We were lucky enough to be part of a fantastic renovation project at a historic Farm House in Lydiate. It was great to be involved and the transformation which occured over the time of the job was phenominal. We are happy to say that we delivered the project on time and to a standard that the customer described as “impeccable”. Take a look at the project below and if you have any questions about the project please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Building History
The farmstead comprised of the main house, plus coach & carriage house east of the main house, (which housed the riding horses and accommodation for groom and stable boy) and the longer stable block to the south east which housed working farm horses, with accommodation and storage above.
1677 is the earliest date recorded on the farm buildings referring to Thomas & Margaret Lydiate. A date stone (incorporated in the side porch of Lydiate House) of 1708 relates to Elizabeth Fazackerly who also lived at Lydiate House.
A record in the diary of Nicholas Blundell in 1720 records coming to Lydiate, taking a goose to Croskie (Crosby) and a fall from a horse.
The building of the central canal was completed from Wigan to Liverpool in 1784. The canal almost bisected the land and proved a great asset to the farm. ‘Night soils’ were transported out of Liverpool by barge and distributed over adjacent fields using wheelbarrows and projecting plank piers. When the soil is turned you can see a concentration of broken crocks etc, but these remains were much more numerous in the past before power machinery worked the land.
The house was served by (at least) 2 wells, now filled in, one just outside the kitchen window, and another under the back of the garage. The house also benefited from a clean brook, which still flows about 50m to the north. The other ‘old house’ of Lydiate is Lyditae Hall (c1470), now derelict, but the hall did not have any nearby stream, so it is most likely that Lydiate house is the oldest occupied dwelling in the area. It was always thought that the main square block of Lydiate House must date before 1677, and that the projecting wall on the right hand side of the front would be older, probably from the previous house.
1820 to 1850 saw a widespread movement of better-off people from the city to the country. A.J.P. John P.Duff made his home at Lydiate House and had great ambitions; he extended the house to the west , added the front porch, staircase, and window pelmets, and the gated pillars which created the drive loop around the front lawn. Previously, access to the coach house was straight accross the lawn.
