Cinders Farm

Cinders Farm is situated to the north- west of the village of Whitwell in Derbyshire. It is currently owned (1997) and farmed by Mr. Roy Lamb and his family. The main farm complex has seen many changes over the years as farming methods have developed but the current main farmhouse still retains many features from its beginnings in the 17th-century. These will be described later. The earliest record for Cinders Farm is a document from 1538 which mentions a "Syndres" and in 1977, during building work to the south of the farm buildings, thick layers of iron slag were observed in the construction trenches. Were these the "cinders" of 1538?

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South Elevation

The south elevation of the main house which is now the main entrance to the building, has seen a lot of alteration and adaptation. It seems to have been constructed in at least four stages.

The earliest stages are to the left consisting of a low roofed stone building with small basic mullioned windows and low doors, and centre right. Again with no visible decoration on windows and doors although there is not a lot left from this period. The left section does not follow the building line of the rest of the structure and was probably a separate building from the centre fight, the two buildings being joined at a later date by infilling. Changes in building styles are plainly visible.

This 'infilling' (centre left), now contains a new entrance porch which is the main entrance to the farmhouse. This section also has evidence of a stone foundation typical of former timber houses found elsewhere in the parish. These centre sections show much evidence of change with two blocked doorways, one in each section and many alterations to windows. All upper floor windows in these sections are situated immediately below the roof line.

The right section was built to impress and faces the approach to the building from the east. The south elevation of this section does not contain windows but does contain a decorated doorway facing west.

East Elevation

The east elevation was probably built onto the existing building when the farm became larger. There would originally have been many smallholdings which were bought out by larger landowners to make the large farms we now see. These farming 'gentry' liked to show their wealth, as in Walls Farm, Birks Farm, etc. and decorated the frontage of their buildings.

Only one superb mullioned window survives from this period with a decorated lintel, the rest having been changed beyond recognition.

The door has also been blocked up. The roof of this section is 0.5 metre higher than the older building. This is visible where the building is joined on the south elevation but, on the north elevation the roof line is brought lower to match in with the rest of the building.

North Elevation

The north elevation is a 'mix and match' of periods and styles. Much alteration has taken place as the use of rooms has changed. The joins in the different buildings are still clearly visible and will be described in turn as before.

The left section retains an original mullioned window which still has the metal bars in place. These would have been pre-glazing days.

Below this only window there is an entrance to a cellar. To the right of the window there is another blocked doorway. This section has the only stone chimney which is decorated to match the frontage, the other three chimneys being brick. These could have replaced earlier stone chimneys.

The centre left section has two new windows and three blocked windows. One of these show remains of a mullioned design but has been cut in half by a later window. The other two blocked 'windows' are very small. one being approximately 40cm x 30cm, the other 60cm x 40cm.

The centre right section retains two existing window frames but one is blocked, the other much altered. The lower floor now has a large modern window to the current main living room.

The right section has an original window frame under the eaves but again the actual internal frame is much altered. The lower floor window is a large new frame as the previous section, looking into the kitchen.

To the far right and set back from the main block is a stone, single storey extension with evidence of an earlier window to the right of the existing one. Brick outhouse attached.