| Description | 39, Wakefield Road, Upper Whitley. Early 19th century back to back miners' cottages.
Nos. 31 and 39, Wakefield Road was the subject of an archaeological assessment by Lucy Caffyn in 1982 as part of the WYAS/RCHME Workers’ Housing Survey. The photographic images and sketch plan produced by the assessment are held by WYAAS (Caffyn, L. (WYAS/RCHME) 1982). The fieldwork report is transcribed below:
'This is one of a block of eight back to back (now four through houses) built facing west/east and built in the early 19th century. They seemed to have formed part of a farmstead on the Kaye estate; but in the 20th century, and probably the 19th century too, they were lived in by miners who worked at the nearby Prince of Wales pit, owned by the Kayes. The farm buildings here are said to have belonged to the pit; and there as a joiner's shop and black smithy here. The pit manager lived in the house. The larger house and barn range are built in the same way as the cottages, and they are probably all of the same build. The cottages are not entirely straight forward; no 31 has wide doors a ground floor and at first floor levels, with deep flush lintels and the window is smaller and in a different position. The lintels to numbers 25, 27 and 29 are as for the cottages on the other side. The openings in 31 appear to be later alterations.
The cottages are built of thin coursed rubble stone, with a stone roof and brick chimney stacks. The outshuts to the rear back to backs (39 45) are built of larger stone blocks roofed with large stone slabs, and are probably a later addition. The doors have flush surrounds with interrupted jambs; the windows have flush surrounds, the jambs formed of two pieces of stone. There are two oculi in each gable end which light the attic rooms of numbers 25, 45, 31 and 39. The other cottages have small rectangular windows to light their attics instead.
Numbers 31 and 39 were recorded. Each cottage has a heated living room with a heated bedroom above, and over that, the attic room. The front houses are said to have had cellars (no evidence); the back houses no cellar, but the later pantry outshut with its stone shelves. The stairs in no.39 were inserted in the late 19th century. Before this a steep flight of steps (ladder) led up to the bedroom from besides the fireplace (east side). Traces of the openings are to be seen in the bedroom floor. Above these steps ran the ladder/steps up to the attic, which survives in 31 and are still the means of access to the attic. The door between the bedrooms of 31 and 39 is an old sneck door made of three vertical boards with a battens and round brass door knob.
The attics are lit by the small oculi. The room construction is of butt purlins. Queen posts with struts support double principal rafters. The tie beams are chamfered; the purlins only roughly shaped and set on edge.
Ceiling heights: ground floor 2.5m, first floor 2.1m, attic floor maximum 1.81 (minimum 1m)'.
(Caffyn, L. (WYAS/RCHME). 1982. '39, Wakefield Road, Grange Moor'). |