Settlement remains of Blakemoorflat

Reasons for Designation

The Stiperstones offers a considerable diversity of archaeological remains which provide direct evidence for the exploitation of this area of upland and the well preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, land boundaries and trackways as well as industrial remains, allows significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Distinctive farming patterns, with cottages and smallholdings, are especially associated with the Stiperstones, where settlement often developed as a result of of mining employment during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This period represents a time in which arable farming increased in popularity on the moor, resulting in a number of new settlements being established on previously unenclosed moorland. These settlements survive as groups of cottages and outbuildings which sit within their own plots and are generally associated with contemporary field systems, many of which still remain in use for grazing. Many were abandoned after a relatively short time, usually in response to changing economic conditions, and thus provide information on the diversity of social organisation and farming practice amongst the communities occupying this area of upland. The better surviving examples are therefore considered worthy of protection. The settlement remains of Blakemoorflat survive well as both ruins and earthworks and represent a good example of a deserted mining and crofting settlement. It retains both structural and artefactual evidence for the cottages and outbuildings which originally existed here, allowing an insight into the farming and domestic activities which took place in this area during the 19th century.

Details

The monument is situated towards the northernmost limit of the Stiperstones ridge and includes the ruins and earthwork remains of a 19th century mining and crofting settlement and its enclosed fields.

Map evidence indicates that the settlement was established by the early 19th century and is believed to have had close associations with Snailbeach lead mine to the north. Mining was always piecemeal, and even at its height, many of the miners supplemented their income by farming. Blakemoorflat lies within an area of cleared moorland and is enclosed by a series of boundary wall and earth banks. Map and documentary records indicate that there was one cottage at the site, occupied by a Robert Evans, by around 1847 and a further cottage was erected at a later date in the north eastern part of the site. During the early to mid-20th century, in response to the economic decline of the lead mining industry, the cottages at Blakemoorflat were gradually deserted.

Each stone-built cottage and its associated outbuildings, which include a part-underground root store, are situated within a small enclosed yard, beyond which is an enclosed field and several small paddocks. Both cottages at Blakemoorflat are in ruins but retain evidence for their plan and internal walls. The water supply for the settlement was provided from a well to the north west of the site and the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map shows pathways running between both cottages and the well. The enclosed fields have been cleared of stone and a large clearance cairn is situated beyond the settlement's north western boundary. These fields are thought to have been used for cultivation; traces of ridge and furrow are visible in the southern field, whilst the moorland was used for livestock grazing.

Approximately 150m to the north east of Blakemoorflat is a second crofting settlement which is the subject of a separate scheduling.

All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

21667

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry