I LOVE Hill Top Farm Cheadle Hulme

I LOVE Hill Top Farm, Cheadle Hulme

Hill Top Farm Cheadle Hulme, currently on the market with Snowden Wilkinson Cheadle Hulme, is one of Cheadle Hulme’s most stunningly beautiful properties – and it’s no cliché to say that the sales particulars, good as they are, cannot possibly do this place justice.

It really must be seen to be fully appreciated. It’s also one of Cheadle Hulme’s most historically significant properties – but did you know just HOW historic?

I Love Cheadle Hulme are fascinated by our local history, so when the current owners, Tom and Julia, offered a guided tour and the opportunity to learn a little about this amazing residence, we jumped at the chance. The modest gate belies what is beyond – set well back from the road, the house and grounds are really only fully seen as you approach.

Hill Top Farm – originally sited on what was then known as ‘Swann’s Lane’ – was the home farm of the manor house of Hulme Hall. The farm had ponds for ‘swanns and geese’. Early in the twentieth century, much of the land was sold for development, leaving just the farmhouse itself, outbuildings, farmyard and rough gardens. The then farmhouse was uninhabitable and the L-shaped outbuildings had no roof – these days the whole lot would’ve been bulldozed. Fortunately, the historical significance was appreciated and experts agreed that, although the farmhouse had to be demolished, its oak timbers, beams, hand-made bricks, stone roofing slabs and more could be used to convert the outbuildings into an attractive home retaining the character of the farm.

The cart shed became an inviting entrance hall and cloakroom with an imposing galleried landing above. A porch was built into the hall using the beautiful hand-made bricks and stone slabs from the kitchen floor. The stable became the main reception room with inglenook fireplace – supported by a carved beam from the original farmhouse kitchen – using farm bricks and stone as well as several oak beams.

The shippon – or cattle shed – was transformed into a dining room and a garage (since converted again to provide more accommodation), while the corn store became the kitchen. A big piece of the original farmhouse wall was removed intact and reused, and part of the wattle and daub construction left exposed. Given that wattle-and-daub building probably ended around 1500, that gives an idea of just exactly how historic Hill Top Farm actually is. The four spacious and airy bedrooms were, apparently, easy to form from the barns and there are several magnificent oak beams supporting the roof.

There’s a lovely, and clearly rather old, watercolour on the wall, which Tom and Julia explain doesn’t belong to them. In fact, it belongs to the house and will continue to do so, as the inscription on the back explains.

Hill Top Farm

The old farmhouse in neglect. The present Hill Top Farm also includes materials which were part of the old farm. This painting was taken by Cheadle & Gatley UDC in lieu of rates from the artist. It was then given by the UDC to the house. It doesn’t belong to the owner of the house, but to the house itself.

Now THAT’S history.

Another fantastic little piece of history is that the original farmhouse’s foundations were left to create a paved Dutch garden, and there are still some neat outbuildings – probably stables – which have been converted into useful spaces (one currently is a gym). The gardens are superb, and the private nature of the plot gives a truly rural feel.

The new owners are going to be very lucky people indeed.

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