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.
Enter story info here
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.
