Monument record MDR11297 - Manor Farm (site of), Little Chester, Derby

Extensive documentary research shows that this is one of three houses built to farm the prebendal estates in Derby of the Subdean of Lincoln in the Middle Ages. In 1547 the estates were appropriated by the Crown and assigned to the town of Derby. By 1581 the estate was divided into three farms and various smaller parcels of land. The three farmhouses were ranged along the south side of Old Chester Road within the Roman defensive walls, and were shown by William Stukeley and later cartographers. George Bailey visited two of the farmhouses, Stone House Prebend (SMR 32020) and Manor Farm in the late 1880s, the third having been demolished. Although Listed Grade 2, Manor Farm did not appear to justify its repair and retention, and was drawn in plan, photographically recorded, and demolished in 1965. (1) Manor Farm has now (1890) passed out of the possession of the Corporation and is privately owned. It is partly Elizabethan, with some portions earlier and some later; a description is provided. The earliest part is probably that built on the stone base visible at the back of the house; there has been a stone doorway at the back, corresponding to that at the front. The cellar is suggested as the remains of a Roman building. (2)