Padfield has a strong community history spanning almost two hundred years of industrial heritage. The village and the manorial lands that once encompassed it can be traced back further to a time of Anglo-Saxon lords. Before you enter and briefly travel through Padfield's past, let us provide you with a little background information of what Padfield is like today.;xNLx;;xNLx;The village of Padfield is located on the fringe of the Peak District National Park, in the High Peak of Derbyshire. It is a former mill village with signs of this bygone era still visible today, however, most of the industrial past has long since gone. Present-day, Padfield is a small, quiet community with its many stone terrace cottages, allotments, chapel, primary school and pub.;xSTx;br;xETx;;xNLx;Much of the village is part of a conservation area, which helps to maintain the natural beauty and local wildlife so it can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Padfield is edged by beautiful countryside with easy access to the Longdendale Trail, a former railway line nestled in the stunning Longdendale Valley and the six reservoir chain that, when built, was the largest artificial expanse of water in the world.;xSTx;br;xETx;;xNLx;Click on 'continue' below to enter.;xNLx;;xSTx;hr;xETx;;xNLx;Image: Looking up Platt Street, early 1900's. Notice the absence of vehicles. Courtesy of Glossop Heritage Trust Photo Archive.
Padfield is recorded as "Padefeld" and Glossop with only one "s" as seen in the image here. The value of the village to the manorial lord, in other words, what the lord of the land received from the villagers in rents was the princely sum of £2 in 1066.
This is important dating evidence and clearly puts Padfield firmly on the timeline in the later 12th century. The village was written as Paddefeld, almost identical to the entry in the Domesday Book almost a century earlier.
Between 1662 and 1689 the hearth tax was introduced in England and Wales by the government of Charles II. It was imposed on every householder according to the number of hearths in a single dwelling. Those administering the levy were required to assess and compile a list of householders and the respective number of hearths. This was done per county across the country. Many dwellings didn't even have a hearth. Those who did were recorded for tax assessment.
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The land belonging to the Duke of Norfolk, which encompassed Padfield and the wider area, was surveyed in 1763 by the Howard Estate. It recorded acres, roods and poles, and lists the householders of the various plots of land.
Padfield is a small hamlet comprising just a few buildings connected by two minor roads or dirt tracks. Burdett's map of 1791, and Stockdale's map of 1794, clearly show just a few dwellings, positioned approximately where Padfield Main Road now lies.
Padfield Brook Mill was a four storey mill built in 1793 by Robert Lees. It was the first of the mills built in the village and was the uppermost along Padfield Brook, designed as a water-powered cotton mill, which once stood to the rear of Padfield Brook House at the foot Redgate.
In 1800 William Barber began construction of the cotton mill on Platt Street, another four storey building that dominated the landscape. It was the second mill drawing water from the Padfield Brook, the first being Padfield Brook Mill. The mill also had a 'lodge' (mill pond) to the rear of the complex, which formed part of the present day Padfield triangle.
On the site of the present day Rhodes' Top Mill once sat two mills built by James Braddock. He leased the land from the Duke of Norfolk, which would have looked very different to what we see today. Lower Mill and Mouse Nest Mill were relatively small in size compared the later incarnations, and the mill pond was in an entirely different position to its current counterpart.
Formed 31 October.
Population of Padfield is 450 in 78 houses.
Lees Row Cottages were built by Robert Lees, owner of Padfield Brook Mill. It is likely that workers from his mill lived in these cottages.
A fire destroyed the mill in 1823. It was rebuilt under the ownership of William Barber but, as before the fire, was again worked by John Shepley and Robert Wagstaff, Abraham Clarke's sons-in-law. They continued to work the mill until 1840.
During the 1820s there were enough practising Wesleyan Methodists in Padfield for the consideration of building a chapel building to house them.
According to a public meeting of Padfield residents, held on 1 February 1828, at the home of Mary Barber in Little Padfield, the results were such "that a Chapel be erected for the hamlet of Padfield where Divine Worship may be held on Sunday evenings and other opportunities as may be agreed hereafter," for those of the Christian Faith belonging to the “Independents”.
Population of Padfield is 1,102 in 175 houses.
The Woodhead Railway Tunnel at one point had over 1,500 men working on the project, with 400 men at any one time due to the confined space. The working conditions for the navvies were extremely poor. Thirty two men were killed and upwards of 240 were seriously injured to create the 3 mile (4.8km) railway tunnel, the longest in Britain at the time.
Padfield Brook Mill was built in 1793 by Robert Lees. By 1841 Lees had 103 people in his employ at the mill, some of who would have most likely lived in the mill-workers' cottages on Lees Row, just a short walk away.
Platt Street, the last of the main roads in Padfield, was established around 1844 as a result of the new rail link between Manchester and Sheffield (built between 1836 and 1845), and the construction of Hadfield Station. Platt Street's construction completed the iconic 'Padfield Triangle,' created with Temple Street and Post Street.
The Temple Inn public house was built by the Padfield Order of Oddfellows in 1845 and license to a Mr Joseph Wood the following year, in 1846. The name was changed to the Peels Arms (named after The Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel) as a result of a dispute between the two lodges of Oddfellows that used the premises as their meeting place, a regular occurrence at the time.
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Population of Padfield is 2,051 in 316 houses. Just two year previous it was 1,656. There was an industrial boom happening and people were moving here to find employment.
Upon completion the reservoir was 39 acres in size, was 52 feet deep and had a capacity of 209,000,000 gallons.
Station Mill was built by the industrialist Thomas Platt. In 1875 the mill was run by William and Edward Platt, who for many years also owned Padfield Brook Mill, using it for storage and later for cotton waste. The Platt family also owned Barber's Mill (later known as Kershaw's tannery) for about fifty years. However, Station Mill was the biggest of the mills in their local cotton empire.
Upon completion the reservoir was 54 acres in size, was 68 feet deep and had a capacity of 500,000,000 gallons.
Population of Padfield is 1,619. The cotton famine results in less work forcing families to find employment elsewhere.
Upon completion the reserves was 160 acres in size, was 84 feet deep and had a capacity of 1,474,000,000 gallons.
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Upon completion the reservoir was 63 acres in size, was 40 feet deep and had a capacity of 343,000,000 gallons.
Rhodes' Top Mill is built on the site of three smaller mills: Clarkes Mill, Lower Mill and Braddock's Mill.
Township of Hadfield is joined with Chapelry of Padfield and becomes a separate Civil Parish. Prior to this both were part of the Parish of Glossop.
Upon completion the reservoir was 50 acres in size, was 48 feet deep and had a capacity of 407,000,000 gallons.
Upon completion the reservoir was 135 acres in size, was 71 feet deep and had a capacity of 1,181,000,000 gallons.
Hadfield Equitable Co-Operative Society opens a sister (No.3 branch) shop in Padfield at 99 Platt Street.
On Good Friday, 26 March 1880, a stone-laying ceremony was held on the site of the new proposed Methodist Chapel on Post Street. Rev. Mark P. Gilbert was the Superintendent Minister.
On Good Friday, 15 April 1881, the Wesleyans' Methodist Church was open for Divine worship. This new chapel, now located at the top of Post Street, cost just £1,691, equivalent to approximately £185,000 in today's money.*
According to the Derbyshire Directory there are 21 shops listed as trading in Padfield. These included: two butchers, one baker, two fishmongers, two grocers, two drapers and tailors, a newsagent, a confectioner, an insurance agent, a clogger and the Co-op.
Padfield Council School was built by the Rhodes family. It opened on 23 May, 1887, for the purpose of educating the children of their employees at Rhodes' Top Mill. The school is located on Rhodes Street.
Population of Padfield increases to 2,573 in 557 houses.
On 1 February 1901, a Trustees meeting was held to decide upon a proposed extension and alterations plan. Several changes have been made over the years.
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160 men from Padfield and Hadfield lose their lives during the First World War
At it's height, Padfield had over twenty shops and stores that served the village community with a variety of different trades. These included: two butchers, one baker, two fishmongers, two grocers, two drapers and tailors, a newsagent, a confectioner, an insurance agent, a clogger and the Co-op.
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