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Bottomley
is a hamlet on the eastern hillside of the Walsden to Littleborough
Valley, perched at the top of a narrow, steep and twisting lane
that leads up from the valley at Lane Bottom, Walsden. At the
beginning of the 1880's, the cluster of houses were home to a
good number of handloom weavers. From 1815 to 1826 there would
have been about 30 hand looms all engaged in the lucrative occupation
of weaving at home.
The
history of Bottomley dates back to the time of Queen Elizabeth
1. On the 24th of September 1561, the Earl of Derby sold to Edward
Crossley and Robert Fielden, six messuages and tenements called
Bottomley, "which are held in fee of the Queen by suit of
services and the Manor of Rochdale, of ten schillings and twopence
per year"
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There were three
main farmhouses and an assortment of workers' cottages and barns.
Not one building is more than a stone's throw from the next. They
are built at peculiar angles to the track and to each other. |
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old packhorse trail runs right through the middle of the hamlet
and then off to the left towards Deanroyd and beyond. The photo
shows the packhorse track passing between two of the buildings.
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The
Quaker JOSHUA FIELDEN inherited the land at Bottomley in the mid
1600's and his descendents were still there over 200 years later.
The farm saw its share of trouble during Joshua's occupation as
he allowed his home to be used for Quaker Meetings, which was strictly
against the law at the time. The hamlet was frequently raided and
the participants of the meetings were fined or imprisoned. Joshua
refused to pay any fines, and in consequence, the bailiffs were
sent in to his home. On one occasion in 1684 he had bedding and
a brass mortar seized in lieu of a 5-shilling fine. A year later
pewter and a bible were seized, valued at 17 shillings. |
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John
Fielden's barn with farmhouse beyond |
Joshua's
grandson, John Fielden (1741 to 1822), extended the main farm and
built a cattle shed and barn in 1784. His initials appear over the
arch of the barn. The barn was designed so that a long passage within
the house led directly to the cattle shed and barn without the need
to go outside. John had begun life as a butcher, but on taking over
the farm at Bottomley he continued the existing woollen business
there. |
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He
later moved over to cotton manufacture, and built a small spinning
mill on land behind his house using the fast flowing stream to power
the water wheel.
John
was a Quaker, but had leanings towards Methodism, and helped to
start a new Sunday school for local children at his Bottomley home.
The first anniversary party of this school was held at nearby DEANROYD FARM in 1810. He was the last in a long line of Quakers at Bottomley.
On his death in 1822, his son John junior inherited the farm.
John tried to sell the farm, and in 1829 the following advertisement appeared in The Leeds Mercury:
The Leeds Mercury Saturday, February 14, 1829;
By auction
BOTTOMLEY FOLD WALSDEN at the house of Mr. George Eccles, the White Hart Inn in Todmorden, Thursday 19th February inst. At 6 o’clock in the evening
All that Messuage or farmhouse and three cottages situate at Bottomley Fold in Walsden together with the barn, outbuildings and gardens. And also all those six several closes of arable meadow and pastureland to the said messuage or tenement belonging and therewith occupied, and called or known by the several names of the Higher Meadow, the Lower Meadow, the Acre, the Calf Hey,the Little Mean Field, and the Scout Field, containing in the whole 21 days work, or thereabouts, more or less, and now in the possession of Mr. John Fielden and his undertenants. The above premises are freehold of inheritance, well watered and adjoin the Rochdale Canal. The said John Fielden will show the premises and for further particulars apply to Mr. Sutcliffe, solicitor, of Hebden Bridge. Feb 9th 1829.
Mr. John Fielden of Dawson Weir bought the farm
and John Fielden the farmer went to live at Wadsworth Mill so his children could be nearer
their places of work. From this time, the farm was tenanted.
In 1841
another John Fielden, his cousin - the son of his father's brother
Samuel, is resident at the farm and remained there until he died in 1862. |
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1843 there were 3 small farms in the hamlet, occupied by John Fielden,
James Law and James Dawson. This James Dawson farmed just over 5
acres of Bottomley land, which was owned at the time by Samuel Baron
Fielden of Allescholes. |
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A
few years later, in 1851, he farmed 8 acres, but by 1871 when
he was a 79-year-old widower, his land had reduced to 4 acres.
James was born on this farm, and his father had farmed at Bottomley
for many years before him, paying land tax of 3s.7d. in 1800.
In
1851, just 2 farms were being worked, with a total of 19 acres.
Over the years, the other residents were mainly working in the
cotton industry or the nearby stone quarries, although there was
a chair bottomer and also a hairdresser!
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Ormerod
Scholes |
Wheelwright
Ormerod Scholes moved to Bottomley from Lodge Hall Farm about 1880.
He was married to Mary Dawson from KNOWLTOP FARM.
Mary
(Dawson) Scholes |
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continued to live and farm at North Bottomley for many years, moving
to a lovely cottage opposite the farm, known as Sweet Briar, on
retirement from farming. Her mother gave their daughter Clara a
large bible with pressed flowers and a lock of hair on her 21st
birthday, and also a garnet ring set in Australian gold. These treasures
have been handed down the female line of the family to present times.
North
Bottomley from behind
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A
later resident at Bottomley Farm was Herbert Wood with his wife
Annie and daughter Kathleen. They lived at Middle Bottomley during
the 1930's. Herbert sold lamp oil. The photo was taken outside Middle
Bottomley and shows Kathleen with her friend Donald Crossley and
another lady, Marion, who could be Kathleen's sister. |
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| Richard
Ashton and his wife Martha farmed North Bottomley Farm at much the
same time as the Wood family.
Martha
(Brown) Ashton at North Bottomley
feeding the piglets |
Richard Ashton and his dog |
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