Building record MDR13055 - Sicklebrook Farm, Sicklebrook Lane, Eckington

The earliest reference to Sicklebrook occurs in an agreement dated 1670: 'All that lately erected messuage house or tenement wherein James Bradbury doth now inhabit commonly called or known by the name of Secklebrook…'. The inventory made on James Bradbury's death in 1675 lists his possessions room by room, beginning with the 'House', then continuing with the 'Kitchin' (not the present kitchen) and the 'Parlor'. Upstairs rooms comprised the chamber over the parlour, the chamber over the house and the chamber over the kitchen. These rooms correspond quite well with the layout of the main body of the present farmhouse. The farm was tenanted by a scythesmith at the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century. It is not clear whether scythe forging could have been carried out on the site but by 1851 part of the buildings at Sicklebrook were being used for table blade forging by the then tenant. The easternmost bay of the house range has at some point had a smithy hearth and a brick-built chimney, although little now remains. The upper level of this end bay has also had provision for accommodation. The house is of one and a half storeys, built of sandstone with gritstone dressings. The main dwelling comprises a two-room plan, at ground and first floor level, with the principal elevation facing south. A lower-roofed third bay added to the east end of the house may have originated as a separately occupied unit and is, to date, the least altered part of the house. Internally there is evidence of a smoke hood having been made against the central transverse wall of the house, while a large cupboard recess to the north of the central chimney stack may once have contained a simple ladder stair. At first floor level the upper mortised timbers for the smoke hood have been reinstated during the recent re-roofing. A dormer window has also been reinstated - this may once have been the only window for the chamber over the hall. The three-light mullioned window in the south wall of the hall is probably typical of those removed from the enlarged openings elsewhere in the house. Internally such windows would have had seats formed in the thickness of the wall. North and south walls of the house are very thick, with a marked internal batter, which is unusual for a building of such a low profile. The farmyard adjoins the house on the north side and has single-storey outbuildings forming a rectangular layout, the northern range being the oldest in the group. The lack of any sizeable farm buildings may well reflect the small size of the holding. The farm buildings were described as being in poor repair in 1996.(1)