GAUXHOLME CORN MILL

Gauxholme Fold, Walsden

In early times, Gauxholme had a considerable population, much more so than Todmorden. The village stands at the junction of the road from Bacup and had half a dozen roads leading out of the village to various places. At the entrance to Gauxholme Fold, there was an ancient water mill, used for corn milling. It was next to an old inn, the Black Bull, and both were situated on the old highway. When the railway was constructed in the late 1830's, a viaduct was necessary to carry the railway over the roads, canal, river and village. The positioning of the viaduct meant that the old mill had to be taken down and rebuilt a little further back.

	Gauxholme Fold would originally have been an arrangement of old cottages built in a square, with the mill and inn included within the square. The mill and inn have gone, but a couple of the original cottages remain today.

One of the early 18th Century owners of the mill was Nicholas Fielden, the Quaker son of Joshua and Martha Fielden of BOTTOMLEY. Nicholas married Ann Helliwell and lived at Edge End farm in Todmorden. Ann died young, leaving Nicholas with three very small children. He married again but died himself shortly afterwards, in 1714, leaving the three children in the care of their new stepmother. His brother, John Fielden of Todmorden Hall, took responsibility for the orphaned children by continuing to run the corn mill at Gauxholme and putting all the profit in to a trust fund for them. There is more about this family HERE.

A later owner was Robert Hardman of Butcher Hill in Walsden. He seems to have owned a considerable amount of land and buildings at Gauxholme, Watty and elsewhere. He left part of these assets to his son, Robert junior, born 1785. Robert junior became wealthy, having the freehold on most of Gauxholme, including the corn mill with a croft, reservoirs and banks, a cotton mill, the Black Bull Inn, the NAVIGATION INN, two blocks of cottages and a quantity of land, barns and stables.	Gauxholme corn mill in the foreground

He was a tall, portly man, an English Country Gentleman, often seen walking about wearing yellow-topped boots with spurs. His great hobby was the local militia, a sort of olden day Home Guard. He was a Captain and led the troops on many celebrations. He spent most of his time playing at being a soldier, to the detriment of his estate. Whilst he was not a spendthrift, he was happy to devolve all his business responsibilities to others. This neglect caused concern within his family, as the wealth was disappearing because of his inattention. Robert's younger brother James was the local surgeon, and in the end, Dr. James Hardman took the Gauxholme estates away from Robert, paid off the debts, and allowed Robert a pension for the rest of his life. In 1851, Robert is living at Millwood, described as an annuitant. He died in 1861. Dr. James Hardman died in 1873 at his home on York Street, and the mill changed hands at that time.

During the Hardmans' time as owners of the mill, there were various tenants. Bell Parkin was the miller in 1794 before leaving to take up a post at INCHFIELD MILL. James Pearson and James Thompson were there for a year or so. They were followed by a malster, Richard Eubank.

Harehill House, Burnley Road, Todmorden	Next came the Greenwood family, originally from Harehill House in the Burnley Valley. William Greenwood and his brothers, Thomas, John and Robert, were already extensive farmers and corn dealers when they took on Gauxholme Mill, running Watty Corn Mill and Stoneswood Higher Mill at the same time. William, Robert and John lived at Watty Place with their sister Sarah and a couple of female servants. In 1851, they employed 13 men at their corn mills.

William, the oldest, was a teetotaler and a keen member of the society that was launched to establish St. Mary's as the true Parish Church in place of St. Chad's in Rochdale. Such was his sobriety that, contrary to custom, he refused to allow a gang of grass mowers a jar of ale as part payment for their work. He ended up with very long grass.

The ordinary working class folk generally disliked the Greenwood brothers. They were staunch supporters of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, which was deeply unpopular in Todmorden and aroused great opposition. When the newly formed Board of Guardians made its first demand for money, (£50 was required from the Todmorden tax payers), the township refused to pay. The full story of this can be read HERE. The upshot was rioting and mob warfare.

On November 14th 1838, hundreds of local men, armed with clubs and other weapons, assembled at Mankinholes and then proceeded to visit the homes of the men who served on the Board of Guardians and other prominent supporters of the new Act. The mob attacked the houses, breaking windows, doors and furniture. William Greenwood, at Watty Place in Dulesgate, and John Greenwood at Harehill House, were two of the people singled out by rioters seeking vengeance. At the time, a local girl recorded in her diary:

"There was a mob arose in Todmorden November 14th. which broke several windows & sundry other articles at Todmorden Hall. Some windows were broke at the Black Swan Inn, some in Dulesgate. About 14 persons were sent to Wakefield on account of mischief done in Mankinholes, 2 to Manchester from Dulesgate. Both horse & foot soldiers were fetched to settle the disturbance. About 150 constables sworn."

Thomas died a young man aged 35 at Harehill House. William remained at Watty Place until his death in 1856, aged 66. John returned to Harehill House, where he died in 1868 aged 67. Robert was the only one to marry. His wife was Mary Barker. They lived at the old home at Harehill House, where he died in 1873 aged 66. He left Mary a widow with one son and two daughters.

In 1855, the Todmorden Flour Mill Society was established at a public meeting held in the Oddfellows Hall. Mr. T. Barker, a bookseller, was in the chair for the occasion. This was a new sort of co-operative and was supported by the Bridge End Co-Op. The Society immediately took on the tenancy of Gauxholme Corn Mill.

At the time it was a normal practice (although illegal) to add a small amount of alum to the flour to make it white. This was more popular than the natural darker colour. The first manager of the Todmorden Flour Mill was a Mr. Hawkes. He instigated the practice of adding alum to the flour, but after some misdemeanour, he was sacked and replaced by Thomas Fielden who continued with the practice. Mr. Hawkes reported Thomas to the police, and in December 1857, Thomas Fielden was brought before the Magistrates at Todmorden, charged with adulterating flour. The case was proven and Todmorden Flour Mill was fined £10 plus costs.

Although the Society reverted to milling pure flour, its reputation never recovered and it went bankrupt in 1861. I have no idea about the safety of the flour produced at the mill, save to say that in 1859, a local girl wrote in her diary:

Isaac Fielden of Shade died June 2nd. with eating Gauxholme flour. 

There were no further tenants until 1866 when William Hargreaves ran a business making shuttles, but almost immediately, Wheelhouse & Shaw took over as corn millers, and then changed to Wheelhouse & Howarth. During their time, the miller was George Taylor from Sowerby Bridge, helped by his son Joseph Taylor. The Taylor family lived next to the mill at Gauxholme Fold.	Gauxholme Fold. The mill is next to the first chimney. Photo by kind permission of Frank Woolrych

Joseph Howarth was the next tenant from about 1880. Joseph was the last to run the mill as a corn mill, finishing in 1881.

The mill remained empty for about 10 years, after which it was converted to picker manufacture, run by Stansfield & Co. and then John Dugdale & Co. until 1899. On 15th December 1899, there was a serious fire, reported as follows:

Leeds Mercury 16th Dec 1899

Destructive Fire at Todmorden.

A disastrous fire occurred at Todmorden last night. Two men observed a light in the picker works at Gauxholme Fold of Dugdale and Lolo. An alarm was raised, and the Corporation Fire Brigade quickly appeared on the scene. The premises, three storey buildings were then enveloped in flames, and it was impossible to save them. A good supply of water was obtained from the river close by. The brigade rendered good service, and saved the adjoining property, but the premises was completely gutted. Several cottage houses were threatened, and furniture was got out. The final damage was about £3,000, not insured. The cause of the outbreak is unknown.

(submitted by John Alan Longbottom)

This was the sad end to the checkered life of one of the oldest mills of the town. It was never re-built as a mill, although a relatively new red brick building now occupies the site. Just a small handful of the original cottages of the Fold are still there, neighboured by other cottages built at a later date.

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