The Iron House

The Iron House is a house, likely originally used as a weighing office for iron ore, built in the early 19th century and extended in the late 20th century. It features coursed sandstone walls on the south-east and south-west sides, a sandstone rubble wall on the north-east side, and red brick window arches and sills. The roof is covered with plain tiles and has gabled ends, with a brick axial stack.

The building has a two-room plan with a lobby entrance in front of the axial stack, which heats the larger left-hand room only, while the smaller right-hand room remains unheated. The front entrance lobby is now blocked, and there is a doorway in the left end wall that leads to a straight staircase at the back of the left room. A large late 20th-century extension has been added to the rear.

The exterior is two storeys high and almost symmetrical, featuring a two-window south-east front. It has small two-light casement windows, with the first-floor right window blocked. There is a blocked doorway at the centre with a brick segmental arch, and similar windows are found in the gable ends. The ground-floor right end has an original window, while the left end has an old plank door and a later gabled porch. The large 20th-century concrete extension covers the entire rear elevation.

Inside, the large left room has a brick fireplace with a slightly cambered timber lintel, and the joists are exposed from the late 20th-century work. The most significant feature of the house is the remarkable iron roof, constructed by Thomas Botfield, a member of a family of Shropshire ironmasters. He purchased the manor of Hopton Wafers and registered a patent for "Iron Roofs for Houses" on July 26, 1809. This roof is likely a prototype, semicircular or barrel-shaped with rounded ends, set on the wall plates and made of iron plates riveted together using three different methods, either overlapping or with upturned or downturned flanges, as described in the patent. Above this iron vault is a conventional rafter and tile-clad roof.