2006 PROJECT SELECTION
Black Beck Hall, Ayside, Cumbria: Building Recording (Levels 1-4)
The construction of the new High and Low Newton A590 by-pass required the demolition of Black Beck Hall and the majority of its associated outbuildings. Black Beck Hall is situated in Ayside, just within the southern edge of the Lake District National Park. The house is thought to date to c1630 and is associated with a range of derelict outbuildings comprising a pigsty, a former barn (which had been converted into a garage), and a coach house. Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned by the principal contractor Laing O’Rourke Infrastructure, working on behalf of the Highways Agency, through their environmental consultants Golder Associates, to record all of these buildings prior to their demolition, or, in the case of the pigsty, conversion into a bat roost.
A documentary study of the site revealed very little information about its early history. This may be because it has been re-named at some point; records in the Cartmel parish registers refer to a house called ’Blackburn’ in the late 18th century, but the earliest reference to Black Beck does not seem to occur until the middle of the 19th century. It is not known what information provided the date of c1630, which was stated on a modern sign on the end of the house, although anecdotal evidence suggests that there was a dated spice cabinet door in the house until a devastating fire in 1981. The earliest recorded occupiers were the Jacksons, a family of farmers. They were succeeded by the Ellwoods who occupied the house for over 100 years. They also ran a carrier service between Cartmel and Kendal, and were probably responsible for much of the expansion of the site.
Prior to the middle of 19th century there were only two buildings at Black Beck Hall: the farm house and a barn to the north. During the later 19th century and into the 20th century both of these were considerably enlarged, and the other buildings were constructed. The coach house was undoubtedly built to serve the Ellwoods’ carrier service, effectively forming a covered ‘lay-by’ alongside the turnpike road built in 1819. During the 20th century the site began to decline, however. Following the serious fire of 1981, in which Florence, the last of the Ellwoods to live at Black Beck Hall, died, the house was extensively modernised and most of the original features were removed, including a solid oak staircase.
The detailed recording of the buildings was carried out using a reflectorless total station coupled to a portable tablet computer, which allowed the whole site to be surveyed at 1:1 within a single AutoCAD file. It revealed that the earliest element of the building comprised an open square block, approximately 10m by 10m, which probably had a large inglenook fireplace against the east wall incorporating a bread oven and spice cupboard, and with a smoke hood above. The date of this is not known, and while the suggested date of c1630 is plausible, a slightly later date is perhaps more likely. The internal arrangement of this original building was altered in the late 18th or early 19th century, with the addition of a dividing wall and new floors. The roof level was also raised, with one of the trusses modified to allow greater access, and new chimneys and fireplaces were added at this time. Shortly afterwards an extension was added to the north-west corner, and this was later supplemented by a further extension to the west. Following the fire the entire interior was gutted apart from the beams and more extensions were added to the east end, including a conservatory.
Many of the timber beams and lintels within the house were clearly original, however, although the majority were re-used and included cruck fragments from a much earlier building. Core samples were taken from several of these for dendrochronological dating, but unfortunately none were suitable. Three long pegs with hooked ends driven into a beam in the hall were interpreted as relating to weaving activity, although the lack of documentary sources relating to the early history of the house or published comparative examples from the local area make this difficult to confirm.
The demolition of Black Beck Hall has allowed a rare opportunity to carry out a detailed investigation of what might be considered a typical farmstead of the area. It has also revealed a number of unusual features, however, such as the pegs relating to weaving, the early and extensive alterations to the building, the purpose-built coach house, and the remarkably square plan of the original building. Despite the major alterations to the building, this detailed recording will provide a useful record for the future study of such buildings.
