century outbuilding/garage which formed part of the complex. The outbuilding was demolished in 2016 as part of the development works, however, is discussed briefly in this report, also, a set of further photographs were taken prior to its demolition (see source 7).

The study includes a map regression exercise, together with external and internal examination of the buildings, including photographic recording. The site is also discussed in context of other medieval farmhouses in north-east Cheshire. Additionally, the results of dendrochronological dating, undertaken in 2015, carried out during repair work to timbers in the house and barn. This concludes that the farmhouse is likely to have been constructed in around 1685, with the barn probably having been built in around 1679. Samples could not be taken from what may well be earlier timbers in framed partitions and the roof and it is possible that these may have been used from an earlier house. Dendrochronology dating has revealed that the oldest part of the building is the eastern end. Removal of ceilings in poor condition has also revealed a beam on the first floor immediately to the west with an apparent date of 1597 and carpenters’ marks, although it is possible this may have been re-used from elsewhere. (See also source 8)

The following information is taken from the report:- A building at ‘Cold Harbour’ is shown on Burdett’s county map of 1777, although this is of too small a scale to show any detail, apart from the road layout. It appears again on Bryant’s county map of 1831, which has more detail of the setting. This shows two separate buildings with a wall enclosing a yard. The first map to show the site in any detail is the tithe map of 1849 which shows the house on an almost H-shaped plan with an L-shaped barn to the north-east and a small outbuilding to the south-west. The tithe apportionment lists James Baguley occupying the buildings which were owned by the Reverend Robert Henry Heppinstal, a minor local landowner; gardens are listed to the south with 11 other fields. By this time, the principal local landowners were the Brocklehurst family. By 1875, the house had been extended to join it to the barn, the present outbuilding constructed to the south-east, the small building to the south demolished and an outbuilding constructed to the north. An orchard is shown to the south of the house. The 1871 census return lists Isaac Lucas, an auctioneer and farmer of 40 acres at Cold Arbour, employing 3 men and living there with his wife, two children, three grandchildren and two servants. Lucas is also listed in Morris & Co.’s Directory for 1874.

By 1881, Cold Arbour was occupied by James Jackson, listed in the census return as a farmer of 43 acres employing one man and living there with his wife and child and two servants. The last large scale map available, of 1909, shows no change in the buildings since 1875, but does show a bay on the eastern end of the barn extending beyond the 17th century outshut, which is no longer there. By 1911, the farmhouse was still occupied by the Jackson family, with Joseph Weatherhead Jackson as head of the household. In 1933, Joseph Jackson bought the farm from the Brocklehurst family of Henbury Hall. The bay at the eastern end of the barn does appear on the 1954 map but the 1976 map is too small a scale to show whether it had been demolished. In the late 20th century, the farm was used for breeding wildfowl but the owner ceased farming the wider land around the farm. By 2012 when Jones Homes purchased the farm, the eastern bay of the barn had been demolished, as had the outhouse to the north.

See also individual monument records for further detail (Farmhouse - CHER 1534/1/1; Barn - CHER 1534/1/2; Outbuilding - CHER 1534/1/3).

<7> Jones Homes (North West), 2016, Photographic Survey of Outbuilding at Cold Arbour Farm, Macclesfield, R3912 (Client Report). SCH8101.

<8> Tree-Ring Services, 2016, Dendrochronological Analysis of Oak Timbers from Cold Arbour Farmhouse and Barn, Bollington, Cheshire England, R3911 (Client Report). SCH8100.