Listed Building record MDR3369 - No 35 Green Hill, (Babington House), Wirksworth

The Old Hospital, now [in 1976] Babington Guest House, Wirksworth. Date of 1588 on recent porch is thought to be too early - the building is more likely to be 17th century. The plan is T-shaped, ie standard hall and cross-wing. (1) Babington House was built circa 1630 from coursed rubble. It is 2 storeys high with attics. There are 2 three-light mullioned windows with drip-stones and fitted with early 19th century casements, 2 moulded gabled dormers, each with two-light mullioned windows, one mutilated. There is an advanced gabled wing on the right-hand side with a three-light mullioned window as above, a sundial is affixed on the gable face. A modern stuccoed embattled porch is an incongruous feature. The house contains an original fireplace and panelling and is associated with the Babingtons. (Anthony Babington led the attempted rescue of Mary, Queen of Scots). (2, 3) Stone for the construction of Babington House, Greenhill, built in c. 1630, was almost certainly won from small excavations on the site itself. (4)