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CLOUGH
FARM
(Plane
Tree Farm)
WALSDEN |
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This
is one farm that does not require crampons to reach. It is situated
neatly at the foot of Inchfield Fold on the valley bottom. This
is unusual in this valley due to the fact that the bottom of the
valley was marshy and for the most part, impassable. Farms developed
on the gentle eastern slopes and the plateau on Inchfield, so why
Clough is located there is a puzzle. |
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| Originally,
it would have stood alone at the bottom of a track leading up to
the ancient Inchfield Fold, with maybe a track leading across the
valley bottom and upwards to Henshaw and North Hollingworth on the
other side. The turnpike road arrived in 1764, making life much
easier for the occupants of the farm. |
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| The
canal was next in the late 1790's, followed by the railway 40 years
later. This could have been the end for Clough Farm, which lost
some of its land to the Railway Company, and Walsden Station is
its neighbour.
Nicholas
and Christobel Fielden purchased Clough Farm in 1612 and it remained
in Fielden hands for over 170 years. |
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John
Fielden was the farmer at Clough. He was also a fustian maker, running
a business from the farm whereby he handed out wool to local farmers
who put their families to work spinning and weaving the wool, returning
finished pieces and receiving payment for them. |
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| About
1780, he decided to build a small cotton carding and spinning mill
on his land behind the farm so cotton preparation and spinning could
be done under one roof. This was the birth of Clough Mill, the story
of which can be read from the link below.
Edmund
Woodhead then took over the farm, and he too ran a fustian making
business from the premises. He was there in 1784 paying a land tax
of six shillings. The land was owned by William Greenwood, and in
1826, Edmund was paying rent to Mr. Greenwood of almost nine shillings
a year. The farm became known as Plane Tree Farm. Edmund died there
in 1838, leaving his wife Mary to continue with the running of their
business. |
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| All
their children were born at the farm, including Joseph in 1809.
Joseph was not a farmer; he left that to his older brother George.
Instead, Joseph became a grocer and confectioner. He was widowed
in 1847 and uprooted and left the area. Moving to Everton in Liverpool.
There he succeeded in the confectionary business, having shops and
a manufactory.
His
brother George continued farming at Clough until his death in 1861. |
Joseph
with second wife Ann
Ball |
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| Calf
Hey was the nearest farm, and there are no known farmers there following
the deaths of the resident Haigh family in the 1820's. However,
according to the 1843 land survey, it seems the lands belonging
to Calf Hey were transferred at some point to Clough Farm.
It
seems from the census returns that following the death of George
Woodhead in late 1861, the land may well have been sold whereupon
the farm became a domestic dwelling known variously as Plane Tree
House and Plane Tree Cottage. It appears to have been a gentleman's
residence.
CLOUGH
FARM LINKS
COMPLETE
CENSUS TRANSCRIPTION 1841 to 1891 and 1843 LAND SURVEY
CLOUGH
MILL
WILL
OF EDMUND WOODHEAD OF CLOUGH FARM
I
am indebted to Barbara Greenwood for the photo and information
about her ancestor Joseph Woodhead.
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