A rare Lake District smokehouse has been given Grade II listed status.
The commercial smokehouse sits inside a small 17th century barn and as part of the buildings that make up Scalegate Farmhouse on the fellside overlooking the village of Helton.
It was at first thought to be a domestic dwelling, but a detailed building report commissioned by the Lake District National Park Authority discovered its surviving smokehouse traits.
These include 136 hanging hooks for meat, a fireplace with a smoke hood and ventilation control.
The authority’s report raised awareness of the building’s rarity with its owners and formed the basis of the successful listed building submission to Historic England.
Commercial smokehouses are considered extremely rare nationally, with only one other known Cumbrian example at Dunthwaite House, in Setmurthy.
At Dunthwaite House, the Harrison family operated a large-scale curing enterprise with capacity for more than 700 hams, forming the basis of their Cumberland Ham export business.
In contrast, the national park said Scalegate smokehouse likely served the immediate rural community and local markets.
The facility is believed to have fallen out of use following the 1936 prohibition of livestock farming – with the exception of sheep – within Manchester Corporation’s water catchment area.
Historic England said the smokehouse is a significant example of unusually large-scale production to serve the wider remote community.
It also provides insight into the methods and organisation of meat preservation in remote farming communities during the 18th and 19th century.
The national park said it is now working with the owners of the smokehouse to develop sensitive conservation works to preserve the building’s important heritage.
