Blackburn Shop (Ancient Sheiling)

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155/0/10010 Blackburn Shop (Ancient Sheiling) 12-OCT-04

II Small vernacular dwelling, now walkers hut. The present structure represents the successive phases of renewal of a late medieval sheiling, with mid-C20 repair and alteration. Drystone rubble construction with throughstones, the roofed area now with mortared walls and a corrugated metal sheet covering. PLAN: Original 2 cell plan now modified, the original small room now roofless, the larger room adapted to create 2 compartments, with an storage antechamber and a larger living and sleeping room. EXTERIOR: Rubble walled building with eaves height of approx. 1.7 metres and gable apex height of 2.9 metres. Front elevation with unroofed part to left, and entrance opening at junction with roofed section. This has a central 8 over 8 pane C20 window,and a chimney to the right-hand gable. The left hand gable has a doorway with a plank door. INTERIOR: Original large single room now subdivided by mid-C20 wooden partition. Interior walls lined with timber, and roof underdrawn. Simple hearth to gable wall with plain stone lintel. HISTORY: Blackburn Shop is the best surviving example of a group of what are believed to be late medieval sheilings. These structures are associated with the system of transhumansce, which involved the movement of livestock from low-lying ground where they had been wintered to summer grazing on the fells, accompanied by part of the settled population. This process, which involved sometimes lengthy journeys between lowland and upland areas at the beginning and end of the season, was known locally as 'shielding' or 'summering' and the dwellings built for this seasonal occupation were known as 'shields' or 'scales'. The system flourished in the medieval period, and reached its peak in the Lake District in the C13, but persisted until the end of the C16. The historian Camden recorded the practice in 1599, and referred to the structures as 'little cottages'. The Gentleman's Magazine of 1747 contains a reference to the group of sheilings which are almost certainly those which include Blackburn Shop. Many of the known sheilings were of a 2-unit plan form, either 2 rooms, or a single room with an annexe. Blackburn Shop conforms to this pattern, but was probaby modified or renewed in the late C18, possibly in association with the re-opening of Bulman Hill lead mine c.1792. The term shop is commonly associated with mine buildings locally. In the mid-C20, the building served as a shepherds hut, and in more recent times, it has been adapted for use by walkers. However, an RCHME survey published in 1970 concluded that these repairs were made to an earlier drystone wall reconstruction of c.1792.

Although the subject of much renewal, this rare surviving sheiling represents not only a distinctive and early vernacular building type, but also a significant aspect of early husbandry with its origins in the Norse and Norman settlement periods in Cumbria. Comparisons with other less complete survivals suggests that its plan form is little changed, and references of 1599 and 1747 appear to confirm continued usage for agricultural purposes until the mid-C18.

SOURCE: H.G.Ramm, R.W.McDowell, and E. Mercer. ' Shielings and Bastles' R.C.H.M.E. 1970.

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

Legacy System number:

491338

Legacy System:

LBS

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