This coat of arms high above the florist’s shop on Commercial Road relates to
Taylor and Field, textile manufacturers, who once operated from this building and many others nearby.
The building once had an arched entrance way for horses and carriages, and formed one side of an enclosed yard.
The Field family ( see below) had long been established as textile and later rug
manufacturers in Skelmanthorpe, operating from Tentercroft and Greenside Mills and buildings alongside the Triangle. Edwin Field built Pilling House on Pilling Lane,
and his son, John Thomas, built “Long Royds” next door.
The family were Wesleyans and strong supporters of the local Wesleyan chapel on Commercial Road.
The Field Family of Skelmanthorpe
Joseph Field (1754-1834), who married at High Hoyland in 1778, is the first of the family definitely to be involved in establishing a clothing company in Skelmanthorpe.
At first just a weaver, he began business first at a small farm, Junction House, where the Huddersfield and Cumberworth roads met, later operating from the Garrett Buildings above the triangular area nearby. Eventually the processes of spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing cloth were undertaken at the Garrett, and Joseph brought his sons John and Charles into the business. It was Joseph who, in 1815, bought land to the south of Back Lane on which the first Methodist chapel, opened in 1816, was built. Unfortunately, the business failed in 1826 and the owners were declared bankrupt.
Soon afterwards, however, in 1828, John Field’s sons, Joseph, William and Thomas Field, who had become skilled in the trade, were able to set themselves up in business, reoccupying the family works and paying off some of their predecessors’ debts. The brothers’ partnership continued until 1840 when Thomas bought Elm House, which he developed into mills, and William moved to Brighouse, leaving Joseph to continue at the Garrett, whilst another brother, Richard, joined the business (see later).
This Joseph Field rebuilt and modernised the Garrett works in 1842, and in 1844 brought his own sons, William, Albert and John into the business which was now known as “Joseph Field & Sons”. They produced patterned cloths made of wool, silk and cotton. Joseph died in 1868, but his sons continued until Albert’s emigration to Australia for health reasons in 1872. The company now became known as “Messrs W. Field and J. Field – fancy cloth manufacturers, established 1873”. Once again the business failed and closed in 1885.
Meanwhile Thomas Field of Elm House carried on as a clothier and fancy weaver, converting outbuildings there to form a warehouse and dye works. Whilst still working with his brothers he had suffered a nasty robbery one night, on his way home on horseback from Huddersfield market, when he was robbed of over £800. He subsequently died young in 1845, leaving his son Humphrey, then only 16 years old, to take over the works, which he did guided by his mother and his uncle Richard. Humphrey succeeded so well, buying a steam engine and power looms, that he was able to live the life of a gentleman, whilst ensuring that his son Harry familiarised himself with the work, and it was Harry who took over on his father’s death in 1887. Harry, however, left for Bradford after a serious quarrel with his mother in 1890, so it was up to his younger brother, Frank-Wilson to take over and rename the company “F. W. Field & Co.”. Frank died at the young age of 36, leaving his younger brother, Ernest-Barber Field to carry on, which he did until 1919, when he sold the company in order to retire, so ending 127 years of cloth production at Elm House.
Humphrey’s younger brother, Edwin (1835-1901) also manufactured cloth, having bought Tentercroft, once owned by his uncle James, together with its dye house. The company made cloth for skirts, shirts and floor rugs initially, but later concentrated on Welsh flannels. It was Edwin who built ‘Pilling House’ for his family. In 1897 he transferred the business to his three sons, Edgar, John Thomas and Charles Edwin Field. The eldest of these, Edgar, died before his father, but not before he and John Thomas had installed power looms at Tentercroft. It was John Thomas who bought land next to ‘Pilling House’ on which to build ‘Long Royds’, with entrances on both Pilling Lane and Commercial Road. John Thomas was a member of the U.D.C., a director of Skelmanthorpe Gas Company and, like all his family, a member of the Wesleyan chapel. He built the Cottage Homes for the elderly in Pickles Lane in 1913, and when he died, in 1938, left money to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the National Children’s Home and the trustees of Skelmanthorpe Methodist church for the maintenance of the building.
The third brother, Charles Edwin, attended the Wesleyan College in Sheffield, like Edgar before him, and also Huddersfield Technical College after joining the family business. He had the idea of introducing mohair into the manufacture of tablecloths, curtains and rugs. After his mother’s death, he and his family moved into ‘Pilling House’. Once John Thomas had retired, he concentrated on the production of rugs and tablecloths rather than just cloth, expanding the business, which by 1924 employed over 400 workers. He too strongly supported the Wesleyan chapel and in 1909 also loaned money for the Liberal Club to be built. He left money in his will too to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the National Children’s Home and the Wesleyan chapel. His son, Thomas Edwin, succeeded his father, but the 1930s depression and the Second World War (when the Air Ministry took over half of the mill) affected production. Nevertheless, the company, which by now concentrated on rug production, was a major employer locally. By now, Thomas Edwin’s son, Richard Edwin, had joined the company and a huge change in production from woven to tufted rugs was undertaken in 1975, but huge loans had to be taken out to do so, and these couldn’t be repaid. The receivers were called in and the company sold to Fogarty’s in 1986, the end of an era at Tentercroft.
Going back several generations, Richard Field, born in 1804, the son of John Field, had also worked in the family business from a young age, but at 14 became apprentice to William Marsden at Greenside, eventually marrying Marsden’s daughter, Ruth, and taking full control of the business, which he gradually changed from fancy weaving to shawl production. Again a staunch Methodist, he was also involved in the running of the Old Town School and Sunday School. His son, Samuel, inherited the business. He had, like his cousins, attended Sheffield Wesleyan College. In 1861 he expanded the Greenside works. He employed, and later took into partnership, the designer, Thomas Gothard Bottrill, forming the company “Field and Bottrill” in 1872, concentrating on pile fabric and astrakhan production. But an import duty imposed by the United States government in 1889 badly affected the company. Samuel was a trustee and secretary for the Weslyan chapel and, when the building became dilapidated, helped erect a new one on the same site. He was a member of the local school board and the water board too. Having no direct heir, he brought his nephew, Percy Richard Jackson, into the company and it was he who steered the company to safety, taking on a partner, Francis Child, in 1901 (although the name “Field and Bottrill” remained). It was, however, taken over by the Keighley company, Haggas, in 1967.
Much more recent is this metal fencing protecting cottages also on Commercial Street. It depicts figures engaged in sporting activities and games, musical instruments and flowers.