Former Sheep-Drying Shed, with attached walls, Leighton Farm

This is a late 18th or early 19th century former sheep-drying shed, situated on a sloping site and accompanied by boundary walls, located within Leighton Farm. The shed is a single-storey structure with a basement, and it is joined by attached walls to the north and south. There is no visible evidence now of a previously existing stone-lined dip used for washing sheep. The shed is constructed primarily of brick with basement walls of random rubble. The roof is slate, featuring coped gables on moulded kneelers, and a brick stack behind the west gable.

The eastern elevation, presenting the gable end, features two round-headed doorways with boarded doors, sunk iron handles, and overlights. Above these doorways are breathers arranged in a three-stepped lozenge pattern. The south wall showcases a stepped white-brick plinth and a blocked doorway beneath a segmental head to the right. A similar blocked doorway is present on the north wall, to the left, and a buttress strengthens the north-west angle. The west wall, with four window bays, has two centrally placed round-headed windows containing casements, flanked by similar windows also under segmental heads. Above are breathers mirroring the lozenge pattern on the east wall. The basement below is characterized by three buttresses with a pronounced batter. To the left and right are doorways under dressed stone lintels with sliding boarded doors, incorporating externally placed horizontal runners.

A sheep run is enclosed by boundary walls situated to the south of the drying shed. These walls are constructed from random rubble with dressed stone copings, and are curved on their eastern and southern sides. Two octagonal piers, each topped with a pyramidal cap, define the original gateway on the east side. A wider opening was later created further south. The western boundary wall is buttressed on its external face and includes brickwork on the inner face, with a field gate inserted at the southwest angle. The gate marks the position of a partially surviving inner brick wall, which follows the lines of the south and east walls to the doorway to the right in the south wall of the sheep shed. A short rubble stone wall extends from the north-east angle of the sheep shed, culminating in an octagonal pier with a pyramidal cap.

The shed’s interior has been modernized with the addition of internal partitions and stairs leading to the basement. It is believed the original floor featured apertures through which heat rose from the basement, facilitating the drying process.