The Hadfield Family Farm at Whitfield and Cross Cliffe Mill.


The first of the land acquisitions by William Hadfield (1754-1819) (see A Hadfield family of Whitfield) that we have a definite record of took place on 7 May 1803, when he bought “2 closes or fields called Mill Moor & Mill Moor Stile (part of an Estate called Padfield Gate) in Whitfield” from George Garlick of Hollingworth Bank in the parish of Mottram in Longdendale. The plot contained two acres one rood and twentyeight perches of land.

It appears that this acquisition was an extension of William's existing farm as the conveyance describes William as a Yeoman, indicating that he already owned land. In addition, the Glossop historian Robert Hamnett tells us that Bridgefield Mill was built in 1784 by John Garlick, on part of the Mill Moor belonging to William Hadfield.

We can be certain that Mill Moor & Mill Moor Stile were not the whole of the Mill Moor because one of the bequests in William's will was of land known as the Mill Moor Meadow (as that land was part of a bequest together with land at Throstle Nest, it possibly ran down the northern side of what is now Pikes Lane towards Spring Street and Cooper Street). In addition, a conveyance of 7 September 1859 tells us that the land known as Mill Moor and the Mill Moor Stile in 1803 was by then better known as the Bridge Field Stile or Bridge Field and had been described in William's will as the Bridge Field Meadow.

William increased his land holding on 11 October 1810 by purchasing five and a half acres of land at Cross Cliffe (which had been part of the Bagshaw Estate) from Samuel Dearnaley, together with the right to make a rough tunnel or drain over Samuel Dearnaley's land in order to take water for supplying any Mill or Mills or other works that may be erected at any future time. The land was formerly known by the names the Bridge field, the Bridge field wood and the Kiln Croft, and latterly by the names the Bankwood, the Bankwood meadow, the Bridge field, the Upper Kiln Croft (except a small corner on the south side of the lane) and the Lower Kiln Croft.

William received three allotments of land under the Whitfield Enclosure Award of 1813, being described by the Commissioners thus (the numbers refer to the accompanying map):
We have set out and allotted and do hereby award unto William Hadfield all that parcel of land (16) part of the said commons containing 19 acres 2 roods and twenty eight perches bounded by Peat Road and by allotments made to the devises of Arthur Bostock, Samuel Bray and or Thomas Higginbottom respectively and we do order and direct that the owner or owners of this allotment for the time being shall make and maintain sufficient fences against the said road and against the said allotments unto the said devisees and Samuel Bray.
ALSO all that parcel of land (49) part of the said commons containing 1 acre 2 roods and eleven perches bounded by Hurst Road by an allotment made to Bernard Edward Howard by Whitfield Green Road and by an allotment made to the devises of John Bennett and we do order and direct that the owner or owners of this allotment for the time being shall make and maintain sufficient fences against the said roads and against the allotment made to the said devisees.
AND also all that parcel of land (71) part of Little Moor common containing 1 acre 1 rood and thirty five perches bounded by Little Moor Road by an allotment made to Bernard Edward Howard by Ancient Inclosures of the said Bernard Edward Howard and William Hadfield respectively and by an allotment made to George Wagstaffe and we do order and direct that the owner or owners of this allotment for the time being shall make and maintain sufficient fences against the said road and against the allotment made to Bernard Edward Howard .
Which three allotments so made to the said William Hadfield are in lieu of and compensation for all the right and interest in and over the land and ground directed to be divided and inclosed.

On 31 July 1819 William Hadfield mortgaged the land at Cross Cliffe “and also that cotton mill or factory with the stable or shippon lately erected and built by the said William Hadfield on the said close, field, or parcel of land called the Lower Kiln Croft” to Francis Brindley for £300. This record shows that William was the builder of Cross Cliffe Mill and not, as some sources have it, John Newton. Those sources say that Newton, described as a labourer of Whitfield, took out a lease from the Lord of the Manor on 24 November 1782 for the land on which to build a mill at Cross Cliffe. However, we know from several maps (including the one included below) that Cross Cliffe Mill was on the Whitfield side of Hurst Brook, land which was not owned by the Howards but was (as noted above) part of the Bagshaw Estate. Two further indentures concerning that land (an extension of the mortgage dated 17 December 1823 and the redemption of the mortgage dated 25 June 1825) also mention that William Hadfield built the mill.

The break up of farm started with the bequests of land and premises in the Will of William Hadfield proved 26 February 1820.

To John was left - “all those my Freehold Messuages and other Buildings situate standing and being at Hollincross within Whitfield aforesaid together with those several Closes or Parcels of Land called or known by the several names of the Hollincross lane Meadow Bridgefield Meadow New croft and new piece on the Little Moor measuring seven acres or thereabouts and the Tenant Right and Interest of all those Fields of Closes of Land situate within Whitfield aforesaid which I hold by Lease under his Grace the Duke of Norfolk”.

To Robert was left - “all those my Freehold Messuages and other Buildings situate standing and being at Throstle Nest within Whitfield aforesaid together with those two closes or parcels of land called or known by the names of the Mill Moor and the Mill Moor Meadow measuring four acres or thereabouts”.

To James was left - “all those my Freehold Closes of Meadow and Pasture Land situate lying and being at Crosscliffe within Whitfield aforesaid called or known by the several names of the Kilncroft Meadow Bridgefield Bridgefield Meadow and Wood measuring five acres or thereabouts together with the Shippon erected thereon”.

To Joseph was left - “all that my Freehold new inclosure Land in two allotments one on Whitfield Leeches and the other on Whitfield High Moor measuring twentyone acres or thereabouts”.

The Cotton Mill or Factory “situate standing and being at Crosscliffe” was left to all four sons John, Robert, James and Joseph Hadfield, as tenants in common and not as joint tenants, subject to the payment of the sum of twenty pounds by two half yearly payments to their sister Mary Hadfield “during her natural life and after her death to any Child or Children lawfully begotten by her”.

It is obvious from the bequests (and the Hamnett reference to the building of Bridgefield Mill) that the land left to John and Robert (totalling 11 acres or thereabouts) comprised more than that in the “two closes or fields called Mill Moor & Mill Moor Stile (part of an Estate called Padfield Gate) in Whitfield” bought by William Hadfield on 7 May 1803 (which contained only two acres one rood and twentyeight perches of land of statute measure or thereabouts) and the allotment from the Whitfield Enclosures of land on the Little Moor common (the New croft and new piece which contained 1 acre 1 rood and thirty five perches). It is not known when William obtained the other land (which obviously included Throstle Nest) or from whom.

The allotment from the Whitfield Enclosures left to John was that marked 71 on the map. Part bounded by Little Moor Road (now Gladstone Street) it appears to have run either side of Kershaw Street to meet up with the existing farm in the area of James Street (the Ancient Inclosures of the said William Hadfield).

The land left to James was that purchased from Samuel Dearnaley on 11 October 1810 - five and a half acres of land at Cross Cliffe.

The land left to Joseph comprised the two larger allotments under the Whitfield Enclosures: the allotment on Whitfield High Moor (16) containing 19 acres 2 roods and twenty eight perches and the small piece lying between Kidd Road and Derbyshire Level (Whitfield Leeches, 49) containing 1 acre 2 roods and eleven perches.

On 28 June 1825 John Hadfield, Robert Hadfield, James Hadfield and Joseph Hadfield sold Cross Cliffe Mill and dwelling house to John Rusby (see The Lees family of Padfield and Woolley Bridge mills) and Isaac Linney for £900 and James Hadfield sold the field or parcel of land known as Kiln Croft (formerly the higher Kiln Croft and lower Kiln Croft) to John Rusby and Isaac Linney for £150. The £20 a year annuity for their sister Mary was to continue to be paid by Rusby and Linney. The plan below, which shows the location of the mill, was included in the indenture documenting that sale (reproduced by permission of Glossop Heritage Trust).



In about 1825, Robert Hadfield built The Hanging Gate on part of his land at Throstle Nest.

Under a Deed of Covenant dated 27 July 1846 between William Hadfield, Christopher Hadfield Meshach Hadfield and Betty Hadfield (children of Robert) and their uncle John Hadfield, John undertook to produce the indentures of 1803 when necessary. The Deed notes that William Hadfield, by his last will and testament dated 10th February 1817 left the Mill Moor to his son Robert Hadfield and the residue of the hereditaments and premises comprised in the indentures to his son John Hadfield. Robert Hadfield died on 8th (sic) September 1841 intestate leaving Robert Hadfield of Throstlenest yeoman “his eldest son and heir at Law him surviving”. By a statutory release dated 28th May 1846, Robert Hadfield the son, for a valuable consideration, conveyed the hereditaments left to Robert Hadfield the father, together with other hereditaments and premises, to his brothers and sister William Hadfield, Christopher Hadfield, Meshach Hadfield, and Betty Hadfield.

The Glossop Chronicle of 25 January 1957 included an article about a printed poster measuring two feet nine inches by one foot eleven inches, dated 23 September, 1847 and advertising an auction sale to be held at "The Norfolk Arms Inn, Howardtown, Glossop, at six o'clock in the evening". This would be the sale of Martha's estate by her sons and daughter as all the land and cottages offered for sale at the auction were situated under the general place name of "Throstle's Nest in the Parish of Glossop". Two of the lots offered were said, in addition, to be situate at "The Mill Moor" and the "Mill Moor Meadow" and a third plot was described as "adjoining the turnpike road leading from Manchester to Sheffield".
The poster continued: "The above mentioned closes of land are very well situated for building sites. There is an excellent bed of clay which has been found to be very suitable for making bricks, and a very superior spring of water rises in the lower part of the first mentioned close of land. The said premises are near to the extensive cotton manufactories of Francis Sumner Esquire, and being near to the Sheffield turnpike road offer an opportunity for the investment of capital, rarely to be met with."
The article continued that "Mill Moor" appeared to have been the slope from High Street West rising to Pikes Lane and noted that there are four houses bearing a wall plaque "Mill Moor Terrace" in Pikes Lane built more than 30 years later than the date of the poster.
It was as a result of this sale that David Cooper (see A Cooper family of Gamesley and Throstle Nest), a manager at a print works, bought the land which became Cooper Street and Hugh Street. The latter was named after David's brother Hugh Cooper, son in law of Robert Hadfield, who became licensee of The Hanging Gate, built by Robert in 1825, until his death in 1875. The licence passed to Hugh's widow, Betty, and was then taken on by David's son, John Cooper, who was licensee from 1876 to 1883.

On 20 May 1853 Mary (Hadfield) Crossland, her husband John Crossland and their children Sarah, John, William, Milley and Peter Crossland sold their rights in the annuity to Miss Jane Shepley for £340. John Hadfield and Joseph Hadfield, the surviving brothers, acknowledged the right of Jane Shepley to the annuity. Five months later, on 20 October 1853, Jane Shepley sold the annuity to James Shepley of Marple, cotton manufacturer, for £340. James and Jane Shepley were children of Robert Shepley of Wharf Mill, Old Glossop (see The Shepley family of Old Glossop and Brookfield).



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Last updated: 22 September 2020