Site record MDR23143 - Site of Outseats Farm, Northeast of Henry Crescent, Alfreton

Former site of Outseats Farm, Northeast of Henry Crescent, Alfreton, of 18th century date. The remains of five buildings were found during a strip, map and record programme carried out in 2018: 'The post medieval development of the Outseats Farm complex can be read through a combination of the archaeological results and map regression. The earliest surviving dateable feature was a brick foundation (264) at the northwest limit of excavation. Wall 264 may have been 18th century in date on the basis of the thickness of the bricks. Dating based on brick morphology should not be relied upon too heavily, not least because the bricks may have been reused. The position of the earliest remains in the northeast of the farm complex may suggest that any earlier settlement was in the northeast of the farm. Wall 264 formed part of building 251, which was probably the farmhouse. Building 251 was extended twice and modified into the 20th century. Contemporary with building 251 were a pair of garden walls enclosing the front garden of the farmhouse from the lane leading to the farmyard. The alignment of the lane may be ancient. Although further buildings are depicted on 19th century maps, they did not survive in the archaeological record and were replaced by the buildings outlined below. The next archaeologically-attested buildings were early 20th century buildings 253 and 396 and mid 20th century buildings 274, annex 399 and 252. Building 252 was initially constructed on a northeast to southwest alignment before being modified to form part of a unified northwest to southeast aligned range with building 253. It is likely that all of these buildings were barns or other agricultural structures. The southeast boundary of the farm complex was defined by ditches shifting to the southeast over time (ditch 118 was replaced in significance by ditch 104), probably as a result of construction of a series of temporary buildings in the mid 20th century. A series of atypical lime mortars appear to have been used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Ash mortar and modern cement were not seen. This is consistent with the rural position of Outseats Farm away from the technological innovations and resources of urban centres.' (1)