Monument record MDR13058 - Rope Field and former Ropehouse, Malthouse Lane, Ashover

In this field ropes were spun which reached across the Moor Road and even down to Church Gate. These were claimed to be the longest ropes in the country and were made chiefly for use in local lead mines. The rope industry was based in the disused building at the north-western corner of the field. The ruins of this building are now [in c. 1977] structurally unsafe. (1) The rope house is presently a roofless shell standing in enclosed fields, and is sited a short distance from Malthouse Lane. It is a small L-shaped structure, built of coursed gritstone, with well-finished quoins and dressings to doorways. The main building, formerly floored, but now with no surviving timbers, is aligned east/west and has openings on one elevation only. There are two well-finished doorways with heavy lintels and quoins, two window openings which are devoid of detailing, two complete gables which retain evidence of raising, and a hearth with jowelled jambs and a deep lintel which appears to be of late 18th or early 19th century date. The stub of the former masonry chimney survives at the west end, and the remaining walls are without openings or other detail. At right angles to the main building is a small wing which incorporates a wide, shallow arch in the front wall. However, this leads into a very small enclosure at the rear, and it appears that this might be a remnant of an attached outbuilding with a cart entrance which was subsequently remodelled, and its footprint altered by changes to enclosures to the rear. There are the remains of other outbuildings to the rear of the L-shaped range. The buildings are set in open fields, with no defined approach road or track to them, nor any associated structures. The Rope House is a fragmentary survival of something which has the characteristics of a dwelling, but which now lacks the surviving evidence which would confirm its former function, apart from the domestic-scale hearth. All evidence of interior fixtures and fittings has now been lost, and no trace of the former floor plan survives. Apart from the two doorways and the arched entrance, there is little architectural evidence with which to date the remains of the building, but what there is suggests an 18th century date. However, the survival is such a fragmentary one that the claim to special interest cannot be supported on architectural grounds. The name 'Rope House' suggests some association with rope-making, which may have local significance, as Ashover was a lead-mining area, and is located on the edge of the Derbyshire coalfield. However, such tentative evidence is insufficient justification for a listing recommendation. The ruinous state of the building, the lack of any roof or floor structures, the lack of evidence for the plan of the building, and the limited survival of architectural detail are all factors which weaken the case for designation. (2)