Kirklees Waymark Sculpture
This unusual sculpture (pictured) can no longer be seen in the car parking area of Cliffe Woods Park. Created in 1994 by Simon Todd as a Kirklees Waymark Sculpture it was called “Into the Woods” and symbolised the close relationship between the people of the area and the wildlife and landscape of the woods. It has been replaced by a new sculpture of sturdier stone construction by sculptor Ryan James. Cliffe Woods Park was laid out by Hardy Beanland, a local mill owner and the woods are now owned by Kirklees Council.
Pack Horse Bridge
Pack horse bridge over the River Dearne at Park Mill, Clayton West. The Pack Horse Bridge is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It was once a pack horse track crossing, before the old turnpike road was constructed.
Spring Grove Mill
The Mills were built for William Norton (1791-1864), one of the four sons of Benjamin Norton, clothier, who ran Cuttlehurst Mill at Highbridge. The family originated in High Hoyland and that is where William went to school. All four brothers learnt the clothing trade from their father and all four subsequently ran their own textile mills. William was determined to build his own mill rather than manage an existing one, like some of his brothers, and once he had enough knowledge and experience looked around for a suitable site not too far away. A good water supply was essential but existing companies or individuals owned the water rights on the river Dearne nearest to Cuttlehurst, so the site for his mill was determined by where he could legally access the river. On 22nd June 1822 he purchased two fields know as Far West Royds and Near West Royds together with three cottages, altogether just over 10 acres, for the sum of £890. Work on building the mill began at once, a stream and grove of trees on the site giving the mill its name.
By 1826 there stood a 5 storey high stone spinning mill with an extra storey in the roof space for drying and tentering the cloth, a unique idea at the time meaning this process was no longer dependent on the weather outdoors. There was also a gasmeter and engine house, a dye house and a pressing shop, along with the three stone cottages and their occupants. At first William lived in a former stable attached to the cottages, until the house he was having built for himself on the site was completed. This became known as Clayton Grange and later as Spring Grove House.
The mill was a fine handsome building, the envy of other mill owners at the time, but it was completed just as there was a downturn in the once thriving market for what it produced, fancy patterned waistcoat fabrics. William had borrowed heavily to build the mill, using his father and some of his brothers as creditors. But they were going through hard times too, being in the same business, so were unable to help further, and William ended up being arrested for debt. He made a daring escape from custody at one point (see Denby Dale – Bagden Hall). Eventually he had to go to work for another mill owner at Almondbury who appreciated his skills and know-how, but meanwhile Spring Grove Mill had to be disposed of. It was passed over in 1832 to one of the Nortons' creditors, John Wood and his partner Charles Walker, worsted spinners of Bradford, who went on to employ some 264 men and 357 women there for a while until the Wood family retired to Hampshire. John Wood jnr. was a friend of Richard Oastler , land agent at Fixby Hall, who was campaigning against the slave trade in the West Indies. It is suggested that Wood may have brought Oastler's attention to the slavery of children working in this country's textile mills and Oastler then turned his attention to their plight, campaigning with some success. Meanwhile Spring Grove Mill had its own schoolroom with mill library attached, until the National School was built in Scissett, as employers were obliged to provide some education for their child labourers, some as young as 8.
Walker sold the business in December 1869 to Messrs. Robert Beanland & Co., worsted spinners of Bradford for £8,500. By this time there were 22 workers' cottages on the site as well as Grove Cottage which henceforth was always occupied by the head of office staff at the mill. Beanland's produced both woollen and worsted cloths to start with but eventually just worsteds using wool from Australia and New Zealand. The family lived in Spring Grove House and integrated into the social life of the district. They believed in treating their workers well.
Business was so good that from 1895 to about 1906 the company had to rent part of Nortonthorpe Mill to accommodate all their machinery. Beanland's became a limited company in 1904 and were able to buy out a couple of Halifax spinning mills in the 1950s. In the 1960s they partnered Messrs. Joseph Lumb & Co. Ltd. of Huddersfield to form Allied Textiles, but both companies ceased trading in 1975. Spring Grove Mill was sold to rug and carpet manufacturers Phoenix Textiles Ltd. The old mill chimney, a local landmark since 1901, was demolished in 1979.