| Description | Lower Small Shaw, Wadsworth. Late 16th century house with 17th century later additions and attached 17th century barn.
'House, 2 cells of late C16 house with added rear kitchen wing, 3rd cell to house, and barn all mid C17; barn has added bay mid C19. Large dressed stone to earliest build, coarser hammer dressed to C17 additions and dressed stone to C19 addition to barn, stone slate roof. 2 storeys. L shaped. South front has string course over 2 bays of double chamfered mullioned windows of 6 lights and 8 lights with 2 windows of 4 lights over to 1st floor. Added bay has 6 light window with king mullion with 6 light window over to 1st floor. Tall cart entry with deep monolithic lintel and composite jambs has chamfered surround. Similarly dressed mistal doorway to right. Left hand return wall has extruded stack with offsets reduced in height to right of original gable entry doorway with broad chamfered surround (now window). Over is 4 light chamfered window lacking 2 mullions. Rear of main range has semi circular arched cart entry, probably C19 alteration.
Main feature is impressive mullioned and transomed stepped window to east elevation of kitchen wing of 6 over 8 lights. Single stack to each ridge. (Stell, C.F. 1960. 'Vernacular Architecture in a Pennine Community'. Page 267).
(English Heritage listed building description. Date listed 12/12/1984. http://list.english heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1227000. Web site accessed 23/10/2013).
Lower Small Shaw house and barn were the subject of an archaeological assessment by Elizabeth Chamberlin (WYAAS) in 2011. This was in carried out in order to write a specification for building recording (Calderdale Council planning reference number 10/01577/LBC). The photographic images produced by the assessment are held by WYAAS (Images contained in report and on file in the WYAAS digital image archive: Chamberlin, E. (WYAAS). 2011. '\\WYJS HER FS01\HERPhotos\Wadsworth\Lower Small Shaw Farm SD 9927 3054 Site visit 17th March 2011').
Chamberlin describes the house as late 16th century with an added kitchen wing. The barn and southern bay of the farm house are 17th century. The barn has a later addition to its west elevation. There is also a later addition to the east end of the kitchen wing. The only visible roof truss in the house has a king block which carries a diagonally set ridge piece. One of the interior fireplaces has a carved stone head adjacent to it (which may have been reset), stone heads are sometimes found in gables of vernacular buildings of the Upper Calder Valley.
The barn has replacement queen post roof trusses with merchants' marks and setting out marks.
(Chamberlin, E. (WYAAS). 2001. 'Wadsworth. Lower Small Shaw Farm, Small Shaw Lane').
Lower Small Shaw was included in the Calder Civic Trust and Hebden Bridge Local History Society joint survey of buildings for proposed listing in 1975. The fieldwork record sheet is held by WYAAS (Calder Civic Trust and Hebden Bridge Local History Society. 1975). |