Church Yard, Holmfirth

Marianna

Marianna

Dedicated Member
In the pursuit of the Beall who had the chip shop in Town Gate, I stumbled upon the 1910 Electoral Register for the North Central Ward of the Holmfirth Urban District listing a voter named Harry Beall with the address 'Church Yard, Holmfirth' and the residence described as a dwelling house. There's only one other voter listed in a dwelling house in Church Yard. Voters are also listed on Church Terrace, so I doubt if 'Church Yard' is a misprint.

That address no longer exists. Does anyone have any idea what its current name is and when the name changed?

Marianna
 
I looked for Church Yard Holmfirth and did not find it .However I then spotted a story about the Holmfirth flood when the reservoir burst up the valley. It must have been terrible , as if a Tsunami had occurred.:39: The Bilberry dam apparently burst after a prolonged period of heavy rain, due to the fact that the water side of the dam had not been compacted enough and the increased rainfall eroded the already weak structure.
 
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dick said:
I looked for Church Yard Holmfirth and did not find it .However I then spotted a story about the Holmfirth flood when the reservoir burst up the valley. It must have been terrible , as if a Tsunami had occurred.:39:
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I've probably seen the same story about the 1852 flood. Was that the story mentioning that the Methodist cemetery was flooded, coffins floated to the surface, and one of them belonged to the prime mover behind the building of the Bilbury Reservoir (the one where the earthworks gave way due to inadequate building practices and caused the flood)?

Is that cemetery space now the public gardens that we can just see in the live cam? I've seen photos showing headstones lining the sides of those gardens. There's a plaque visible at the entrance on Google Earth, but it won't zoom in far enough to read it. The almshouses further along on Station Road were built to house some of the people who were left homeless and unemployed due to the destruction of the mills by the flood. I've ordered a book entitled The Holmfirth Floods about both that one and the Whit Monday 1944 one. It should be here in a few days and I expect it to be very interesting.

Marianna
 
There were 20+ pages about the 1852 flood and I just picked up some points along the way. One body actually made its way into the church and came to rest on one of the pews.:(
 
Apparently the park on Station Road was not the Wesleyan Chapel site and graveyard, so the source of the headstones ranged around the park walls is a mystery to be solved during my visit to Holmfirth in the Autumn.

My copy of Ian Harlow's book Holmfirth Floods: The Story of the Floods in Holmfirth arrived in today's mail. On page 29 in the section about the 1852 flood, he writes 'On the opposite side of the river to the Holmfirth Mill stood the old Wesleyan Chapel, built in 1810 and surrounded by a graveyard. The chapel was flooded to pew height, but the ministers and their families, living just a little higher up the slope, were just clear of danger. Several coffins were washed up from the graveyard. Of particular poignancy was the fate of Mr John Harpin; his vault was torn open and his coffin, his resting place for ten years, floated downstream with his remains. Ironically Mr Harpin was the owner of Harpin's Mill, Near Hinchliffe Mill, and was one of the chief promoters for the building of the Bilberry Reservoir.'

In another source that I can't track down at the moment, the 'Holmfirth Mill' mentioned above was called 'Town Mill', which was located on the present site of the Post Office. That can be pinpointed via the listing at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mills_in_Holmfirth#cite_note-NBR_63237-68 nearly at the bottom of the page in the listings for Wooldale. Click the coordinates, select your favorite version of your favorite mapping system and zoom in to see the detail around the pointer. So the Wesleyan Chapel on the opposite side of the river would have been approximately on the site of the present Methodist Church.

In my wanderings, I also happened upon this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antique-Inundation-Holmfirth-Remains-Wesleyan/dp/B00K53UQA6. If you click the image, hover over the center right picture and click, you'll see the flood 'scene opposite the Wesleyan Chapel'. That's the ruins of Town Mill.

Next I need to follow up in the summary of the 1851 census. The summaries usually list all the buildings in order, whether or not they're occupied, giving the use if it's other than a dwelling. That might tell me what, if anything, was on the site of the park in question.

Marianna
 
Church Terrace Holmfirth coincidence, 1851

There was a family with the surname Clegg living on Church Terrace at the time of the 1851 census. Wasn't that the location of Norman Clegg's first house? Can't tell from the number if it was the same door, though.

Marianna
 
index4u said:
Ian Harlow's book Holmfirth Floods: The Story of the Floods in Holmfirth
Click to expand...

After looking up a few specifics, I read the book properly. It's a real page-turner! I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Holmfirth local history and/or Holmfirth people. It's helpful to have a map of the area close at hand while reading it, along with the interactive list of textile mills posted in an earlier message. The book also sent me to the 1851 census via the free search facility on Ancestry.com to see who the neighbors were of the people mentioned and what they did for a living, and to Google Earth to look at the surviving buildings.

Before reading the book, I hadn't realized that the buildings on the south side of Hollowgate are over-and-under dwellings, like the ones on Scarfold/Huddersfield Road, with access to the over-dwellings via New Row. The cottage at the east end of New Row is a holiday let, so there are interior photos at http://www.homefromholme.co.uk/Nellies.htm. It's under the same ownership as Old Stoney Bank, but it's self-catering. Pets are allowed, so it might have some of the same hygiene problems that a couple of recent reviewers have reported at Old Stoney Bank. I'll take a look at the exterior area to check on that while I'm in Holmfirth in the Autumn. It's also over Hollowgate Fisheries, but their kitchen vent extends a little higher than the roof peak, so frying odors ought not to seep into the cottage above. I'll give it the sniff test while I'm checking out the exterior, and I'll listen for rattling from the kitchen vent fan too. Unfortunately, no one has reviewed the cottage on TripAdvisor, so if the exterior seems inviting perhaps I'll book there on another visit when I can stay longer, and post a review.

Marianna
 
Great research work Marianna! Very interesting information about the history of our beloved Holmfirth. I get the impression you have done this type stuff in the past!

Dennis
 
Dennisbn514 said:
Great research work Marianna! Very interesting information about the history of our beloved Holmfirth. I get the impression you have done this type stuff in the past! Dennis
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I grew up steeped in the history of my local area because my father was interested in it, so I developed an interest that has expanded to the local history of many other places. I've also been researching my own genealogy and family history for more decades than I care to count, and of course the family history is inextricably intertwined with the local history. That interest has expanded as well to encompass the people who made the local history of any area that captures my interest.

The Holmfirth interest started with Last of the Summer Wine. When I visited the first time I wondered why the parish church and the yard in front of it is up from street level on a plinth. That was the gateway to my interest in the town's history.

Just to not leave you hanging, the church is raised from street level because of flooding. Sometime in the 1700s a flood destroyed the 1400s chapel on that site, so when the worshipers rebuilt they first raised the area that the church sets on and the yard in front of the door higher than the highest water the area had experienced up to that point. Then they raised the floor up a few steps and placed the door on the side to further protect the interior from the river. Those measures protected the church in both the 1852 and the 1944 floods, although in the 1852 flood one of the gate posts that used to be at the front edge of the yard was picked up, spun around and set back down still upright.

Marianna
 
FWIW - we have stayed at both Nora Batty's and the
Springfield Guest House (right on the Huddersfield
Road across from the Co-op center) and have liked them
both. Springfield House is a real B&B with several
bedrooms and great breakfasts. Nora's is a wonderful
large house but you provide the breakfast. I prefer
the convenience of Nora's because there is way more
room to stretch out and relax. But at Springfield
House Ann and Bernard Brook take (took??) real good
care of us.
 
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