The Market House is a historic building in the Main Street in

Winster Winster is a village in the English Derbyshire Dales about from Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock and from Bakewell at an altitude of approximately . It was formerly a centre for the lead mining industry. The village lies within the Peak District N ...

, a town in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. The building, which is currently in use a visitor exhibition centre, is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building was commissioned by the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

which, from 1570, was Gervase and Anthony Eyre of Newbold Manor. It was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built in coursed stone and red brick and was completed in the 16th century. It was originally open on the ground floor, so that markets could be held, with an assembly hall on the first floor. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of two bays facing north onto Main Street. There were short columns with imposts supporting stone arches on the ground floor, while the first floor was faced in brick, and fenestrated by

cross-window A cross-window is a window whose lights are defined by a mullion and a transom, forming a cross.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd ed., OUP, Oxford and New York, p. 214. . The Late ...

s with stone surrounds. The end bays were similar in style except that the gables above contained oval-shaped oculi. Internally, the principal room was the assembly room on the first floor. Ownership of the building was passed down generations of the Eyre family until Anne Eyre married Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st Earl of Massereene in 1741. It then passed down the Skeffington family until at least the early 19th century. The arches were infilled with coursed stone, probably in the first half of the 19th century, to encourage alternative use. The use of the building for the sale of agricultural goods declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century. The building fell vacant and its condition deteriorated rapidly. During the late 19th century, it was acquired by Joseph Greatorex, owner of the Old Bowling Green Inn in East Bank, which was located just to the south of the market house. Greatorex agreed to sell the market house to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, this being its first acquisition in Derbyshire, for £50, in 1906. The first floor was in a particularly poor condition, and it was restored to a design by William Weir, architect to the National Trust, using local labour under the supervision of Henry Rye, architect to

Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland Henry John Brinsley Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland, (16 April 1852 – 8 May 1925), styled Marquess of Granby between 1888 and 1906, was a British peer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Early life and education Rutland was b ...

. The assembly room was subsequently fitted out with interpretation panels detailing the history of Winster and, in particular, its importance to the mining industry. A scale model of the village was also constructed and included in the exhibition there.

References

{{reflist Grade II* listed government buildings Grade II* listed buildings in Derbyshire National Trust properties in Derbyshire Tourist attractions in Derbyshire

History

See also

References