Boltby Reservoir Office and Blacksmith's Shop

Office and Blacksmith's Shop, Boltby Reservoir

This timber-framed structure dates to 1880 and was constructed in association with the building of Boltby Reservoir for the Thirsk District Water Company Limited. The building stands on a level earth-cut platform and comprises a single-storey, five-bay rectangular plan, with the office occupying the southern two bays and the blacksmith's shop the northern three bays.

The exterior is clad in bituminised plank and muntin boarding with corrugated galvanized steel sheeting. The front south-west elevation of the blacksmith's shop features a central doorway flanked to the right by a three-panel Yorkshire sash window. The office is accessed by a central doorway with a five-plank ledged door beneath a narrow rectangular fanlight, approached by four stone steps. The door is flanked on either side by window frames with timber sills. The rear elevation is unfenestrated and has a recessed central doorway with timber jambs and a four-plank ledged door. Both gable walls are blind; the south-east gable and the plank and muntin gable roof have secondary corrugated sheeting applied to them. The gabled roof has deep eaves and no rainwater goods.

The timber frame consists of substantial rectangular section wall posts carrying heavy scantling plank wall plates, which support the wall cladding. The gabled collar truss roof is exposed over the blacksmith's shop, with offset plank purlins supporting the plank and muntin roof cladding. The ridge is supported centrally and at both ends by substantial timber posts.

The blacksmith's shop interior appears to have been originally divided by a timber screen wall, though only a timber wall batten remains in-situ, attached to a ridge post. The room has an earth floor and a quarry-faced stone forge hearth situated in the south-west corner. The hearth is lined with brick, with an iron bellows tube projecting from its left side and a stone flue rising towards the ridge. The plank wall to the left of the hearth is largely missing and has been repaired with corrugated steel sheeting. The rear wall has a four-plank door at its southern end, while the front wall features a central doorway flanked by a Yorkshire sash window that illuminates the hearth.

The office has timber floorboards laid on squared off rough-cut joists. The walls and ceiling are lined with fielded timber panelling, separated from the outer wall by a cavity space. A timber bench seat spans the south-east wall, and a small cupboard is recessed within the depth of the rear wall. An offset cast-iron cooking range is situated in the north-west corner and shares the stone chimney stack of the blacksmith's forge. To the right of the fireplace, the lower two-thirds of the wall is panelled, while the upper third is crudely clad in timber planks. The fireplace surround is Georgian in style with painted timber construction, featuring fluted pilasters, a ribbed pulvinated frieze, and a corniced mantle shelf. The doorway is set between two substantial rectangular section wall posts.