Download Tithe to 2009 Trail - Tracks in Time, the Leeds Tithe Map ...

DirectionsFrom the parking areaat the canal side offHorsforth New Road,turn right and followthe road ahead, ignor-ing the canal towpathto your left. Pass infront of a row of 19 thcentury cottages onyour right hand side,and stop here for amoment. The closest ofthese cottages to theroad stands on the siteof buildings shown onthe Calverley with Farsleytithe map of 1846.This was plot number1095, owned by WalterStott Stanhope Esq.,and rather unfittinglynamed, Lime Kiln Close.The plot was occupiedb y W i l l i a mEdmondson, who hada pasture and outb u i l d i n g s t h e r e ,though its name maysuggest the area hadpreviously had differentuses. Walter StottStanhope was affiliatedwith the Spencer Stanhopes,a wealthylanded family who hadresided at HorsforthPlan of Calverley with Farsley , 1846, WYAS Leeds, BD51Hall (demolished – sitein Hall Park) since the 18 th century, and previously at Low Hall. The Stott Stanhopebranch of this family had their ancestral seat at Eccleshill Park in the modern district ofBradford.Walk on a little further down the road and on your left hand side, notice a new block offlats, named Canal House. On the site of Canal House, the Calverley tithe map shows a• The Stott Stanhope of Eccleshill Park Family and Estate Archive 1473—1929(STST, MM39, MM40, and MM45-48), is held by West Yorkshire ArchiveService.Walk until the track emerges beside the entrance to Woodbottom Farm on your left.Ignoring turn offs to your left and right, proceedstraight ahead, onto the rough road before you,and continue to the junction. At the junction, ig-nore turns to the left and right, crossing straightover the stream to pass Woodbottom Mills on yourleft.Just after Woodbottom Mills, go around to the rightand join the footpath on the right hand side of LowHall Road, passing a set of white metal gates.Walk straight along Low Hall Road, keeping thechemical plant on your right, until you reach thejunction with Calverley Lane. Low Hall is across theroad to your left.View of the Aire Valley over the track wallGo around the corner to your right, into Calverley Lane. Follow Calverley Lane down-hill, past the chemical plant on your right and over the railway bridge. Where the roadsweeps left at the bottom of the hill, step down onto a dirt track leading off to yourright. Meet with cobbles and follow them straight ahead, ignoring turn-offs to the leftand right, and proceed across Calverley Bridge in front of you.After the bridge, turn left up a rough road, climbing a gentle hill, and emerge from awooded avenue outside the Railway Public House, on your left. (For thirsty walkerswho deserve a reward, this is a lovely spot to stop and re-fuel! The Railway has a beergarden for warm days, a playground for children, and will provide water for dogs.)Having passed the public house, walk back up the road ahead of you to the parkingarea opposite the canal to complete the walk.• Through the gates to your right is an old wildflower meadow. 19th and 2oth centuryagricultural improvement and spraying with herbicide has meant these havebecome rather rare. The meadow here has not been managed for many years, butstill contains a rich variety of plants including black knapweed, musk mallow,lady’s bedstraw (used to make pillows and mattresses smell nice in the past), ribwortplantain, yarrow, crossword, birdsfoot trefoil, black medick, commonmouse-ear, dandelion, cut-leaved cranesbill, cocksfoot and Yorkshire fog.• The Leeds-Liverpool Canal is a Site of Special Scientific Interest owing to itscalcium-rich, clay lining, which encourages the growth of an abundance of waterplants. On the opposite bank of the canal to where you are now walking, there is alarge stand of flowering rush, which exhibits a cluster of pink blooms in lateJune. This is mixed into a bed of reed canary-grass and reed sweet-grass. On thenearside wall of the canal there are blue flowers of skullcap and meadow sweet.Look out for dragonflies, which the canal provides a perfect environment for. Aswell as common blue and blue-tailed damselflies, the banded demoiselle, whichhas black bands on its wings, has been spotted here.

little way into Low Hall Road, stands the ancient building that gives the road its name.On the Horsforth tithe map of 1838, Low Hall is listed simply as a house, homestead,fold, and garden, owned by J.S. Stanhope Esq. and occupied by Daniel Illingworth. LowHall (also known as Calverley Old Hall) was the ancient seat of the Calverley family, whohad been prominent and wealthy local landowners since early medieval times. The estatepassed to the Stanhopes after the Calverleys relocated to Esholt Hall in the 17 th century.Low Hall is thought to be one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in WestYorkshire, having been divided into several dwellings after the departure of the Stanhopesfor Horsforth Hall in the early 18 th century, and eventually, to Cannon Hall inCawthorne. The building’s division meant it escaped Victorian ‘modernisation’ as agrand villa, and remains true to its medieval form. The oldest part of the structure is the‘Solar’ with its gable end facing into Low Hall Road, and dates from around 1380.Continue ahead down Low Hall Road. Just after Low Hall barn, on your right, standsLow Hall Farm House. This building also features on the Horsforth tithe map and in1838, was likewise owned by J.S. Stanhope Esq. Low Hall Farm is listed in the apportionmentas a house, folds, stack yards and plantation, occupied by Gaunt, Thompson, andCompany.Walk along Low Hall Road until it curves to the left, and thefootpath ceases. Here, follow the road round to the left andpass in front of Wood Bottom Mills on your right. The unitsstanding here now are heavily adapted from those occupyingthis identically named site in 1838. According to the Horsforthtithe map, the buildings making up Wood Bottom Mills at thistime consisted of works and a dam. Again, these were ownedby J.S.Stanhope Esq., and were leased to the same Gaunt,Thompson, and Company, who occupied Low Hall Farm.Wood Bottom Mills were engaged in woollen cloth manufacture.Woodbottom MillsPass Wood Bottom Mills, crossing over a stream ahead. Where the road splits beforeyou, ignore the track leading to your right and follow instead the rough road directlyahead. In crossing over the stream, you have now passed over a second 19 th centurytithe boundary, between the townships of Horsforth and Rawdon.• A notice to quit regarding the tenancy of Daniel Illingworth at Low Hall(SpSt/5/11/38) is held within the Spencer Sranhope of Horsforth Family and EstateArchive (SpSt) at West Yorkshire Archive Service.• A Letter from John Stanhope to his brother Mr Stanhope of Leeds, merchant(SpSt/5/2/74) and Letters from Thomas Potts of Cannon Hall to John SpencerStanhope (SpSt/5/2/104) concerning the letting of Woodhall Farm and the ‘badstate’ of Horsforth are also held within the Spencer Sranhope of Horsforth Familyand Estate Archive (SpSt) at WYAS.• As you cross the stream, notice the wall on your right. It has colonised with a richmixture of plants, including maidenhair spleenwort and hart’s-tongue fern, malefern, biting stonecrop, herb Robert and broad-leaved willow herb.Continue ahead into Rawdon township, until you pass in front of two modern houses.Behind these houses, to your left, lies the site of Rawdon Low Mill, the chimney ofwhich is visible above the rooftops. Low Mill was originally built in 1797, and was thefirst of three mills, the others being Park Mill (1805) and Larkfield Mill (1825), to beerected by the Thompson family in Rawdon. Parts of the original mill buildings and damat Low Mill, evident on the Rawdon tithe map of 1838, are still standing. The structureswere listed in the tithe apportionment as Rawdon Lane Mill, dam, and gardens, belongingto Ephraim Elsworth, and leased to J.R. Thompson. The business conducted herewas likely to be one of the early stages in woollen cloth manufacture such as scribbling,combing, and slubbing, which involved washing and straightening the fibres of thewool. From your current position, over your right shoulder, you will also be able to seeRawdon Low Mill Methodist Chapel, now a private residence. This chapel does not appearon the Rawdon tithe map as it did not open in service of the Low Mill workforceuntil 1881.Walking straight ahead until the road splits again, pause for a moment. Down therough road to your left some post-1838 Victorian additions to Low Mill can be seen,including Low Mill House, nestled behind the hedge. Up the track to your right is WoodBottom Farm. The farm buildings here are visible on the Rawdon tithe map, and arelargely unchanged since 1838, when they still consisted of two houses with separatefolds or yards. The farm houses belonged to Rawson Stansfield, Esq. and were leased toSamuel Lawson and George Woodhead.Ignoring both these tracks to your left and right, walk straight on, down the narrow,wooded footpath in front of you. Almost immediately to your left note the, now visible,upper portion of Low Mill House. The path you are walking appears on the Rawdontithe map as a defined vehicular road, and soon opens out ahead of you, the remains ofcobbles underfoot betraying it’s former use and importance.With the Rawdon/Calverley tithe boundary of the river Aire on your left hand side, afterthe track becomes flanked by a stone wall, cross a beck flowing from the right, andemerge onto a tarmac road. Walk up the hill, around the right hand side of a modernhouse, and enter Cragg Wood. At the top of the hill, where the road forks, turn leftonto a wooded avenue, Underwood Drive. Stop here for a moment.To your right is a gate marking the entrance to the 19 th century road that continuedthrough Cragg Wood. This road features on the Rawdon tithe map and is shown leadingpast a group of buildings known as Woodlands. Woodlands appears on the tithemap as a house and garden owned by Rawson Stansfield Esq. and leased to WilliamDennison. Later in our walk, we will pass by Woodlands more directly.• Marriage Registers and other records relating to Rawdon Low Mill MethodistChapel are held as part of the Aireborough Methodist Circuit Records(WYL1084) and the West Yorkshire Methodist Churches Duplicate MarriageRegisters (C111) at WYAS. Also held are legal papers and deeds relating to RawdonLow Mill Company (WYL553).• Cragg Wood, Rawdon Deeds from 1860 - 1977 (WYL 2151) are held at WestYorkshire Joint Services.