Shardlow Part 07 - London Road continued
w/e 28 August 2016
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
Shardlow

It's been nearly six months since our last visit to Shardlow but as we return for this, the final part of this Village Trail, we pick up the route again on London Road close to its junction with Aston Lane.

83 London Road

There are a cluster of Grade II Listed Buildings at the junction. Opposite and to the right is number 83 London Road. This is a late eighteenth century farmhouse with later alterations and additions.
Barn

Left of 83 stands another late eighteenth century building - a threshing barn with attached cowshed. This too has undergone later alterations but the rows of slit breathers on the south wall and the nineteenth century circular pitching holes on the east wall that are a feature of the building are clearly visible.
Dower House

Further west, next to the barn and as a complete contrast to it, is the imposing structure of the Dower House at 81 London Road. A dower house is legally available for the widow of the owner of the estate and this Georgian property, a late eighteenth century building dates from about 1750. As well as the impressive outward appearance it has several interesting internal features including an original Adam style fireplace which would no doubt have been appreciated by Italian officers housed here during the Second World War.
4 Aston Lane

Stepping briefly off London Road into Aston Lane highlights the difference between the rich and the poor in the late eighteenth century. Dating from then is number 4 Aston Lane. Although now one house, originally this was a pair of cottages and whilst the difference with the Dower House, seen here on the right across London Road, is obvious they are now on a par as both are Grade II Listed.
Dog & Duck

Between the cottage and the Dower House, the Dog and Duck Inn stands on the corner of Aston Lane and is the last of the Listed Buildings around the road junction. Comprised of a cottage and house the pub is also thought to be the oldest building in the village dating from the seventeenth century and is possibly timber framed.
Shardlow School

Moving about 300 yards along London Road is the next point of interest and the next Listed Building. Also Grade II this is Shardlow Primary School and it is situated at another road junction, the one with Ambaston Lane which heads north to the hamlet of the same name. The school was built in the Tudor style in 1834.
Housing Estate

In approximately the same distance from the school there should be three more Listed structures but the site of the housing estate at the corner on the left is not one of them.
Cheal Close

I remember the housing estate being the site of the Grove Hospital but before that, it was the Shardlow Union Workhouse. The history of the Shardlow Workhouse makes for some interesting reading and can be seen at the workhouses.org,uk website. The Grove Hospital which catered for elderly patients closed in 2005 but the subsequent demolition to allow the construction of the housing estate did not go without a hitch as this Daily Mail article records. I imagine that many of the residents living on Cheal Close now commute into Derby and the surrounding area to earn a crust and it is in fact a dormitory development.
Moor Farm

Composite Satellite & MapOpposite the estate is Moor Farm and I took the photo above thinking it could be one of the two Moor farm Cottages that are recorded in the Grade II Listings. The entries describe the cottages as Moor Farm Cottage (South) and Attached Outbuilding: "Mid C18 with C19 alterations. Rendered red brick on stone plinth with plain tile roof ...." and Moor Farm Cottage (North): "C17 with C19 alterations. Rendered red brick on stone plinth with plain tile roof ...."

Further investigation when I returned home and plotted the given grid references of the cottages onto a map proved that the Moor Farm photograph above is neither of the two listed buildings. I had however seen nothing else on site that corresponded to the descriptions and satellite images of the area showed nothing either. So I searched old maps and found an early Ordnance Survey edition that showed the location of the said cottages enabling me to produce the combined image on the left. It became obvious therefore that despite their listed status, the cottages no longer exist.
To Derby

I said there were three more Listed structures but have determined that the first two are no longer there and if the third one is, it is so well hidden I couldn't find it. As London Road turns the corner at Moor Farm and heads off along the long straight stretch towards Derby, it passes a small Business Park on the left. Just beyond the entrance to the Park is supposed to be a Grade II Milepost. Approximately three feet in height it showed that London is a hundred and twenty miles from here whilst Derby is just six. Made of cast iron it was inscribed "Harrison, Derby" but like the cottages, I believe it is nowhere to be found. Unfortunately this is rather a disappointing way to bring this Village Trail through Shardlow to a close but there is still much to see and enjoy in the rest of the village as I hope the previous parts in the series looking at this historic inland port have already shown.
Back to Part 06

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