Listed Building record MDR14701 - Moortop Farm, Moortop Road, Apperknowle

A grade II listed farmhouse built in the late 18th century, with late 19th century alterations and additions. It is built of regularly coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar dressings, gable brick stacks and slate roof coverings. It has an L-plan, with an earlier range attached to the north end of the main range, which is a fragment of an extensive 18th century house. The east elevation is of three storeys and four bays, with stacked glazing bar sashes; those to the ground and first floors have 4 x 3 panes, and those to the second floor have 2 x 3 panes all beneath plain lintels. There is one altered and one inserted window to the north end. An off-centre doorway has a plain door and rectangular overlight and glazing bars. The earlier range is of two storeys and two bays, with stacked three-light flush mullioned windows with glazing bars to the west end, and a two-light window to the east. An off-centre doorway is obscured by a pitched roofed single storey 20th century half-glazed porch. The rear elevation of the three storeyed range incorporates the remains of 18th century flush mullioned windows. The 18th century farmhouse was substantial, and extended further to the west. (1) An archaeological building survey of Moortop Farm was carried out in 2013 prior to the proposed renovation of the farmhouse. Moortop Farm, itself dating to the late 18th century, forms part of an attractive 19th century farm complex. The building is clearly recorded by Sanderson in 1835, but has undergone a number of alterations, most notably the demolition of part of the east-west aligned bay. Cartographic sources indicate this may have occurred as late as the 1970s. The building survey recorded a number of features that suggests that both ranges are contemporary and that the north-south range has undergone significant alteration, and possible re-building, during the 19th century. There is sufficient in-situ evidence to suggest that the farmhouse may be earlier than the listing description indicates and dates to the early 18th century. There is also limited evidence, including a cross passage and more tenuously a possible garderobe, to suggest a 16th century origin for the farmhouse. (2)