Sir John Barrow S Cottage, Dragley Beck Ulverston
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Heritage Statement: Sir John Barrow s Cottage, Dragley Beck Ulverston Sir John Barrow s cottage is set in the small hamlet of Dragley Beck to the south of Ulverston. Early history of the area In documents dating from the early 14th century King Edward II confirmed that all of the land on both sides of the road which leads from Bardsea to Ulverston be granted to William of Lancaster this subsequently came under the influence of Conishead Priory. Following the dissolution of the monasteries (1536 1539) lands belonging to both Furness Abbey and Conishead Priory were distributed between the two major houses in the area Neville Hall and Swarthmoor Hall. There are 3 pieces of documentary evidence that prove that Dragley Beck was given into the stewardship of the Swarthmoor Hall Estate around the time of the dissolution and that there were a number of dwellings and industries in existence in the 16thC. Deeds of sale for Lane Head Farm (at the junction of Westend Lane and Priory Road)show fields documented in the 16th century Swarthmoor Hall Estates Map. There is in existence an Admittance to the Manor (an agreement between the Lord of the Manor and tenant) for a glove-maker to the Fell family of Swarthmoor Hall stating his residence as Dragley Beck dated circa 1670. Another Admittance to the Manor for the Holmes family of Dragley Beck was signed by Daniel Abraham of Swarthmoor Hall in 1722. Dragley Beck may only have been a small hamlet but it was significant none the less. It would have been the first habitation that people would encounter after coming off the sands at Priory Point an inn called the Blue Pig is known to have existed adjacent to the cottage for the sustenance of travellers. The fields around the cottage were known as hempland .Entries in Sarah Fells Account Book circa1670s states that flax was grown here on estate land in the 17th C.Ulverston was once famous for its linen manufacture. Evidence shows that a tannery formed part of the Swarthmoor estate at Dragley Beck in the 16th century and in time a further tannery became established on the other side of the road utilising the ready supply of deep fast running waters of the beck. Salt workings are also known to have existed in this area. Establishing the existence of a building on that site since mid 1500s The existence of a settlement at Dragley Beck in the 16th century is therefore well established and so it is not inconceivable that the cottage could have been built soon after the area came under the stewardship of Swarthmoor Hall Estate. In his autobiography (1847)Sir John Barrow states that at his birth the cottage has been in his mother s family for nearly 200 years indicating that it had been in existence since 1564 at the very least. In the extreme northern part of North Lancashire is the market town of Ulverstone, and not far from it the obscure village of Dragley Beck, in which a small cottage gave me birth on the 19th June, 1764; being the only child of Roger and Mary Barrow. The said cottage had been in my mother s family nearly 200 years, and had descended from her aunt, who lived in it to the age of eighty, and in it my mother died at the advanced age of ninety There is a local tradition that the building dates from 1549 which is equally possible though the carved lintel that used to adorn the front door bearing this date is not necessarily contemporary with the building of the cottage in the 16th century. Indeed there is some evidence to suggest that the 5 is a later addition and that the original date carved on the lintel was actually 17 49 the date when the open Tudor fireplace was altered to encompass a chimney and mantle during the Georgian modernisation . However the claim that the cottage was originally established in or around the mid 1500s is amply borne out by architectural evidence still remaining in the cottage today thus making it one of the oldest, least altered secular buildings in the North West. Architectural evidence Built of rubble the cottage consists of 4 ground floor rooms and 2large attic rooms. The fireplace in the main room is now filled with a Victorian range circa 1860s and the present chimney breast is the result of early Georgian modernisation . Originally the fire would have stood directly on the hearth (seecut- away plan of a typical 16th century cottage showing a canopied fireplace attached) the huge oak beam that runs across the room in front of the fireplace carried a lath and plaster smoke hood or canopy that joined the chimney in the attic. R emnants of this canopy can still be seen in the cottage. (seeattic compilation photographs). To the right of the fireplace is a small blocked window known as a fire light or fire window this enabled people to sit within the canopy, keeping warm by the fire but still having access to good light to work by.(see drawing attached showing fire window, turfed out-shut and cantilevered Tudor chimney) To the left of the fire is a small brick-lined bread oven (see ground floor compilation photographs attached) this extends behind the new chimney breast indicating that it existed before the Georgian renovation and was probably contemporary with the original Tudor fireplace. Many examples of 15th and 16th century bread ovens identical to this are to be found in castles and dwellings all over England but are relatively rare in the South Lakeland area. Further evidence to the cottages early existence is the Heck Post ,extending down from the main beam hecking is part of the process in linen making - after the fibres are loosened from the hemp stalk they are hooked on to a sturdy post where the short fibers are combed out with heckling combs, to leave behind only the long,soft flax fibers. Originally the cottage had small mullioned windows made of oak there is one still in existence in the attic complete with its original wooden shutters (see attic compilation photographs). The windows in the main rooms were enlarged in the 19th century but drawings exist showing the original size of the windows. The roof would originally have been turfed and then in later years, thatched. This is architecturally evident in the steep pitch of the original roof and is supported by several drawings that bear witness to this, pre- 1869 when tiles superseded the thatch. The cottage has never had a staircase despite two modernisations and the rooms upstairs can only be accessed by means of a ladder I doubt any other building of this date would have withstood this final act of modernisation !! Workers cottages of this ilk were usually renovated beyond recognition or simply pulled down to make way for new buildings so to have an example of an original, mainly unaltered, Tudor working man s cottage in our keeping is a rare and precious thing. Even the Georgian modernisations have merit as they serve to show how the cottage would have looked in the 1770s when Sir John Barrow lived there. UTC Heritage Statement: Sir John Barrow s Cottage, Dragley Beck Ulverston Sir John Barrow s cottage is set in the small hamlet of Dragley Beck to the south of Ulverston. Early history of the area In documents dating from the early 14th century King Edward II confirmed that all of the land on both sides of the road which leads from Bardsea to Ulverston be granted to William of Lancaster this subsequently came under the influence of Conishead Priory. Following the dissolution of the monasteries (1536 1539) lands belonging to both Furness Abbey and Conishead Priory were distributed between the two major houses in the area Neville Hall and Swarthmoor Hall. There are 3 pieces of documentary evidence that prove that Dragley Beck was given into the stewardship of the Swarthmoor Hall Estate around the time of the dissolution and that there were a number of dwellings and industries in existence in the 16thC. Deeds of sale for Lane Head Farm (at the junction of Westend Lane and Priory Road)show fields documented in the 16th century Swarthmoor Hall Estates Map. There is in existence an Admittance to the Manor (an agreement between the Lord of the Manor and tenant) for a glove-maker to the Fell family of Swarthmoor Hall stating his residence as Dragley Beck dated circa 1670. Another Admittance to the Manor for the Holmes family of Dragley Beck was signed by Daniel Abraham of Swarthmoor Hall in 1722. Dragley Beck may only have been a small hamlet but it was significant none the less. It would have been the first habitation that people would encounter after coming off the sands at Priory Point an inn called the Blue Pig is known to have existed adjacent to the cottage for the sustenance of travellers. The fields around the cottage were known as hempland .Entries in Sarah Fells Account Book circa1670s states that flax was grown here on estate land in the 17th C.Ulverston was once famous for its linen manufacture. Evidence shows that a tannery formed part of the Swarthmoor estate at Dragley Beck in the 16th century and in time a further tannery became established on the other side of the road utilising the ready supply of deep fast running waters of the beck. Salt workings are also known to have existed in this area. Establishing the existence of a building on that site since mid 1500s The existence of a settlement at Dragley Beck in the 16th century is therefore well established and so it is not inconceivable that the cottage could have been built soon after the area came under the stewardship of Swarthmoor Hall Estate.