One of Heptonstall's oldest buildings is Stag Cottage in Stag Fold, which dates back to the 1500s. I tried to get a photo of it (above), as it is charming, but the light was very tricky. You can get a better appreciation of it, inside and out, from the website listing it as a holiday let, HERE. There are several 'folds' in the village. The term originally meant an enclosure where animals were kept, but in Yorkshire it seems to have become a term for cottages clustered around a yard, perhaps originally all belonging to the same family.
One of the old buildings on the main street was the Cloth Hall, where the 'pieces' woven by the handloom weavers were brought, from their homes, to be sold to merchants. It's now a private residence and you can discern areas on the stonework where alterations have been made during its history. Above the door is a datestone: 1545-1558.
There's an archway preserved, just off Northgate, inscribed with the initials IB and the date 1578.
I'm sure there are more charming corners I've yet to discover.
I'm impressed at seeing dates on the lintel as well as the gate. Since most of the people wouldn't have known how to read and write, there must have been some educated folks about who might have wanted to impress any others by saying what year they'd worked on them. I wonder if the masons even could read them and what they might have thought! More importantly I do appreciate seeing such excellent photos of these historic places.
ReplyDeleteThea age of the town is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of a movie (film) with Steve Martin (LA Story?) in which he takes a visiting Brit on a tour and tells her "Some of these buildings are over FIFTY years old.!"
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