Building record MDR24195 - Nos. 1-2 Castle Cottage, North of The Square, Middleton and Smerrill

Nos. 1-2 Castle Cottage, north of The Square, Middleton and Smerrill, built c1914. The building was considered for adding to the National Heritage List for England in 2024 but was rejected. The report on the building and the reasons for its rejection is available. (1) 'HISTORY AND DETAILS Middleton Hall (Grade II-listed, National Heritage List for England entry 1311644) was built in the early C19 as a replacement of the former Middleton Hall, built on another site in the village in 1626. The old house was demolished in 1812, and the replacement was undertaken by Thomas Bateman, an archaeologist. Bateman was also responsible for the redevelopment of many of the buildings in the surrounding village. It is understood that numbers 1 and 2 Castle Cottages were built in 1914 following the sale of the estate to Sarah Waterhouse. They were reportedly built using stone salvaged from a former local mill and were used as accommodation for the head gardener and head gamekeeper of Middleton Hall. The pair of semi-detached cottages are constructed of coursed local stone with keyed quoins and a stone slate roof. Each cottage is of two bays and two storeys. The principal frontage faces south-east. The outer bays feature the principal entrances to both cottages underneath stone hood mouldings. The inner bays have tripartite windows with stone mullions to both the ground and first floor. The ground floor windows also have stone hood mouldings, and at first-floor level, centrally located, there is a pale date stone, inscribed with ‘S.W/ 1914’; it is assumed that S.W refers to the builder. The roof features a centrally placed chimney stack. To the gable ends of the building, there is external timber framing to the attic storey only. The west elevation has a lean-to extension of the same materials, and there is a small porch to the north elevation serving number 2 Castle Cottage. The interior retains original joinery but has seen some modernisation, including replacement of fireplaces. ASSESSMENT The Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (DCMS, November 2018) sets out the statutory criteria for designation explaining that, to be added to the List, buildings must be of special architectural and historic interest. The Principles also explain that progressively greater selection is necessary for buildings dating after 1850. Historic England’s Listing Selection Guide Domestic 4: Modern Houses and Housing (December 2017) provides further considerations relevant to the assessment of this building type. Judged against the criteria, the considerations in our supplementary guidance, and the information available numbers 1 and 2 Castle Cottages do not meet the criteria for listing for the following principal reasons: Degree of Architectural interest: * although the cottages have been built in the vernacular style of the surrounding village, as reproductions of 1914 they must be considered within this context. While the cottages feature local materials and attention has been paid to the stone window dressings and external timbers, they lack the architectural quality of other listed examples of this period and building type. * the interior of the cottages is also modest and therefore does not raise the interest of the buildings. Degree of Historic interest: * the cottages are of historic interest as part of the development of Middleton by Youlgreave, however, this does not raise the interest sufficiently to overcome the shortfall in their architectural merit. CONCLUSION While of clear local interest, 1 and 2 Castle Cottages fall short of the standard required for buildings of this age and type to be listed in the national context. SOURCES ‘Villagers object to plan to extend historic cottage in Peak District village conservation area’, Derbyshire Times, 9 July 2024 available from https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/people/villagers-object-to-plan-to-extend-historic-cottage-in-peakdistrict- village-conservation-area-4696263 Discover Derbyshire and the Peak District, Middleton by Youlgreave accessed 16 July 2024 from http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/middletonbyyoulgreave.htm Peak District Online, Middleton-by-Youlgreave accessed 16 July 2024 from https://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/middleton-by-youlgreave/.' (1)