Watching Brief at Hay Lane Farm, Hay Lane, Ashover

Historic Building Recording was required prior to the proposed reconstruction of a two storey dwelling house, rebuilding of external WC and construction of new domestic outbuilding to form a tractor store and workshop. The survey was conducted to Historic England Level II standard recording, using methodology set out in the approved WSI and provides a descriptive and photographic record, and a comprehensive archive record of the buildings at the time of survey. Based on the results of the HBR, two areas were identified as being of archaeological interest - the remaining internal walls and floor surfaces and external grounds works to the south west and the east. A structural watching brief was therefore required to record any archaeological remains that survived on the site according to the an updated WSI prepared for this work during the removal of the internal and external floors and wall. All machine excavation was conducted under continuous archaeological supervision and the site was accurately tied into the national Ordnance Survey Grid with the use of a GPS on site to produce survey data and a site plan. Historic Building Recording: The structure appears to have originally been a two-room building that now makes up its central range. A western extension was subsequently built up against the central range and a northern extension was also added. It is not possible to establish which of these occurred first, or if in fact they were contemporary. It is likely that the final addition was the construction of the two-story southern range, at which time the height of the western extension was also raised by almost 1m. It may be the case that the central range was also extended in height at this time, though no evidence for this survives. The stone built southern gable end of the original central range was apparently removed when the southern range was added and replaced by a brick wall (the remains of which can be seen against the inside of the eastern elevation) to create a partition between. This could have been to create more space or earlier subsidence may have made the existing wall unstable. The same handmade bricks used to create this partition were also found in a pile towards the ruinous northern end of the central range. These may have been cleared from the partition during demolition, or formed part of another structure closer to where they were found, possibly a brick-built fireplace. It was concluded that the ruinous state of the buildings and their infilling with soil and debris make interpretation of all phases problematic, but it seems likely that the building was altered on at least three occasions, for the most part to expand it. However, the instability of the ground may also suggest that repairs were necessary throughout the life of the building Structural Watching Brief: The watching brief revealed that the original building was constructed on a man-made terrace cut into the hillside. This terrace provided a level platform for the construction of the dwelling. Findings from the watching brief supported the conclusions of the HBR, indicating that the initial dwelling was rectangular in shape. Subsequent extensions were added to the north, west, and south over at least two separate phases of construction. The building featured stepped foundations and roughly hewn limestone blocks. Later additions to the north, south, and west were either keyed into or butted up against the initial structure and were built on the leveled terrace without substantial footings. Due to the lack of datable materials, it is not possible to determine the sequence of the later additions. The instability of the ground and remaining structures, as noted in the HBR, is likely due to the geological composition, which includes limestone and a natural coal seam, combined with the lack of substantial footings and foundations.