Listed Building record MDR11352 - Church Farmhouse, Church Street, Ockbrook

Church Farm House began as two separate timber-framed small houses/large cottages of equivalent size, both about 5.5m long and the same distance apart. These had square panels set on stone plinths; wattle and daub infill between the timbers was later replaced by brick nogging. Both buildings were two storeys high with a single or partitioned room on each floor and with a garret in the roofspace. Differences in ceiling heights and other features suggest that the north building is earlier than the south one, although both are probably of 17th century date. Probably somewhere between 1750 and 1773 the two buildings were brought together by the infilling of the central area, to create a 3-bay long building. A short west wing was added, together with a cellar; other alterations were also made to the existing buildings. Church Farm is referred to in 1773 as The Homestead. Earlier, in c. 1700, the farm and its land had been bought by Dane Mary Lake from Robert Piggen, a descendant of one of ten yeomen who had between themselves bought the manor in 1583. The farm may well have existed at that time. It was farmed until about the Second World War, after which it became part of a dairy and later a riding school. Various farm buildings were sold off, but the farmhouse remained disused for over 30 years. (1)