Monks Smithy House

Details

SK39NE ROTHERHAM UPPER WORTLEY ROAD (south-west side), 1/73 Thorpe Common Monks' Smithy House 23.11.73 (formerly listed as Abbey Grange) - II Farmhouse with attached farmbuildings also known as Kirkstead Abbey Grange; undergoing renovation and subdivision at time of resurvey. Probably C16 or C17 reusing a variety of medieval material, reconstructed and renamed in 1900 for the Earl of Effingham. Gritstone and sandstone rubble walling, stone slate roof. Elongated 2-storey range with house on left having 4 windows to 1st floor, farmbuildings to right with 2 lower additions to right-hand end. House: large quoins. C20 casements. Central doorway has chamfered, C12-style round arch. To left of door: 2 windows to each floor, 3 of them in chamfered, quoined surrounds (ground-floor window nearest door may be of C15 date); water spout at eaves between windows. Total of 5 windows to right of door all alterations of 1900, those to far right in position of former lateral stack. Another round-arched doorway at centre of range is flanked by small trefoil-headed lights, that to left resited in 1900; plaque above door has Effingham crown above words 'KIRKSTEAD / ABBEY GRANGE / RESTORED 1900'. Farmbuildings to right now have external stone steps. Various openings include an early doorway (now window) with chamfered, quoined surround and, to its right, a small round-headed window (possibly C12). Loft door has, to its right, a boarded hatch with early peg- jointed frame and, to its left, a small wood-framed opening now housing casement but with mortices for wood mullions. Additions to right end: front walls being rebuilt at time of resurvey. Main range has wallstone end stack to left and ridge stack to right of main door, truncated brick end stacks to right and at junction of two additions. Rear: 2 small trefoil-headed lights, one of them reset without jambs. 4 small round-arched openings (unlikely to be medieval). Chamfered rectangular slit, possibly that removed from position of present loft steps in 1900. Interior: floor structure of house partly exposed at time of resurvey; chamfered beams and heavy-scantling joists in central room. Moulded tie-beam in lst-floor room to left; moulded ashlar fireplace in same room possibly resited from original lateral stack. Interesting 9-bay, king-post roof structure with additional truss at junction of bays 6 and 7. 3 curved braces to ridge above house and evidence of truss infill, some members chamfered. 1 principal-rafter truss has soffit-morticed tie beam for wallposts and braces, saddle apex. 3 end bays of hay loft have simpler king-post roof of separate construction but with one truss having moulded, cambered tie beam with post and brace mortices at one end only, broach-stopped chamfer to king post (an open truss perhaps re-used from a framed cross-wing). Long regarded as having been erected by Cistercian monks of Kirkstead Abbey (Lincolnshire) following a charter of 1161-6 allowing them to build houses and 4 iron-working forges in this locality. Now interpreted as having a more complicated history but possibly retaining elements of the original structure as well as late- and post-medieval material. T. W. Hall, A Descriptive Catalogue of Sheffield Manorial Records, 1928, pp229-232 (contains 2 valuable photographs of pre-1900 fabric). P. F. Ryder, extensive survey report in County Ancient Monuments and Sites Record, Sheffield primary index No 163, 1984.

Listing NGR: SK3824695025

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

335709

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hall, TW, A Descriptive Catalogue of Sheffield Manorial Records, (1928), 229-32

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.