The Village of Manley Stories, Recollections, Glimpses of the past. Collected from Manley residents and edited by Andrew Rudd, 2007 Foreword Commonplace. 2007 Last July, an informal group of friends and neighbours from Manley Common were invited to the Village Hall, where Andrew Rudd, the Cheshire Poet Laureate, was waiting to meet them, with a view to writing about our community, and what Manley means to us. We then walked or drove to Manley Common, and thought and talked about our special landscape. Then we went back to the Hall, and Andrew listened whilst friends and neighbours exchanged memories and ideas. Older former residents of Manley Common had also been invited; some came and others wrote instead, and a happy evening followed. Andrew then put this book together, and his verses were read by two villagers to The Mayor of Chester at a National meeting of Rural Councillors in Chester Town Hall. The whole project came about because of the involvement of the Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership, a Cheshire County Council initiative, whose aim is to maintain and restore an ecological network providing benefits for people and wildlife. As part of their wish to restore historic boundaries, the sandstone wall around Manley Common is being repaired, using traditional skills. Community involvement is a vital part of the project, and many people lent a hand. The walk to the Common was a way of bringing people together, and from that evening, this book came to be. Help towards creating a permanent record of this event has come from Cheshire Rural and Recreation Services and from Manley Parish Council. We hope you enjoy reading the book, and that this Common beginning will lead to more interest in our past, for the future. Barbara Foxwell Commonplace The poet came, that night, without a poem – didn’t read a word, listened to stories, started them telling. They stood in circles by the Common, then filled the village hall with animated talk: wine, cheese and recollection. His presence made this assertion: words matter, this village story is strong enough to face the future. We need the word-people: poet, priest, publican, keeper of the corner shop. They are curators of the story that is the village. Stories that flicker into view, then disappear, half-remembered, the ambiguous piece of paper. The woman who has no-one to talk to, her memory an irreplaceable book of pictures. Her eyes close, the book snaps shut. This fragile narrative is what makes us here rather than there – Manley rather than Kingswood, Cheshire, not Lancashire, England. Here are your words, a harvest-festival a sheaf of memories. My words are the twine holding them, carrying them, giving them back. Andrew Rudd, Cheshire Poet Laureate 2006 for Manley Common and the village of Manley. Memories - 1 We had a concert party called the Manley Players. My mother and neighbours made all the costumes and we borrowed scout hats from the local troop. There was no television then so the village hall was packed for every performance. In the field opposite to the hall is a plaque in memory of Hilary Howarth. As a child I remember them searching for her and my father was in the search party and I can still vividly remember him and others carrying her body down from Harrisons Hill. I have such happy memories of walking to Manley School, it was safe to walk and roam the woods and fields with friends in those days. Have you ever heard these sayings: ‘Don’t sit there like a tomtit on a round of beef! Come and help me!’ ‘I am not scared of him. He’s all wind and tobacco dust!’ The farm below the school in my schooldays used to be our tuck shop which sold everything from sweets – to paraffin – and hen food a lovely mixture! D J Bushell Memories – 2 Marg Walker and Mum Cath. – narrated this to Jane Joyce. 17/7/06 We played cricket on the corner because there were no cars. We played on the sand hill, went up the bank and watched Ravelstone, the big house – Howarths lived there. Marge’s Mum worked there when it was made into flats and cleaned for Dr Scott 3 days a week. 1950s She built a bonfire on 5 November behind our house (Jane & David Joyce) in the field – Rangeway Bank Cottage and there was a community spirit – everyone came to Rose Queen in the Village Hall every year. Decorated lorries for floats and drove through the village. Marge has lots of photos. She got lost in the Delamere Forest when she was 4 and the whole of the community came looking for her. The green wooden shed (Bosley’s) was a shop built opposite them in the 60s and she was so excited because she could go across the road for her crisps and pop. Before Bosley’s there was Fitches’ shop. Up the hill and along to Bushell’s Lane the white house used to be a shop. A mile to walk for bread. Mr Lightfoot, baker at Ashton came on his bicycle with fresh loaves twice a week. A van from Hoole used to come – Trevor, once a week for order, then he would deliver. In ’63 they walked on the hedges to Fitches’ shop as the snow was so deep. The drifts were frozen up to hedges for weeks on end. Manley School used to have an Air Raid shelter for toilets. Boys had to go at a separate time from girls and the boys used to lay in wait for the girls with nettles. Manley Common Farm was the place for eggs (and cats). She was terrified of the brother and sister who lived there (like old witches) and her mum used to send her there for eggs. Everyone used to go to the Manley Church. Marg left the lights on when she was 9 or 10 and was in serious trouble. The old ladies and gents used to come from the Sanatorium and fall asleep in church and they used to laugh at them – they were only children. They sat on the tuffets and hid so the vicar couldn’t see them. Rev. Sambrook – they were all in love with him and his beautiful voice. 1936 Sweet Chestnut planted on the corner for the King’s Jubilee. Died and taken down. We have planted a yew so we will be alright for long bows in another hundred years. D. Joyce Memories – 3 When I was a child at Manley School, once a year we would form a crocodile outside the school to walk to Manley Hall then occupied by Sir Albert Gladstone and family where we would have a sports day with prizes and then a wonderful tea waited on by the Gladstone children. Then of course during WW2 Manley Hall was taken over by the Army and now once again is privately owned. We also had a small general store where I worked for many years. It was not just a shop but a meeting place for people to meet friends and exchange gossip. At that time not many people had their own telephone, so quite often I was asked to ring the doctor or order coal etc! Quite a varied life. Now we have no shop and the post office was closed down a few years ago. I have often wondered if the two large stones – one in the lane and one in the field – are in any way connected with ley lines. J Bushell Memories – 4 Manley Old Hall David and Diana Ford live at Manley Old Hall, but its history goes back to the Middle ages, when it was a moated manor house, with a dove cote in the grounds and a windmill on the hill at the end of the drive. It also has a ghost of a lady on a horse. They say that on a certain night of the year you can hear her on the horse that bolted, galloping up the back drive, it tipped her into the moat and fell in on top of her and she drowned. Some people claim to have heard it. They say that in the civil war there was a lot of fighting in and around Manley, which was apparently Royalist. Manley Hall of today is divided into three houses. The estate was split up when Sir Albert Gladstone and his sister left in the sixties. Sir Albert was the son of Mr Gladstone the Prime Minister, he let his brother have the family seat at Hawarden Castle because he had a family and Sir Albert was single. There was a lovely little chapel attached to the house but they demolished it. No preservation orders then, such a shame. During the war the Canadian troops were billeted in the hall. Some of the girls in the village married the young men and went back to Canada after the war. The Italian prisoners of war were in a camp at Olton Park and they were brought to Manley every morning in a lorry to work on the local farms of which there were about thirty, large and small, what a change. A plane crashed in the field called the Big Dundge at Manley old Hall and buried itself in the ground, the pilot bailed out at Mouldsworth, when they pulled it out all the locals just stood around to watch, it was full of bombs! No health and safety in those days. There was a sandstone quarry in Manley that had its own rail track that joined the single line track that ran from Helsby to Mouldsworth, this track worked on a key system. The stone from the quarry was used to build Eaton Hall and also for restoration work on Chester Cathedral. The name of Sugar Lane is said to come from the silver sand that gives the sandstone its pale colour. The station in Manley used to receive all the goods that people ordered including livestock and it took milk and cheeses to the Dairies in Chester. Most of the local farms made cheese and butter. The railway closed in the eighties when a train went through that had a wide load and damaged the bridges. There is a covered reservoir up above the Knoll that provides water for the local area, I believe that after it was built and before it was filled all the villagers were invited to a party in it. There was a big influx of Irish workers in spring, they came to pick the new potatoes and they lived in the bothys in the farmyards. Every year the fathers came and as their sons got old enough, they came too, so there could be at least four or five member of the same family working together. The Autumn the thrashing machines used to come on the farm yard with a lot of men, the women of the house then had to then feed theme. The thrasher made a lot of noise and the dust came up in clouds. If any rats ran out the boys would kill them with a stick. Beatrice Tunstall. Author of the book The Shiney Nights wrote about the Old Pale Farm on Manley common. They say it was a Royal Hunting Lodge used when there were hunting in Delamere Forest. Queenie 1935-1936 Manley Working in the house of Mr Alfred Howarth. He owned Manor Farm in Manley Quarry, and most of the small farms in Manley. The Rev. Stephen Gladstone, younger son of Prime Minister W E Gladstone lived at Manley Hall. I remember the younger children sitting in Manley Church. The army took over the Hall in 1939-1945. The stone wall was around Manley Common when I was living at Ravelstone. I don’t know how far back it goes. There was a stone hut at the corner of Manley Crossroads, used by Mr Nixson (Cobbler) to mend shoes, since pulled down. I am sorry I don’t have the photo of Albert’s mother – I must have given it to his sister. I took the photo myself about 1945. There used to be iron railings on the houses in the lane, taken away during the war and never replaced. The Edwards family kept the wall in repair, because they kept two cows in the field. There is an art in repairing stone walls, so maybe you could find out if there is anyone who knows about it. There used to be a magazine, the Farmer’s Weekly. I have seen all the stone walls in Derbyshire. There must still be people who could repair it. Perhaps there might be some information about stone walls in the farmers’ Weekly. The enclosed cuttings I copied from the Chester Chronicle. Leila Harrison who lived at Fox Arms was Albert’s God-mother. We visited her often. Unfortunately I can’t remember anything she told us about Manley. There is an Alan Keiling who looked after Leila at the end of her life. The Keilings were a well known family in Manley. They had a business, ‘Keilings Seeds,’ and also grew lettuce for market. Alan Keiling could tell you quite a bit about Manley. He lives in Moss Road. I hope you can make out this letter. My writing is not so good now. Age is catching up. I’ve tried to remember as much as I can. If anything else comes to my mind I will jot it down and get in touch with you again. All this is very interesting and I am pleased you are doing all this. I loved Manley so much. I miss Albert. We met when I was at Ravelstone. I was 16 and he was 19. We had been together all these years! I was told by Mr Alfred Howarth that Queen Victoria’s son, the Prince of Wales, came to stay in Manley. He was taken to the top of the Sand Hill and said that Manley was the healthiest place in Cheshire. I don’t know what year that was, before my time at Ravelstone. This is as much as I can remember for now. I hope it is of some help. Queenie. The Stone’s Story (Barbara Foxwell) Shaped by the Ice of the North and stolen Rolled and pounded Crushed, not broken Pushed Hearing the groan of the ice above. Came the light, the thaw, the sun Came to rest Away from iron cold In a gentler land. An alien stone, granite not sand A marker A boundary A line across this county Watching, guarding, marking. Seeing, saying nothing. The Soil Story A few years ago I was walking the dog along New Pale. There had been a heavy rainstorm the night before. Stones and sand had been washed out of the fields. As usual with the dog we stopped for random swift stops and a stone caught my eye, not a pebbly sort of stone but a flat wide stone. I pulled it out of the hedge bottom. It was like a foot square impression of the ripples on a beach. I was so taken with it, I had to take it home to show the kids. It really brought home the realisation that once Cheshire (well this bit in Manley) had been a sea. It was too soft and crumbly, not really stone, not set properly, and it fell apart, before I got it home. That is my thought about the soil beneath our feet. Once it was the bottom of the ocean. Judith Merril The Road Story Tarvin Road is a recent NEW name. It was Station Road (in my lifetime starting in 1944 - ?) till about 5 years ago. Dark Ark Lane was named because it was Dark. Beech trees were mature on the left hand side of the lane, overhanging it and as you went along the steep part of the lane there was a Rookery. In about the late 1950s these trees were felled and the Rooks moved to Ashton Heyes and are still there today. (Green triangle before the Cricket pitch, - wood on the left) P J Sherlock The Farming Story Electric was installed in the 1930s. Prior to this no milking machines – all cows milked by hand. Farms employed large numbers of people. The more people on the land the more needed in the house. Lots of activity and people now 100 acre farm cannot keep a family. A dairy farm of 200 acres and 200 cows will only support one or two people. Farming is a lonely business. Cock-fighting Pit – Manley Knoll Wood Simmond Hill. Old men sat around betting on cock-fighting. Manley Knoll drive had communal bread ovens for baking bread. Marl The marl pit is now a wood on our farm (Regency Bank). Marl was excavated and dragged out to condition the soil on neighbouring farms. My family moved to Manley in 1963 on a Crown Estate farm. The first winter was very severe, snow drifted six foot deep. It took three days to dig out snow from New Pale Road to get the milk away. Chris can remember digging it out. Alvanley and Manley Federated Schools – Update 2007 "In 2005, Cheshire County Council began a review of local schools in light of predicted falling roles.  Small rural schools in particular had to prove their viability and look for creative ways to continue to provide quality education within their communities. On the 1st September 2006, Alvanley Primary School and Manley Village School were pleased to form one of Cheshire's first school federations.  We operate as two separate schools under the management of one headteacher and one governing body but with the opportunity to share resources and staff expertise along with wider friendship groups for the children. Children, staff, parents and governors are working very hard together, enthusiastically and successfully to develop the Federation and the future looks very exciting." Isobel Jones Clippings: The Common Manley Effort Towards The Common Good 28 February 2006 ONCE part of a royal deer park hunted by King Charles 1, a surviving section of Manley Common at Vale Royal, Cheshire, is having a facelift helped by the restoration of its 200 year old sandstone boundary wall. The surviving field and its sandstone wall was purchased by local resident Mrs Barbara Foxwell whose home overlooks the wall and was keen to see it restored to its former glory along with a plan to improve the management of the field. “I’d lived here 35 years and had not fully understood the significance of the field,” explained Barbara. “It’s steeped in history and had been common land until the Enclosures Act. It had been part of a greater plot, now we have been able to secure the small section of the site remaining and protect it for future generations.” It’s also understood that until the end of the 19th century a narrow gauge horse drawn mineral rail track ran across the site used for the transportation of stone from a quarry on Simmonds Hill. Barbara contacted Cheshire County Council’s Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership (SREP) project and asked for their help in restoring the 450 metres of wall. Now a ECOnet grant has covered 75 percent of the current work costing £10,000 with a condition that the local community were involved in the project. Barbara, a former school teacher, also hopes that the conserved site will be of special interest to walkers trekking along The Sandstone Trail. The wall surrounding the field was surveyed by Simon Glynn, the Council’s Conservation Officer, and a plan to start restoration work to the most damaged sections of the wall was agreed. “It’s a project the village can get involved with, it is a pretty triangle of land on the Sandstone Trail,” said Barbara. “We’ve had a lot of support for a special event during the year to encourage everyone living locally to get involved. Once we’ve repaired the wall there is room to build a new pond with help from local volunteers” A local specialist stone mason has started to repair the worst sections of the wall. There is still another 400 metres to complete and SREP is offering funding support for the work. Local, Cheshire County Councillor, Nora Dolphin who linked up with Mrs Kathy Benn, Manley Parish Council chairman, to visit the work. said: “This project is restoring some of our traditional skills in stone masonry as well as encouraging voluntary community involvement and restoring a ‘Feel Good Factor’ - the wall should now last another 200 years.” Explained Mike Wellman, Cheshire County Council’s ECOnet Development Officer, “The funding from SREP is intended to assist communities to undertake projects that result in real change for both local people and wildlife in the area. “There is a chance to make a real difference in the SREP area with projects such as this, the work leads to increased jobs for local people as well as the obvious improvement to the landscape for visitors and residents alike.” Time stood still at the village inn (the Chronicle September 1, 1995) CONTENTS of a former Cheshire country inn, shut down in disgrace around 100 years ago, are to come under the hammer at Phillips in Chester. A potent brew of strong ale and simmering rivalry between local lads and Irish harvest workers led to many mass punch-ups on the green fronting The Fox Arms at Manley. Despite repeated warnings from harassed licensee Thomas Low, who ran the tiny pub from part of his 18th century farmhouse, Manley's rural charm continued to be shattered by drunken brawls. It was all too much for the Lord of the Manor, John W Fox, who finally called time on his own estate hostelry towards the end of the 19th century. A shop, post office and smallholding before the Manley Estate was sold to the Gladstone family in 1912, The Fox Arms finally became a private home with a difference. Its cellar and tiny tap room area, complete with crude wooden settles, were partitioned from the rest of the building and left just as they were when the last pint of ale was served from a jug. 'It was just like stepping into a fascinating time warp. When we opened up the partitioning there was still a faint smell of beer,' said Phillips furniture specialist Gareth Williams. 'It was so easy to imagine the farm labourers sitting on those settles having a quiet pint - or otherwise - after a hard day in the fields. There were even a few old beer bottles about and a couple of well rusted spades leaning against the wall.' The former owner of the charming ivy-covered farmhouse, 98-year-old Miss Leila Harrison, died in 1993, after living at the Fox Arms for over half a century. The contents of The Fox Arms, for auction at September sales, are being sold by order of the trustees of Miss Harrison's estate. They range from tripod tables and pewter tankards, probably from the old pub, to a set of eight George III dining chairs valued between £2,000 and £3,000, a fine Chester longcase clock (£800-£1,200) and a George III mahogany library cabinet at £350-£450. Most items should be sold in a special section of the Phillips Victoriana sale in Christleton Road, Boughton, next Monday and the rest in oak and clocks sales on September 15. Clog Dancers THE CHRONICLE, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1984 Clog dancers reach a golden milestone A TEAM of Cheshire morris dancers celebrates its Golden Jubilee this weekend at a time when its art is more popular than ever. The Manley Morris Dancers began back in 1934 when a dancer from Oldham in Lancashire was invited to Manley village to teach 'north-west' or 'clog' dancing. It quickly caught on and a team was formed which today is in such great demand to appear at functions that it can attend only half the engagements it is invited to. Team secretary Arthur Jones says there is terrific interest in the dance, both from spectators and people wanting to join in. The current team includes dancers as young as 12 and includes three men who attended the original practice sessions in 1934. Its dancers, all men, include solicitors, engineers, teachers, builders, unemployed and even a tree surgeon. "We get a mixture of people because we charge a fee for our appearances," says Mr. Jones. "This means it does not cost the dancers too much so we are not a middle class team like some." No doubt if the dancers had to pay for their own kit, membership would fall, because with clogs alone costing £23 a pair, morris dancing is expensive. Also the team travels far and wide to give exhibitions and take part in competitions and has been abroad many times including visits to Norway, Holland and France. Caleb Walker is one of the trio of original members and he has seen 200 men come and go over the years, though he believes it is better now than ever before. "It's something that grows on you and you get so involved that you can't get out of it," he says. The team will be celebrating its jubilee with appearances in Chester City centre between 10.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Saturday, at Helsby Recreation Hall on Saturday evening, and at Manley School at noon on Sunday. He leads quite a dance THE pounding feet of Albert Fletcher, porter at Mouldsworth, on the Chester — Manchester line have helped to bring universal acclaim to the clog dance. Ireland, France, Norway and Holland have all fallen for the traditional clog dances of the North of England, performed by the Manley Morris Dancers. Albert is one of the only two remaining original members of the group which was formed back in 1932. Demonstration rather than competitive dancing forms most of their programme. They perform at garden parties, local fetes and sporting events to the accompaniment of concertina and drum. Caleb Walker, the group's concertina player, also a railman, is a shunter at Northwich. "One of my most memorable experiences was dancing in the world-famed Folk Dancing Festival held in Dijon in France/' says Albert. One of the group's few competitive outings was in 1962 to the Llangollen Eisteddfod where they succeeded in winning first prize in their class. Pages reprinted from ‘Manley Village Memories,’ 1986. Manley has been carved out of the Delamere Forest as have many villages which border it. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon maene meaning man, and leah, meaning clearing. Thus Manley is the common clearing as opposed to Kingsley the King's clearing or Norley the Northern clearing. Forests in olden times did not mean the densely wooded areas of today but vast tracts of rough open country and woodland under the forest law of the king. The landscape of Manley today with its pattern of fields and hedges is the work, of man, particularly farmers, and is very different from the landscape of nearly a thousand years ago when it was mentioned in the Domesday Book. At that time forests of oak and ash interspersed with marshland and rough open country stretched from the Dee and Mersey estuaries far inland and well beyond the current limits of the Delamere Forest. Further back still, after the ice sheet which covered Cheshire melted end the climate had warmed and allowed the landscape to become more hospitable to man, the Celts began to settle in high isolated spots where they could have good views of the surrounding landscape and enough cover for self protection. Eddisbury Hill became an iron age hill fort and later was garrisoned in 914 by Aethelflaed daughter of Alfred the Great. Much later still it became the chief lodge of the Forest of Delamere. The first written evidence of Manley comes after the Norman invasion of 1066. After the conquest most of the land ownership changed hands from the Saxon Earl and his theyns to Norman barons. King William I thought it wise to have a complete account of all holdings of land with owners and tenants, and assets of men, property, crops and animals. He would thus be aware of the strength and weaknesses of his new kingdom. The detailed information for the Domesday Book as it was eventually called, was designed as a taxation or geld book and the facts set down, were to be the basis of a levy should the Danes or any other enemy threaten England. Material for the Domesday Book was collected with great thoroughness by officials from 1086 who went into every part of the kingdom, including Manley where they recorded that Toki held land under Earl Hugh in the Eddisbury Hundred. It is recorded that "Toki held it as a free man. ½ hide paying tax. Land for 1 plough. It pays 1 silver mark in revenue. Value before 1066, 10s." The land Toki held would be about 60 acres. The Domesday Book, when completed, gave more detailed information about people lands and property than any other book compiled in any other country at that time. William and his Norman Lords caused the English way of life and English Language to change, but by comparison with later times, relatively slowly. The present century in which the Village Hall was built has seen the greatest acceleration of change in all time. LOCAL COMMENT George Astbury comes from a farming family, but was advised by his grandfather to become apprenticed to Thomas Carter's firm as an agricultural engineer. He remembers the Carter family lived at Mouldsworth House, and Thomas Carter and his brother ran a thriving agricultural machinery business in the grounds and in the adjoining field. Thomas Carter owned a steam engine, threshing machine, sawmill, and equipment for making and maintaining utensils used on farms. They would make carts from timber taken from the Delamere Forest. There is in existence a picture of a horse-drawn cart taking the children from Manley School to Helsby on a Sunday School outing. Mr. Astbury thinks that an agricultural revolution occurred after each world war in this century to speed up food production by mechanisation on the land and on the roads too. He can remember when there were only two cars in Manley. One was owned by Mr. Thomas Carter and the other was owned by Mr. Crossley. Mr. Astbury can remember his first, solo drive in a car. His boss, Mr. Carter had to drive two passengers to Button and was then required elsewhere. He took Mr. Astbury with him on this trip and told Mr. Astbury to watch him carefully as he drove to Dutton for he was sure that his valued employee would have no difficulty in making the return trip with his passengers after they had finished their business. So it was, that after less than ½ hour's tuition, on driving techniques, whilst a passenger, the 17 year old boy took the wheel and drove his passengers carefully and safely back to Manley. He was most sincerely thanked and has been driving carefully and safely ever since. Mrs Lewis (Rock Cottage) Mrs Lewis was born in Manley . Her grandfather worked and lived at Stone House, then a farm and now a private house. Her father eventually settled in Manley and worked as head gardener for Miss Armitage of Manley Cottage. He was a keen gardener and kept a record of his plantings. The garden was well known for its beauty. When staff dances were held at Manley Hall before the last war, villagers would pay 1d to walk over the bridge connecting Manley Hall with Manley Cottage and dance on the lawn at night to the strains of a brass band. The proceeds went to the church or other local funds. Her father recorded the planting of potatoes in drills by hand and the gathering of the potato crop by hand. Children often helped in this work and were paid at the rate of 1/6 d per hour. In the 1939-1945 war some incendiaries were dropped near Siddals Wood not far from Rock House Cottages but caused no harm. Evacuees were billeted in Manley. Rationing of food, clothes and sweets by coupon during the war made people careful. Transport was difficult because of petrol rationing but during the second world war a bus did run to collect workers from Manley to P.T.C.C. Steam trains ran to Chester but not always on time. Edna Hughes (Rose Farm) Mrs. Hughes went to Manley School and remembered that King George V visited Frodsham on July fifth 1925 and all the local schools including Manley went to the Main Street, Frodsham, to see him. The children were given a mug with the King and date inscribed on it. She also remembered a school outing to Overton Hills now called Mersey View. The transport to take the children was provided by Mr. J. K. Wright of Rangeway Bank Farm and consisted of lorries and horse drawn vehicles. The horses were decorated with coloured ribbons in their manes and in their tails. The children greatly enjoyed their outing and especially the helter-skelter slide and the food in the tea room. They sang all the way home. The church was very well attended since Mr. Hermon the headmaster was also Choir Master and Sunday School teacher and the children were too frightened to stay away. Mrs. Hughes has always lived on a farm and remembers milking cows, cooling milk, making butter, and feeding at one time over 400 hens. She has also planted and picked potatoes by hand. In the First World War German prisoners were held at Claim Farm and would help with the potato picking. They would dig the potatoes up with a fork, shake off the earth and throw them into big cone baskets which would hold about a hundredweight of potatoes. "During the Second World War there were Italian Prisoners in Manley helping on the land. Evacuees came from Liverpool and London. At one time Rose Farm concentrated on market garden produce to sell in Ellesmere Port and kept only one cow for family needs of milk, butter and cheese. Farm produce was often walked from Manley to Ellesmere Port. Manley Station was never used as a passenger station. It was used as a siding, for goods related to farming and cattle transport. There were cattle pens in the station yard. There was a shoe maker, Mr. Nixon, who lived in one of the white cottages at Four Lanes End. There was no electricity in the average home in Manley until after the Second World War. Up to that time candles and paraffin lamps were used. Cheshire County Council bought and built farms for ex. service men after the First World War and let them at subsidised rents. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, Manley Common. The school was the centre of all activities and acted as Church and Social Centre for country dances until the Village Hall was built. Life was very hard for some country folk at the beginning of the Century. Mr. Fletcher recounts that his mother who had been widowed and left with three small children, was advised to seek Parish Relief. She walked to Frodsham with her eldest child aged 6 and asked for help. She explained she had half a loaf and was told to return only after that was eaten. The widow returned to Manley with the child and vowed never to seek aid again. She washed and cleaned for others and worked very hard to be self supporting. Albert Fletcher worked on the land for Mr. Howarth after leaving school. He worked 7 days a week with one day off every 7 weeks. The hours were 5.45 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on weekdays; 5.45 a.m. to noon and 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 5.45 a.m. to noon on Sunday. His pay was 17/6 d per week rising to 24/6d. It was Mr. Howarth who started the Manley Clog dancer group which is still in existence. They began in 1934 and have won notable awards. Mr. Fletcher went from Howarth's to work for a Mr. Pearson as a chauffeur gardener and, after doing service in the Second World War, worked on the railway at Mouldsworth Station as a porter. Mrs. Fletcher worked at Ravelstone on the domestic staff which including a cook, kitchen maid, parlour maid, housemaid and undermaid to the housemaid. She recalled that few people went out of Manley, even for shopping. Mobile shops would call and one could buy most things at the front door. So Manley was a very close community and everyone within the village knew each other since the most common form of transport was one's own feet. George Ford Manley Old Hall. Mr. Ford recalls the changes in farming. The fine sight of 3 shire horses pulling a plough or binder has gone for ever and been replaced by men driving tractors. Milking machines introduced in the '30's enabled 2 men to do the work of 6 in half the time. Although his own farm has increased to three times its size since 1940 the work force on it is the same and without the former essential use of casual labour. In 1920 there were 30 registered agricultural holdings ranging from 5 to over 300 acres. Now there are approximately 8. Small units were often uneconomic and incomes had to be supplemented by other means. When less labour was needed on the land many worked in local industry such as BICC In doing so they gained a higher standard of living with more pay and less arduous work. The agricultural labourer's work was hard and poorly paid. Small holdings were often either swallowed up by larger farming units or altered to private dwellings by newcomers earning their livelihood outside agriculture. In the past the fertility of the land had been maintained by a strict rotation of the crops and stock. The stock was a source of food and fertiliser. Now with different methods, machinery and artificial fertiliser, milk production has increased 4 times. Polythene sheets stretched over the soil to warm, it speeds the growth of potatoes. The priority crops of milk, potatoes and wheat however, remain the same. During the war years the army and evacuees billeted in the area used the Village Hall for recreation. An antiaircraft gun emplacement Just outside the parish boundary in Alvanley was part of the defence of the petrochemical plant at Stanlow and of industries in Liverpool. Aircraft were hit and one crashed in Sugar Lane and another in Hartford. Shrapnel is still being ploughed up. At times a 16 hour day was being worked on the farm. Prisoners of war were used to help but the need for mechanisation was urgent and eventually satisfied, so that the nation's food supply was not endangered in war. The new methods and machinery changed the quiet slow pace of life and comradeship between man and beast. Greater efficiency and production was achieved with fewer men. The speed of machinery on land and road has tended to isolate people who mixed more naturally and widely when they walked and talked. Joe Houlbrooke Formerly of Low Farm Mr. Joe Houlbrooke said that the farm came into the Houlbrooke family in 1912. He pointed out that the low flat lands of Cheshire have a clay subsoil so land is good for rearing cattle and not so good for crops of potatoes or cereals. On Low Farm are a number of stretches of water. The depressions in which the water lies occur sometimes naturally and sometimes from digging out marl, a type of blue clay which was used instead of lime on the land. Clay was also excavated to make bricks for building. Recently one pool has been enlarged for wind surfing. The land drains into Peckmill Brook which is a boundary. In olden times the heavy work of digging land drain trenches was done by convicts who were brought from local Jails. On the farm is a pool called Shell Pond which has never been known to vary much in its water levels regardless of the weather. Every so often it deposits shells on its banks. Presumably an underground stream flows and disturbs the shells hidden in its depths and carries them to the surface of the pool. H. Challenor New Pale Farm. The Challenor family took over New Pale Farm in 1929. The move took 3 weeks to complete. The help and goodwill of their farming neighbours was characteristic of the times. Mr. Cleaves sent a pair of horses to help with the ploughing and Mr. J. K. Wright sent a team to do the harrowing. In the '30's a tractor was introduced, which together with 7 horses did the work on the farm. The fields of about 12 acres were infested with rabbits. The farm workers used rabbits as their main source of meat until 1957 when myxomatosis eradicated the rabbit population. In 1967 foot and mouth disease swept through Cheshire and in December of that year the cattle on the farm was slaughtered. After a few months the Ministry of Health gave the farm a health clearance and re-stocking of rattle began. The judicious use of sprays to control weeds and diseases, and fertilisers to enrich the soil, has enabled the farm to quadruple its output per acre. New Pale Lodge This is a much older building than New Pale Farm which has moved from its original siting. It is alleged that Oliver Cromwell and later John Wesley, who founded Methodism, stayed there during their travels. It has of course since been modernised. William Blake Buck Oak. The Blake Family have lived in Manley for five generations. William Blake was born at Fernbank Farm. The previous owner of the farm, a timber merchant felled all trees from the land for his business. Produce from the land was insufficient to keep the Blake Family so William Blake was bound as an apprentice plumber in Ellesmere Port. In his youth his family provided their own entertainment, especially in winter when they would sing to a concertina or play games of draughts or cards. They would never play on a Sunday when they always went to church. He treasures a beautiful wooden bowl made from a pew taken from the Primitive Methodist Church in Tarvin Road when it was closed down. His parents had seen people on Manley Common wearing wooden yokes to ease the carrying of pails of water from wells. It is recorded that in 1934 16 families were carrying water a distance of up to 2 miles for cattle and domestic use. Swan's Well was near Manley Common and Wanderer's Well in Newton Hollows. The fields have names some of which go back to the 14th Century. All the fields names are descriptive. The Lay Field, running from the line of poplar trees near Sugar Lane to North Lodge could be used by all who wished to lay or pasture their cattle. Birchen Hey contained a water course near Birch Hill. Pie Hey was a field with many magpies. Dunge Field was the field near Manley Old Hall manured with animal dung. Harold Oldfield Quarry Cottages . The Oldfield Family have spent over 100 years in the area. The late Mr. Harold Oldfield spent all his working life on Manor Farm and justly received, before his death, a gold medal for devoting over 60 years service to agriculture. Although the present Mr. Harold Oldfield did not. take up farming as a career, his son has entered into it. Mr. Oldfield remembers as a child walking up and down Sugar Lane to Manley School and playing with other children in the quarry which was then a delightful nature reserve. He recalls the fun they had in a football match played on Good Fridays in the morning, after Church, between the top end of Manley near the Common and the bottom end of Manley near the quarry. The referee was always Harry Taylor, the Blacksmith. Neville Johnson Parkwood Farm. The Johnson family has farmed in Manley for generations and has recently built and started a new farm in Sugar Lane called Parkwood, after moving from Lower Hall Farm where they lived for many years. PLACES AND PEOPLE Manley Village School This stone building has not greatly changed since it was first built in 1855 by Capt. Fox of Manley Hall although the atmosphere under the present [recent] headmaster Gareth Jones has altered radically as has the curriculum. Extracts from the School Diary show: 1. On October 10th 1899 it was opened after day school as an Evening Continuation School. The headmaster Mr. Hermon and his wife gave the 16 adults who attended, instruction in Commercial Arithmetic, Domestic Economy, Human Physiology and Commercial Geography. 2. In early 1900's over 100 children attended the day school. 3. In 1922 the school was closed for 1 month because of a serious outbreak of measles. 4. On 8th July 1925 the School was closed for a day to enable the children to see King George V who was visiting Frodsham. 5. On 26th February 1927 in a very severe winter no children came to school. 6. On 29th June 1927 the senior children were taken to Colwyn Bay to see the total eclipse of the sun. 7. In the 1920's a teacher travelled to and from school on a bicycle a distance of 13 miles. In 1952 Manley Church of England School was closed for a period of three months whilst it was refurbished and subsequently it reopened as Manley County Primary School under the responsibility of Cheshire County Council. Whilst the school was altered children attended Alvanley School. Mr. Hermon the headmaster at the turn of the century is remembered as a dapper gentleman with a waxed moustache. He was a disciplinarian who demanded high standards and enforced them by the use of the cane. His wife and two junior assistants helped to teach the 3 R's and inculcate the importance of respect to elders. Mr. Hermon was keep on nature study and gave lessons to the boys in gardening as an essential skill in growing food. He would also walk the children to Delamere Forest to find wild plants, stop at the little shop opposite to the Tudor Cafe and buy a bucket of sweets. These he would toss in the air and watch the children scramble for them. Later he and the children would go to Delamere Station to catch the train back to Mouldsworth. The infants, middle school and top class were held in different sections of the big downstairs classroom. Slates and chalk were used by the children rather than paper and pen and pencil. When pens were used they were dipped into a white inkpot filled with ink from a big bottle. The pens had a fine metal nibs and great care had to be taken with handwriting. Village Hall completed and opened in June 1926. Mr. Howarth, the first chairman of Manley Parish council, was the driving force for the building of the Village Hall and he donated the field on which it was built. Mrs. Stephen Gladstone was a keen supporter of a local focal centre and emphatic that it should be of a permanent construction. Everyone within the village was inspired to help. The money was raised entirely by voluntary effort, in garden fetes, whist drives and dances. Although J.D. Davis did the actual building he had an eager voluntary workforce willing to help in any way to cut costs, speed the work, and keep a keen eye on all aspects of the work. The energetic communal spirit caused local volunteers to dig out the footings for the foundations. All the local farmers used horses, carts and available equipment to move bricks delivered at Mouldsworth Station to the site on Tarvin Road. Mr. Astbury would go in his lunchtime to pick up mortar from BICC and bring it to the site. The brick building was made sufficiently high to allow the playing of badminton and with enough capacity to house a billiard table. Keen billiard players managed, eventually to get an extension to the hall so that their billiard table could be rehoused and they could continue their game regardless of other activities. A good bowling green and tennis courts provided amenities for members, and eventually a licensed bar. Mr. Howarth, who had always been interested in folk music , saw a group of Morris Dancers perform near Bolton. He was greatly impressed, and, fired with enthusiasm, arranged at his own expense for a teacher to come and train the Manley Men. The Manley Morris Dancers were formed in 1934 and are still performing. There is a group of 30 who practice in the winter weekly at the Village hall to the sound to a concertina, side drum and big drum and the jingle of bells with which they adorn themselves. When they dance outside they wear clogs with irons so that the tap of their feet is clearly heard. They perform in summer to a very high standard and were the winners of the Welsh International Dance Festival in 1953. Social evenings of folk music and dancing are still held at the Village Hall. The Village Hall has always been well used, initially by local people who would walk or ride there on bikes. Now people come from farther afield by car to participate in the thriving billiards, bowls, tennis and other activities held at the Village Hall. Manley Quarry Manley Quarry was one of the few quarries in Cheshire which produced a white as opposed to red sandstone. In reality the newly hewn stone, which could be extracted in very large blocks, was a buff cream colour which weathered to grey. The stone takes a fine ashlar finish and is readily carved and finished especially when new. Its weathering qualities are excellent for it does not flake or decay like the red sandstone. Although it has been used for local buildings it has also been used for many major ones such as Thomas Harrison's great neoclassical castle at Chester, Chester Town Hall, Eaton Hall, St. Michael's Church and the Trustee Savings Bank in Chester. The great exploitation of the quarry began around 1790 and from that time to 1820 the County Justices spent a good deal of money on the improvement of roads around Manley to facilitate the transport of the stone. It was also used in the construction of railway bridges and in the Manchester Ship Canal. Local men worked in the quarry, including Mr. Keeling's grandfather whose early death at the age of 40 may have been attributed to quarry dust. There was an accident in the quarry with injury and death to some men and it was subsequently closed down. It was reopened by Mr. Armitage for extraction of stone with which he could extend his house in the 1920's and then left so that it developed into a natural nature reserve. Unfortunately it was subsequently used as a rubbish tip. Crossley and Liverpool Sanatoria NOW known as Crossley Hospital East and West. Two hospitals were built in the early 1900's on a lovely high spot in Kingswood looking South over open country towards the Mersey Estuary. Both were to be used for the open air treatment of tuberculosis which was prevalent in the industrial areas of Liverpool and Manchester. Liverpool Sanatorium was built in 1901 by Lady Wilcox and Sir V.P. Hartley for workers from Liverpool. Mr. Crossley, who owned a light engineering firm in Manchester, paid for another larger hospital to be built in 1905 for the Manchester workers, which became known as Crossley Hospital. Modern medicine and better living conditions have almost wiped out the disease. The hospitals came under the NHS and have been used for the treatment of the elderly and convalescent patients. Their future as hospitals is in doubt. Manley Hall There was a farm on the site of Manley Hall when Thomas Lowten, an eminent lawyer, purchased the property around 1800 and converted it into a more luxurious country house. This was left to Capt. Fox who rebuilt Manley Hall in 1840 with stone from Manley Quarry and created a small estate and park. He had a small wooden footbridge built over Manley Lane to the grounds of Manley Cottage where his estate manager lived. After Capt. Fox died his estate was administered by executors and Capt. Heron came to live at Manley Hall. Capt. Heron kept beagles in Kennel Wood and enjoyed cock fights. His widow lived at Manley Hall until her death when the property was left empty. Mr. D.A. Colt Williams, barrister owned it for a while. About 1912 the Rev. Stephen Gladstone, younger son of Victorian Prime Minister W. E. Gladstone, bought Manley Hall with about 25 acres and decided to modernise it and install electric lighting. He added a small chapel in the front of the house which has subsequently been taken down. Stephen Gladstone's son, a bachelor called Albert, became a director of the Bank of England and spent much of his time in London, but his sister and mother remained at Manley Hall until the 1939-1945 war when the army took over the property. Mrs Stephen Gladstone took an active interest in the building of Manley Village Hall and helped to raise funds for it. She was commissioner for guides and held an annual guide camp on the cricket field opposite to Fox Hollow entrance. She also held an annual staff dance at Manley Hall to which members of staff were allowed to bring one guest. Manley Old Hall The farm is built on an ancient site. In Tudor times there was a settlement with a moat and a dove cote to ensure a ready supply of fresh meat. There is a stone tablet in the brickwork inscribed "In memory of John, son of Robert and Elizabeth Davies of Ashton 1660". The major part of the present building was erected in the 18th Century. Manor Farm The original barn of Manor House was converted to a dwelling and called Manor Farm. Manley Cottage This was originally bought as a summer house by Mr. Armitage who subsequently reopened Manley Quarry and extracted stone from it to extend his home and take up permanent residence there. His wife's sister, Lady Asquith, WPS married to Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister 1908 - 1916. It is an odd coincidence that they should be living on the opposite side of Manley Lane to the son of another Prime Minister - W. E. Gladstone - who was four times in office in the latter half of the 19th Century. The gardens of Manley Cottage became noted for their beauty. Within the grounds is the site of an old windmill. Ravelstone Ravelstone was built by Mr. Crossley and subsequently owned by the Howarth family. In the 1950s/60s the main house was divided into three and private houses were made of the out buildings consisting of the lodge, stable and indoor raquet court. The house is set in woodlands and early wild flowers. Village Church, St. John the Evangelist The village church was built in brick and dedicated in 1906. The cost was met by Capt. Fox who also gave the East window in memory of Esther Mary Fox. The font was given by the children of Manley. Post Office [now sadly closed – 2007] The post office is the only shop in Manley. It has moved from Moss Lane to Tarvin Road, and is now settled in Manley Lane under the cheerful management of Mrs Orr who took over in 1982. Mrs Hopley, the previous postmistress took over the post office in Manley Lane in 1946 and operated both the post office and shop from her sitting room until 1961 when an extension to the premises made the present post office and shop available to villagers. Mrs. Hopley remembers the numerous Irishmen who worked on the land, and came with a large part of their wages to the post office to post it back to their families in Ireland. Many of these men lived rough isolated lives and their only social event was a drink in the pub. Mrs. Hopley has lived all her life in the Manley area. Her father was head teamsman at Claim Farm and won a cup for being the best ploughman in the area. Her husband's great grandfather, who had survived an accident in Manley Quarry was murdered on his way home from the Railway Inn at Punham. Money he had been carrying after a transaction in the pub was stolen and his assailant, Samuel Griffiths, was the last man to be publicly hanged in Chester in April 1866. Fox’s Arms The only pub has reverted to a private house. Most of the trade went to the Station Hotel at Mouldsworth which was renamed Goshawk a few years ago. Delamere Forest A map of Delamere Forest dated 1627 shows it covered an area of 12,000 acres. Common lands encircled it like beads on a necklace, so that the commons of Manley, Mouldsworth, Ashton and Kelsall were adjacent to each other. Alvanley Common was on the Western boundary, the commons of Kingsley and Norley to the North, and Peover and Little Budworth to the East. The King held rights over forest lands. These rights were reflected in the name Kingswood. New Pale was probably used as an enclosed area for Royal Hunting Parties, and Rangeway Bank Farm built on a bank overlooking the forest would house a forest ranger. The Forest of Delamere, when more extensive, was at one time called Mara for that part overlooking the Mersey and Mondrum for that part lying to the East and South. On Manley Road not far from Claim Farm lies the base of Maiden's Cross in the bottom of a hedgerow. Maiden's Cross was an ancient cross demolished by Reformers in the 17th Century. It is said that maidens and swains of the area used the Cross as a meeting place. Ultimately the King's rights waned, more forest timber was used for building, so gradually the forest area diminished and farming lands increased. The present block of forest land enclosed 40 iceberg holes, These are peat filled hollows formed from floating raft vegetation called mosses. The mosses were individually named. There is a record of le Manleymosse in 1353- This area now called the Moss, is well outside the forest. Between 1820 and 1848 the forest was well drained and planted with beech oak, sweet chestnut and larch, but the crop was poor. The Forestry Commission took over from the Crown in 1922 and gradually Delamere has been planted with Corsican Pine and Scotch Pine to create a timber reserve. It is an important recreational site in the North West and a resource for education, particularly for young local naturalists who have a group based at Fox Howl called Cheshire Watch. Roads Country lanes have been widened and surfaced with tarmac to accommodate transport. A turnpike road, which ran from Alvanley through Manley to Simmonds Hill was particularly dangerous. The traveller had to pay his charge at the toll gate, which was at the top of the hill, for the upkeep of the road which then was maintained privately. Danger was diminished when the road width was trebled in 1930. Manley Lane is said to be part of an old salt track going from Northwich to Chester via Bridge Trafford to avoid paying tolls on the more direct route through Kelsall and may well be on the line of the old Salterstrete. A few people can remember it having just wheel tracks and a grass pad in the centre for the horses to grip on when hauling loads. Families Although some families have gone or changed places and new ones have come there is not a great difference in the population as shown in the following table:- Population 1852 62 houses 479 people 1891 296 1984 388 registered electors. There has been a phenomenal rate of change in the patterns and standards of life since 1926 when the Village Hall was built. The general pattern from 'hand and horse’ to 'man and machine' has reduced manual labour and increased leisure. Manley will have a diamond Jubilee in 1986 to celebrate the building of the Village Hall and its Social Club will enter the future confident in the knowledge that it will continue to draw people to its many activities. The village of Manley with its fields, farms, woodlands and rolling landscape, and views of the Mersey, distant hills and mountains, remains an attractive place in which to live. Antiquities Records CHESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL SITES AND MONUMENTS RECORD Record number: 902 Glead Hill Cob Manley: Map: SJ57SW Vale Royal Site of Bronze Age Mound Cremation Round barrow Burial site Comments: In 1879, John Harrison of New Pale, commenced levelling the site known as Houndslow, preparatory to building. Workmen came across a burial mound containing 12 large urns filled with burnt bones. These were broken during removal, but a small incense cup survived. Also found were 3 barbed flint arrowheads, a flint scraper, a fragment of a flint knife & a bronze pin. Pre 1939 a box containing the finds from the barrow were discovered in the attic of New Pale Farm. Fragments of 4 late Bronze Age urns were given to the Grosvenor Museum, the remaining finds are in private hands. The incense cup is now lost. Vale Royal Borough Council Scheduled Ancient Monuments MONUMENT: Roman camp on Birch Hill 200m north west of Birchdale Farm PARISH: MANLEY COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 25714 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ52497388 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a Roman camp visible as a crop mark on aerial photographs in two fields on the south side of the road from Birchhill Cottages to Kingswood Lodge 200m north west of Birchdale Farm. No standing remains survive but the differential growth of crops over the fills of buried ditches is clearly visible on aerial photographs. The camp's enclosing ditch is visible as a crop mark and appears to be about 2m wide, traceable over the two longer sides of a rectangle and showing the characteristic curved profile at the east corner and the west corner. The ditches measure 150m along the longer sides running east west and 120m along the shorter southern side. The road has interrupted the northern side and corner and the north corner has been destroyed by it. The south corner may have been damaged by the removal of a pylon and subsequent replacement of the topsoil at this point in the recent past. There are no visible traces of entrances in the ditch. The surface of the road and stone hedge foundations and a pylon situated 10m to the east of the monument on the south east side are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Roman camps are rectangular or sub-rectangular enclosures, which were constructed and used by Roman soldiers either when out on campaign or as practice camps; most campaign camps were only temporary overnight bases or few were used for longer periods. They were bounded by a single earthen rampart and outer ditch and in plan are always straight-sided with rounded corners. Normally they have between one and four entrances, although as many as eleven have been recorded. Such entrances were usually centrally placed in the sides of the camp and were often protected by additional defensive outworks. Roman camps are found throughout much of England, although most known examples lie in the midlands and north. Around 140 examples have been identified and, as one of the various types of defensive enclosure built by the Roman Army, particularly in hostile upland and frontier areas, they provide an important insight into Roman military strategy and organisation. All well-preserved examples are identified as being of national importance. Although the site does not retain any upstanding remains, it is clearly visible on aerial photographs which show an almost complete ditch circuit on three sides. The site therefore retains significant remains below the topsoil, including debris from the earliest construction and use of the site in the fills of the ditch, and signs of the rampart and possibly preservation of an earlier soil level beneath it. The interior will have indications of the occupation pattern and pits for latrines as well as post holes where timber buildings may have been erected. The ground on the west corner is waterlogged providing a chance of good preservation of the remains in the fill of the ditch at this point. Overall, therefore, the monument will provide important information about the Roman military occupation of this region. Vale Royal Borough Council Scheduled Ancient Monuments MONUMENT: Glassworking remains in Glazier's Hollow, 330m south of Kingswood Cottage PARISH: MANLEY, DISTRICT: VALE ROYAL, COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 33880 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ53227240 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of a late medieval glassworking site in Delamere Forest. The site was identified in 1933 and partially excavated during 1933-5. The excavations revealed a dense concentration of glass fragments including painted glass imported to the site as cullet (scrap glass for remaking). In addition a glazed brick floor was uncovered and this may be a part of the original furnace floor. Crucible fragments confirm the presence of glassmaking here. Building stone on the site and reused material in the field walls bears traces of spilled glass. Associated with these remains were sherds of 15th century pots and a silver penny of Edward I. The site was further examined by excavation in 1947 and the report concluded that the area of the glassmaking debris covered about 12 sq m, and that there were probably more remains to be discovered in the immediate vicinity. The excavators thought that the production of glass at this location was confined to window glass, both clear and coloured, and that the furnace was fired with wood from the forest around it. Work probably ceased here when the use of wood was forbidden by law in royal forests in about 1615. However, there is a plan of the forest dating to 1627, which marks this site as 'Glassen House'. A concrete footbridge crossing the brook in the centre of the site is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Glass has been produced in England since the Roman period, although field evidence is scarce until the late medieval period. Wood was the main manufacturing fuel up to the early 17th century, so the industry was located in woodland areas, particularly the Weald. From about 1610, production shifted to the coalfields. Glass production requires three major components: silica, alkali and lime, together with colouring material for certain products and decolourisers for clear glass. Lead was also used in the production of certain types of glass during the Roman period and after the 17th century. The manufacturing process involves three stages, fritting, melting and annealing. Fritting was a common practice before the 19th century involving heating the main glass constituents to produce an unmolten material for grinding, melting and annealing. Melting involved the remelting of previously formed glass, and the production of new glass from raw materials. Until the late 19th century, glass was normally melted in pre-fired crucibles of refractory clay, on stone benches called sieges, within the melting furnace. Use of coal as the preferred fuel and automatic bottle-making machinery in the 1880s led to changes to the melting furnaces and the use of larger furnaces, hitherto conical structures over circular furnaces. Regenerative furnaces were developed in the 1860s, and tank furnaces for bulk melting quickly followed. Flat-glass production methods were made obsolete by the Pilkington float-glass system of 1959. The third process is annealing. Because the rapid cooling of molten glass can give rise to internal stresses, glass was treated in furnaces designed to heat the glass to a point where deformation begins, then cooled gradually. In the 19th century conveyors were introduced to take glass through a hot zone into cool air. Features on glass manufacturing sites include various types of furnaces, producer-gas plants for the making of gas from coke at 19th century glassworks, bottle-making machinery, blowing irons or pipes for blowing glass, glass residues and various buildings used as stores or warehouses. A total of 135 glass production sites (representing about 25% of the estimated national archaeological resource for the industry) have been identified as being of national importance. This selection, compiled and assessed though a comprehensive national survey of the glass industry, is designed to represent the industry's chronological depth, technological breadth and regional diversity, and to include all the better preserved glass sites, together with rare individual component features. The glass working remains in Glazier's Hollow, 330m south of Kingswood Cottage represent the only reliably located wood-fired glass furnace complex from the late medieval period in the northwest. It retains considerable potential for discovery of further glass making remains. The site is on land with full public access and footpaths both through the area and beside it, consequently it has a high profile as an educational and recreational resource for the community. ?? ?? ?? ??