Inner Hey

Inner Hey is a house on Manchester Road in Marsden, constructed of hammer dressed stone with pitched stone slate roofs. The building dates from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with mid-19th century additions and 20th century alterations and extensions.

The house is semi-detached and two storeys, comprising two separate building campaigns on the right side with a narrow second depth to the rear, and a single deep bay to the left. A two-storey former outbuilding, possibly a coach house with accommodation above, is joined to the rear of the main house by a 20th century infill. A single-storey 20th century extension extends to the left.

Front Elevation

The front elevation features a central doorway with an early 20th century ashlar portico, flanked on either side by 4-light stone mullioned windows with 20th century casements, repeated on the first floor. To the left is a further bay of greater height with a two-storey canted bay containing 5-light stone mullioned windows. To the far left is a single-storey late 20th century extension with double pitch roof and an entrance in the gable end.

Rear Elevation

The two-storey former outbuilding occupies the rear, now fitted with 20th century windows and joined to the main house by a single-storey infill containing an entrance door. Above this infill is a glass-sided corridor connecting the two buildings. To the left stands a small two-storey extension with a pyramidal roof and a 2-light mullioned window at first floor.

Interior

The front door opens directly into the right-hand room, which connects to the corridor behind and the central of the three front rooms. This room has a low ceiling, narrow dentilated cornice, and a chimney breast but no fireplace. The central room is similar in character. A corridor runs behind these rooms, featuring a comparable cornice and decorative archways to adjacent rooms. Service rooms occupy the right side.

To the left is a large room in high Victorian style, with a high ceiling, highly decorative cornice, deep skirtings, and a chimney breast set to one side. This room contains a canted bay window and a central arched alcove on the back wall. Throughout the house, doors are 6-panelled with raised and fielded panels, many retaining good brass furniture.

The dogleg staircase features turned wooden balusters and an ornate carved newel. A large rectangular stained glass stair window with geometric and floral designs lights the stairs, with a smaller stained glass window on the top landing. First floor rooms parallel those below.

The ground floor corridor extends to the kitchen in the former outbuilding via a rear entrance hall. On the first floor, a glass-panelled late 20th century passage connects to the former outbuilding, now converted to bedrooms. One bedroom retains a surviving 19th century cast iron fireplace.

Development and History

The building is said to have been a former mill-owner's house. The two bays with mullioned windows represent separate phases of construction and may have originated as two single-cell cottages later incorporated into a single dwelling. The rear corridor, which has a lower roof than the front, represents the next addition. These elements date to the late 18th or early 19th century.

The wing with canted bay windows, the staircase, and much of the decorative detail date to the later 19th century. The attached house to the right has undergone more extensive alteration, and its date is unclear, though it existed before the end of the 19th century and was in separate ownership by the early 20th century.

The house combines vernacular features with Victorian villa elements, reflecting the development and increasing prosperity of this former mill town.