Property: Haregate Hall
Grade: II
Reason:
Haregate Hall is a small yeoman farmhouse dating back to the early 17th century, with a fine brick parlour wing added early in the 18th century and retains a large number of original details. Two early barns stand alongside and it retains its gardens.
In 1948 the Local Authority purchased its land for council housing, and the house was divided in three between council tenants. The house was later transferred to Moorlands Housing, leaving the barns in the ownership of the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. The cost of maintaining the Listed Building was well beyond the available finance and when two of the units fell vacant they were in too poor a state to be re-used for social housing.
In 2006 the Leek and Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust undertook a feasibility study funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Moorlands Partnership. This reached an impasse as the potential funders would only fund vacant possession of the whole property, including the barns. Subsequently the Leek and Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust acted as a persistent pressure group, alerting the owners to vandalism, burst pipes, helping the conservation officers fend off inappropriate suggestions from developers, and clearing the surrounding wilderness in the gardens.
Eventually a change of management at Moorlands Housing led to a review of the situation, vacant possession was achieved, and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council agreed that the only way forward was to market the re-united property.
As a result: the house and barns were sold as an entity. The added bonus was that the purchaser was a conservator with the skill and knowledge to restore the building.
