| Abstract: |
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to produce a historic building record at Whitehouse Farm, Belper. The main range of the present Farmhouse dates to between 1844 and 1880, likely falling within the later end of the range. Between 1893 and 1932, the farm was owned by members of the Strutt family who were important local landowners. However, Whitehouse Farm would have been tenanted, and it is unlikely that the Strutt family were actively involved in the day-to-day running of the property. Following the sale of the Site to George E. Beardsley in 1932, the house was greatly modernised, with its former south-west range demolished and replaced. The outbuildings within the Site predominantly date to the early to mid- 20th century, with one building, Outbuilding 1 (a tack room), retaining an element dated to the late 19th century, with a section of earlier stone walling to its rear, dated to between 1844 and 1880. The record revealed that the buildings within the Site are very much of local interest at best, with no strong associations with the Strutt family or any particular antiquity to the buildings. The materiality of the farmhouse and its outbuilding, being of regular red-brick construction, as opposed to the local stone-built vernacular, is particularly telling, and indicates a later date of construction for the farmhouse. The extensive modernisations to the dwelling are characteristically 1930s, bringing the Site into a fashionable faux-Tudor appearance, perhaps alongside the rebranding of the Site as 'Whitehouse Farm'. The recording and analysis revealed that the buildings within the site are very much of local interest at best, with no strong associations with the Strutt family nor any particular antiquity to the buildings. The materiality of the Farmhouse and its outbuilding, being of regular red-brick construction, as opposed to the local stone-built vernacular, is particularly telling, and indicates a later date of construction for the Farmhouse. The extensive modernisations to the dwelling are characteristically 1930s, bringing the site into a fashionable faux-Tudor appearance, perhaps alongside the rebranding of the site as ‘Whitehouse Farm’. |
