History of a house in Shardlow, Derbyshire

[overlandermatt]

Hi,

This is a bit different but thought I would try Roots Chat for some help investigating the history of our soon to be new home.

The Dower House (now 81 London Road) was built in the mid-18th century in the South Derbyshire village of Shardlow and I would imagine has connections to the nearby Shardlow Hall. The village is an inland port at the end of the Trent and Mersey Canal and has an interesting industrial heritage (not to mention the 8 pubs). The 1850 tithe map at the Derbyshire records office shows the owner of the house (and a good number of other properties in the village) as James Sutton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Sutton_(Shardlow)

Other than that, I can find no information of the early years of the house. I couldn't even find the house in the 10 year censuses either but wasn't sure how to search by property address.

According to the previous owner, in the second world war the house was used to house Italian officer POWs, one of whom came back to visit in the 1980s.

It sounds like a house with an interesting history. It's just a matter of how to investigate it...

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Matt

[Jool]

Hi Matt,

You mention that you imagine the house has connections to the nearby Shardlow Hall.  It may be that at some time Dower House was built for the widow (dowager) of the owner of Shardlow Hall. On the death of the estate owner, if the heir to the estate is married, then the widow moves into a house near to the estate.

See here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dower_house

I'm sure other Rootschatters will come along to help.

A fabulous house by the way 

[overlandermatt]

Thanks Jool.

It is a great looking house but in need of a lot of work! This history should also be very interesting too. I don't know how long it has been called the Dower House - perhaps since it was built around 1750.

Sadly Shardlow Hall is not looking too good these days and there is now a children's nursery there.

A quick Wikipedia check shows the following:

"The house was built in 1684 for Leonard Fosbrooke, originally to an H-plan design with two storeys with parapets and a six-bay entrance front. A series of six Leonard Fosbrookes succeeded to the estate, two of whom served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire.[2] A new seven-bayed west garden front was constructed in 1726, and in the late 18th century the entrance front was extended by the creation of single-storey wings, each terminating in a pedimented two-storey pavilion.[1]

The Fosbrookes moved to Ravenstone Hall and in 1826 sold the house to James Sutton of Shardlow, High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1842."

Shardlow Hall was built in 1684 to a design by Smith of Warwick and Joseph Pickford of Derby fame.

Still early days in the quest for more information but hopefully there is some out there...

Matt

[Ruskie]

You lucky duck Matt. The house is wonderful!!!

I believe you can search by address on FindMyPast. Hopefully someone will be able to help you find previous residents.

You will find your house here:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18.944508252821123&lat=52.8699&lon=-1.3563&layers=168&right=BingHyb
(You can scroll around and zoom in and out .... sadly the google maps view looks to be a bit old and indistinct)

[The Yokel]

The barn next door looks very interesting too.

[Ruskie]

Wills of previous residents that you already know might mention the house.

I thought to trace previous owners you need to obtain the deeds, for which there is a cost .... 

[Ruskie]

The barn next door looks very interesting too.

Ooo yes. Very nice. 

[overlandermatt]

Thanks Ruskie,

I cancelled my ancestry and find my past subscriptions a little while ago - there aren't enough hours in the day or night! So I might need to get back on it again... Not sure if anyone can help me out in the meantime to see if it does appear in any census?

It's a fantastic looking house but really in need of a lot of work. All very exciting really. Incidentally, the barn next door has recently had planning permission granted to convert it into accommodation. Not much has happened so far mind you.

That's a really good resource for the maps. I've never seen that before and can see it will be the source of a few more searches... Thank you.

The previous owner has some old deeds for the property. He is going to pass them on to me when the sale is completed. That could well be interesting and a source of some more recent history.

I did see a picture of the nearby Donnington Hall which was used to house German officer POWs in WW2. There was a perimeter barbed wire fence and guard towers - just what you woudl expect of a POW facility. I wonder whether this house would have been the same?

The tithe map I found at the records office (1850?) suggested there was only one person living in the house at that time and listed his occupation as agricultural labourer. I'm not sure that would be correct given it is a fairly large house.

Thanks again for the ideas and help.

Matt

[Ruskie]

Oh dear ... I was going to make a comment about the barn next door, and how nice it looked because it was “unconverted” .... I would have spoken to soon.  I’m generally not a fan of barn conversions, but don’t tell anyone in case I get shot down in flames.

I have taken a google streetview tour of parts of Shardlow, and it all looks fabulous. Very handy to have a Public House across the road.

What a project you have ahead of you, but an exciting one! What plans do you have for the house if you don’t mind me asking?

I know books have been written on how to research old houses but I don’t know enough to be able to recommend any I’m afraid. Google might throw up some search methods?

Hopefully the old deeds the seller passes on will reveal some clues. Please keep us informed of any developments. 

Wonderful house!