Historic Yorkshire property up for sale

A piece of Yorkshire’s history is up for sale, ready to be claimed by anyone with £550,000 to spare.The home built among the ruins of a once world-renowned iron forge within the Rivelin Valley has gone on the property market, for the first time since being painstakingly restored by its current owners.Mousehole Forge, tucked away off Stannington Road, in Sheffield, was famed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for producing anvils - one of which remains on display at Gretna Green, in Scotland.It closed in 1933 and was left to crumble until the 1980s, when part of the old works was reconstructed and turned into a family home within the most romantic setting.The substantial four-bedroom property, with two large outbuildings and vast grounds, is now on the market for the first time.The Grade II-listed ‘hidden gem’ is being marketed by Saxton Mee, with a guide price of £550,000 to £575,000.Linda Crapper, managing director of the estate agents, described the property as a “mystical dream”. She said: “It was painstakingly re-built exactly as it had been, using the old pressed bricks and natural stone, and there are some beautiful buildings in the grounds.“There are so many historic remains of buildings from when it was an old forge. It’s almost like stepping back in history.“It’s set back so far from the road you would never know it was there. It has the feel of a secret garden, in the middle of the beautiful Rivelin Valley.“It would suit someone who wants to run a business from home, because of the substantial outbuildings, or someone looking for a family annex.”She continued: “The interior is a little dated because it’s been in the same hands for so long, but it’s still a beautiful property inside and out.“The garage still has a huge chimney breast where they would have done the forge baking and had blowers making the anvils. It’s very rare for something like this to come on the market.”As well as the remains of the old forge, the grounds include a series of waterways connected via culverts to the river.Mousehole Forge dates back to at least 1628, according to the Rivelin Valley Conservation Group, when there were two lead mills; a farmhouse, which forms part of the present house; and a small cutlery workshop.The mills were later converted to an iron forge, which by the end of the eighteenth century had become one of the leading exporters to the United States.The site is today designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and the workshop range is Grade II-listed.

Within the property that requires some modernisation in parts are many character features.These include a wooden fire surround with carved anvil and mouse in the impressive entrance hall from which the wooden staircase leads up to the landing.The beamed kitchen has a range of oak units and quarry tiled work surfaces, with integrated oven. In the breakfasting or dining room is an original William Bagnall, Shalesmoor Foundry, Sheffield, cast iron range oven with open grate.An inner lobby has a walk-in pantry, and there is a utility room too.A bespoke handmade fire surround to cast iron insert is a focal point of the lounge, as a period fire surround with ornate cast iron insert draws the eye in the sitting room. Both contain living flame gas fires.Three of the four bedrooms upstairs have built-in furniture, and three also have washbasins. The large bathroom has a separate shower cubicle. Viewing is by appointment through Saxton Mees’ Crookes office.