Branches of History an Introduction to the Heritage of the Bradley & Fixby Woodlands 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450
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Branches of History An introduction to the heritage of the Bradley & Fixby Woodlands 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1066 Norman Invasion 1177 Land granted to 1331 Fell Greave given Fountains Abbey used for to William de Totehill Charcoal & Tanneries 1300 Iron smelting 1400 Textiles industry dies out are a cottage industry Key 1350 National Event Newhouse 1400 Wooden Ownership of local woodland Hall starts Cooper & Colne Local industries as a small bridges are Local Events dwelling completed 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1517 Reformation 1625 Reign 1800 Textile of the church of King revolution and Charles industrial 1539 Dissolution the 1st revolution of the monasteries 1704 Woods including 1642 English Fell Greave were sold Civil war to Colne Bridge Iron Forge Partners 1642 The land was Circa: 1861 used for charcoal Collier works 1520 Brooke begin under production by the 1700 Opencast coal mining family Lower Fell Pilkingtons is a growth industry extended Greave Newhouse 1623 Forge at Colne Bridge Hall was attacked by men from Bradley pg 01 The origin of woods in Bradley and Fixby Early settlements The woods’ fascinating history can be traced back to the times of Edward the Confessor, when Anglo- Saxons carved a medieval hamlet from the great The woods around Bradley and woodland tracts of oak, birch The area is described in the Fixby have been at the heart of local and hazel which grew across Domesday Book as 'waste', prosperity and development northern England. testament to the efforts of William throughout the ages. and his Norman conquerors. In their The Anglo-Saxon community 'harrowing of the North,' they left no buildings or men standing as a settled in this broad wooded punishment for not bowing to his pasture. The settlement rule. flourished steadily until the Norman Conquest in 1066 disrupted the centuries old customs of the forest . pg 02 Local industries through the ages Harvesting the woods Coppice trees (like ash and elm), England, at a rent of 10 shillings grow again after being cut down per year. The monks utilised the to the stump providing regular well known method of coppicing, crops of poles for making rakes, in order to produce a crop of scythe-sticks and more. 'roundwood' for charcoal burning, as well as mature Sucker trees (like aspen and timber for building. This ensured cherry) grow again from the root sustainable richness and system, and form patches of diversity of the woodland. identical trees called clones. Today’s woodland is the result of 'Roundwood' refers to those mans’ cultivation. Pollard trees (are cut 6 to 15 feet branches or thin stems left in above the ground, leaving a either it’s original round or half- permanent trunk called a bolling), round shape and is sized 2” to Wooded pastures are a human sprouted like coppice but safely 8” in diameter. creation, the result of centuries out of reach of any livestock. of accumulated woodmanship, Square or rectangular wood is carefully planned so the same In 1177, this wood was granted called lumber. land could be used for trees and to Fountains Abbey which was grazing animals. once the richest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in pg 03 Local industries through the ages Iron smelting Iron ore was broken into As the temperature rose, the pieces, possibly by using a impurities in the ore started to hammer on a small water melt and sink to the bottom of wheel. The ore was then the furnace. The iron did not roasted on a bed of charcoal melt but slowly coalesced into to dry it and drive off carbonate a very hot spongy mess known to leave an iron oxide which as a bloom. When a bloom had was easier to smelt. formed it was removed by breaking through the furnace Clay was mixed with water to wall. A hot bloom of iron ore produced build a cylindrical furnace by smelting supported by a stone structure. In Upper Fell Greave Wood The furnaces were charged there are still depressions in The monks main interest in with a mixture of charcoal and the ground, remains of the pits the area lay in its mineral roasted ore and the which were dug to get at coal wealth, particularly iron ore. temperatures had to be raised and iron near to the surface. The woodland provided fuel in excess of 1000° Celsius by for the monks to produce blowing air into the base of the This industry began to die out charcoal to fire the furnaces furnace, possibly using water as early as 1300. which they used to extract and powered bellows. smelt the necessary metals. pg 04 Local industries through the ages Leather tanning The 300 acres of woodlands were developed under the Pilkingtons, supplying bark, charcoal and timber for local industries like leather tanning. Leather was popular because it was flexible, durable and had many purposes. It was used in the making of shoes, belts, Fountains Abbey - Dissolved after harnesses and scabbards, as Alder tree bark - Bark and leaves the reformation well as cups and bottles to keep are rich in tannin water cool. All fat and flesh 1536-9 saw the dissolution of were removed from the animal the monastery, with its lands hides, then fish or vegetable reverting to the Crown but still oils were rubbed on to make it held by the Pilkington family, waterproof, followed by who in 1524 paid £40 in taxes minerals such as tannin, a on it. product of tree bark particularly alder, to prevent the hide from An example of leather goods stiffening and rotting. pg 05 Local industries through the ages Textiles Evidence of another important Textile production was a industry which took place in cottage industry, whose the woods lies in the discovery heritage can still be seen of tenter posts by the stream today. Tenter Hill Lane, which in the woods. borders Bradley Gate wood is a clear reminder of the former From the 14th century, long residents’ occupation. before the explosion of the textile mills in the late 18th Drawing and spinning the Century, tentercrofts were yarns was a woman's task with Tenter posts where used to stretch areas outside hamlets where the spinning wheel and distaff. out wool along with tenter hooks the tenter frames stood in the open air and were used to The women would then lay out stretch and dry woollen cloth the thread for warping. The with tenter hooks, hence the weaving of the thread into expression still used today; 'to fabrics was done by men day be left on tenter hooks'. Wool and night on heavy hand combing, spinning wheels and looms. This process was Webster's looms formed part tedious, hard labour. An example of tenter of the equipment in every hooks farmstead. pg 06 Local industries through the ages Coal mining down. Park Wood and Lower North Wood were felled and on 19th Century maps the area is shown as Bradley Park. A parliamentary commissioned survey in 1861 into mineral deposits noted that a coal mining seam began in the west corner of Bradley Gate Wood, Small pits from iron and coal mining known as the ‘Better Bed’ Coal was pulled from the pits to the are scattered throughout the wood. workings. There where also canals along Old Lane This pit is in Upper Fell Greave. extensive collier works under Old Lane was once the main In the late 17th and 18th the northern boundary of Lower century, coal mining had taken road from Huddersfield to Fell Greave Woods. Brighouse. It was probably full over as the area's major This brought about further source of revenue and of wagons pulling coal from transport links, with a second the west side of Bradley Gate. development. series of tramways to coal mines situated in and around Soon after 1829, much of the Bradley Park Wood. cultivated woodland was cut pg 07 LegendsLegends && folklorefolklore rootedrooted inin thethe woodswoods Robin Hood The woods provided fuel, food Robin Hood’s grave radiates a and shelter for these people. mystical aura which has attracted the attention of spiritualists. Forest animals such as deer, elk, wild cattle, pig, birds were The simple gravestone was all hunted and berries such as desecrated in the early 19th blackberries were eaten. century during the construction of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Allegedly after Robin Hood was Railway. Labourers believed the branded an outlaw, he fled to tombstone had curative Robin Hoods’ grave the Calder Valley where he properties, and chipped off died in Kirklees Priory by pieces to place under their William the Conqueror gave Bradley Park Woods. pillows to alleviate toothache. land and houses to those who had come over from Legend says he was betrayed Stories suggest it was the site Normandy with him. This left by his aunt the prioress, who left of devil worship, vampires and those who had fought against him to bleed to death. In the hauntings, as well as being the him homeless, and frequently grounds of the priory lies his venue for a series of unexplained condemned to living in forests. unofficial grave. Little John is said murders and tragic accidents These people were called to have cursed the priory forever which seem to bear out Little tilvatids or tent dwellers. and some people believe that John's curse. pg 08 LegendsLegends && folklorefolklore rootedrooted inin thethe woodswoods Newhouse Hall Around 1550, the Brooke family marriage in those days! In owned the building. They were celebration of this important the wealthiest family in the area family event, a new front door by building their fortune as was installed, and this clothiers.