Milltown, Off Highstreet East, Glossop,
SK13 8PX, High Peak, Derbyshire.
History Page
This information has been been taken directly from the notes of Robert Hamnett about 1913 as compiled by Neville Sharpe around 1993,
In 1764, there were no cotton mills in the Hamlet of Glossop, and very few houses besides the farm homesteads. What houses there were, clustered round the Parish Church. The farms were at Mossy Lea, Woodcock Road, Cowbrook, Tan Yard, Hawkshead, Moorside, Blackshaw, Windy Harbour, Lane Head, Lane Side, Wimberry Hill, Allman's Heath, Bettin Hill, Spire Holly, Glossop Hall, Howard Arms, and Milltown.
Hand loom spinning and weaving was carried on by those who had no other trade What cloth could not be sold locally was bought by the clothiers, who sold it to Manchester merchants, and brought back with them suits of clothes for their customers. The clothiers thus made a double profit, and were generally well to do.
MILLTOWN MILL.
This mill was erected for the working of cotton wool, so says an old document. The lease was granted to Thomas Shaw, cotton manufacturer, of Lower Mill, on the 10th February, 1803. It was situated in the New Croft, bounded on the East by the road from Glossop to Whitfield, 88 yards long; on the West by the Crab Tree Spot, 66 yards; on the North by the New Croft, 39 yards; on the South by the Glossop Brook, 39 yards; total 2,925 square yards.
The mill was worked by Thomas Shaw and John Beeley in partnership. In 1811, it was assessed at £38 10s. In 1831 Mr Beeley was the sole occupier, and the assessment was for 5,700 spindles, and had risen to £74. In 1838 the occupiers were Messrs. Daniel Hodgson and Jonathan Wright, and both of them lived at Milltown. On the 27th January, 1842, the mill was burned down. The assessment was then £152. The following account of the occurrence appeared in the Manchester Guardian, Wednesday, 2nd February, 1842:-
Early on Thursday morning, a destructive fire broke out in the cotton mill occupied by Wright and Hodgson, spinners and weavers. The fire was discovered about 2 o'clock in the morning by a person who was passing at the time, and who immediately gave the alarm; but unfortunately, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood being wrapped in sleep, a long time had elapsed before assistance could be obtained. On the arrival of the engines, the devouring element had gained so great an ascendance that they were wholly insufficient to arrest the progress of the flames; and in a short time the entire mill, with its valuable machinery worth £2000 was totally destroyed. The property, we are sorry to hear, is only partially insured
Messrs. John Wood, Brothers and Cos., Narrow Mill is built on the site. Mr John Wood took a lease of the land on the 9th March 1850.
He had been living since he came to Glossop at a house in Hope Street built by James Owen, cotton manufacturer; the old pear tree is still living and flourishing at the gable end. On the 11th October, 1846, he took 5,325 square yards of land bounded on the East by premises of his own; on the North by a lane, 12 feet wide, Milltown Lane; on the West by his own premises; on the North by Mill Street; on the South by the Glossop Brook. He now decided to have gas, and for the erection of a gas plant he was forced to go across the brook. This piece contained 4,518 square yards, bounded on the East and South by land which he occupied; to the South-west by land occupied by John and Joseph Hampson, on the North and North-west by the Glossop Brook. He does not appear to have taken any more leases in his own name.
The next one, 17th September, 1857 was taken out by John Hill Wood, Daniel Wood, and Samuel Wood, his sons. After the Milltown Mill was burned down, he acquired the leases obtained by Thomas Shaw. One of them dated 3rd May, 1830, relates to the present reservoir and the Great Eastern Weaving Shed. The Long Mill facing the Lower Bank is really two mills, Milltown and Mill Bottom. One is narrower than the other, having been built at different times, and the spinning jennies having increased in length, necessitating a wider mill to accommodate them.
The Commercial Mill is near to Victoria Bridge, the Fireproof is opposite to the Pear Tree Inn. Great Eastern Weaving Shed is at Milltown, Brook Shed is opposite Lower Bank, Victoria Shed is opposite to the Manor Inn, Top Shed near the Victoria Shed, Bottom Shed near the same. The Old Shed was on the site of Burgess' Mill. This mill was pulled down about 1859 to make room for the Commercial Mill, which was built in 1860. The Old Mill contained a steam engine which originally was bought of Peel and Williams, Soho Foundry, Manchester, a noted firm in their days. The engine was put up again in Shepley Mill, and worked until destroyed by fire, which took place when Handforth's were the occupiers. Milltown Mill is built on the site of the old Milltown Mill which was burned down as described in the earlier portion of this article. These mills combined are a colossal monument to John Wood and his then sons.
Mr. Wood had many anxieties in his business. In December, 1830 the spinners in the district had turned out for a uniform payment.
Rioting had taken place, and soldiers, a detachment of the 10th Hussars and 4th Regiment of Foot, came to Glossop, and as the Long Mill of Mr. Wood's was not fully filled with machinery; having only just been completed, the soldiers were stationed in the third storey of the middle section. So careful was Mr. Wood that no fire should take place owing to the carelessness of the soldiers, that he many times slept in the room where bales of cotton were stowed.
The detachments of the 10th Hussars and 4th Regiment of Foot were quartered in one of Mr. Wood's mills. Their guard room was in two of the cellars in the Step Row. The officers were quartered at the Kings Arms (later the Pear Tree Inn which was in High Street East just past the junction with Ellison Street & opposite the now new Esso garage), and the landlord was John Woolley, an old pensioner of the Life Guards. He had a notice board affixed to his house with this notice on: - "Fine young men of good character and genteel appearance may enter as private gentlemen by applying at this office."
Mr. Woolley was an energetic recruiter. Mr. William Barber enlisted with him and served 26 years in the Life Guards, and was for 24 years hall porter to Earl Granvile and Duke of Westminster. He was a man of fine physique, and Glossopians when on a visit to London used to go and see him; he died 15th February, 1891, at the age of 71.
The soldiers drilled in a field between Yorkshire Street and Milltown, and many young men enlisted during their stay in Glossop. They departed 13th April for Chatham, en route for New South Wales.
A shaft went through the room which the soldiers occupied and when the engine started in the morning the noise of the revolving shaft annoyed these soldiers, who were light sleepers, so they determined that they would stop the engine by preventing the shaft from turning round. For this purpose they surreptitiously procured some ropes, tied one end to the shaft and the other end to their beds. They were grievously out in this calculation. In the morning the shaft went round as usual, the ropes coiled round the shaft, the beds were dragged towards it, and the soldiers had to jump hastily out of bed to prevent themselves being injured. Much damage was done before the engine could be stopped.
When Thomas Shaw of the Milltown Mill, died he was succeeded by his son in law Charles Dane, or Dean, and Mr. Wood and Mr. Dane had a dispute about the amount of water he was entitled to. This led to a law suit, and the result was that a plate was fixed in Mr. Wood's mill yard, and the inscription on it is as follows:- "This is to certify that the north-west end of the Bridge End Mill Weir, as ascertained by award, is precisely 6 feet 5 and a half inches below the line A.B. hereupon engraved, and that the south-east end of the same weir's precisely 6 feet below the line A.B. A---B March 14th, 1839.
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