Building record 14987/1 - The Old House, Birtles Farm, Hocker Lane, Over Alderley

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1139608 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Grade II Listed. Formerly farmhouse now shed: C17 with early C19 alterations to the front. Timber framed, partly wattle and daub, partly brick nogged, on sandstone plinth. South wall rebuilt in English garden wall bond orange brick. Asbestos roof replaces thatch and 1 brick ridge chimney North front has 5 by 2 timber small frames with angle bracing of the wall plate. East gable has upper cruck truss and 2-light iron casement with lattice-leaded glazing. South front has cambered brick window heads. Lean-to addition to west end in brick with Kerridge stone-slate roof. Interior: 2-room plan. Chamfered ceiling beams with flat stops. Simple stair by central fireplace now with Victorian iron range.

<2> Jay Ashall Partnership Chartered Architects, 2019, Heritage Impact Assessment: The Restoration and Conversion of Existing Barns at Birtles Farm, Hocker Lane, Over Alderley, R4336 (Client Report). SCH8743.

A heritage assessment and photographic record was produced in July 2019 for the 'Old House' (farmhouse) and associated barns at Birtles Farm, Hocker Lane, Over Alderley, as part of a proposal for the restoration and conversion of the barns to living accommodation. The 'Old House' at Birtles Farm is a Grade II Listed building, built in the seventeenth century as a farmhouse and altered in the nineteenth century. Following the construction of a new farmhouse in 1909, the Old House has been, and is still used as, an agricultural store. The brick built barns, to the east of the Old House, date from the later nineteenth/twentieth century.

The farmhouse and associated barns were originally part of the Stanley estate; the Stanley family held the titles Lord Stanley of Alderley and subsequently Baron Stanley of Alderley. The seat of the Stanley family was Alderley Old Hall but, in 1779, this was destroyed by fire, causing the family to build the newer house at Alderley Park. The Old Hall was also rebuilt with many 19th and 20th century additions. In 1938, the whole estate was sold, comprising 77 farms and 168 houses, making it the largest estate sale in Cheshire. It is presumed that Birtles Farm was sold off at this time along with surrounding farms.