Whitfield Sike Mill lost in the cold February mistIt snowed last night so there was little point in starting our field drawings today – we took a day off and stayed warm!
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
11 years ago
Sunday, 28 February 2010
7. Field survey – 24 Feb
Whitfield Sike Mill lost in the cold February mistIt snowed last night so there was little point in starting our field drawings today – we took a day off and stayed warm!
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
6. Documentary Research Group – 17 Feb
This evening the Group met for their second meeting. The prospects for a long-term historical study of the parish are good, and individuals within the group are beginning to pool some interesting ideas on how the project can develop once the field survey is finished. We followed with a short introduction to palaeography. 
Jane ran a short workshop to help everyone “get their eye in” to reading old handwriting, and of course, set some homework!
Jane ran a short workshop to help everyone “get their eye in” to reading old handwriting, and of course, set some homework!Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
5. Field survey - 17th Feb
Determined to complete the gazetteer that we started last week, our team of volunteers split into two groups – one went back onto the moorside to sort out some queries and make sure nothing had been missed.
The Moor side team in hi-vis jackets set off into the mist....
The other group kept to the Reservoir side of the site, where much of the Mill once stood. We compiled a similar gazetteer of features – walls, concrete floors, rubble mounds, the mill dam, the pit (possibly a sluice or wheel pit), and even a garden path.
The Mill side team survey remains of the old Mill at the side of the ReservoirThe weather was kinder to us this week. Nevertheless the freezing temperatures finally got the better of us and we adjourned again to the Elm Tree. Happily we had virtually finished on both sides of the wall and were pleased with our efforts.
Boz: "So when do we go on a PROPER walk, then?"
Jane lunnon, UWHG archivist
4. Field survey - 10 February 2010
Having been frustrated so many times by the cold weather conditions throughout January, at last the weather forecast promised today was a good day to start the field survey proper. Volunteers met in the car park at Embsay Reservoir, and despite the freezing cold we bravely set off up the bridle track towards the Mill site. A light dusting of snow on the ground made it all look rather pretty, and on a more practical level, helped to highlight the earthworks around the former mill ponds. We spent about 3 hours drawing up a gazetteer of man-made features we identified in the landscape on the Moor side, giving each a unique reference number, and roughly plotting them on a map of the area.
The snow and the wind came and went – every now and then the skies cleared and the sun came out, and just as we thought it was turning out to be a nice day, back came the snow and grey skies. 
Eventually as Embsay Crag disappeared under a thick blanket of fog, we decided enough was enough, and made our way back to the Elm Tree pub to thaw out.Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
3. Documentary Research gets underway – December 2009
The Documentary Research group have already made several visits to archives and record offices across Yorkshire – documents relating to Embsay are scattered surprisingly widely, partly because the parish used to lie within the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was later incorporated into the county of North Yorkshire. So far we have found relevant documents in archives at Skipton, Leeds, Bradford, Northallerton, Halifax and Wakefield. In tracking down these documents we have found the A2A online catalogue the National Archives Access to Archives; see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/ ) extremely helpful as a starting point.
So far, the majority of the documents we have come across are from the early modern period – that is, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – although we have also come across printed transcripts of earlier sources such as the Poll Tax of 1379. For the most part, the primary sources are providing us with a mass of data on property owners through several centuries of Embsay’s history.
We are also working on the parish registers, a copy of the tithe map of 1847 and references to the parish in the local newspaper, The Craven Herald and Pioneer (which takes us back to 1855).
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
So far, the majority of the documents we have come across are from the early modern period – that is, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – although we have also come across printed transcripts of earlier sources such as the Poll Tax of 1379. For the most part, the primary sources are providing us with a mass of data on property owners through several centuries of Embsay’s history.
We are also working on the parish registers, a copy of the tithe map of 1847 and references to the parish in the local newspaper, The Craven Herald and Pioneer (which takes us back to 1855).
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
2. Setting up the Doc Research Group – September 2009
In order to inform the field survey which was planned to begin in the New Year 2010, the Documentary Research Group was established in the autumn of 2009. Local Embsay residents were invited to join us for this, and a small but enthusiastic group formed, which is now very actively engaged in gathering a wide range of primary sources which may help us to better understand the history of the Whitfield Mill, and the development of industrial activity within the village, as well as up on the moor above.
On 29 September 2009, the new group made an exploratory walk around the Whitfield Mill site. We found plenty to think about, and several questions and issues were raised about the Mill, the development of the village and the impact of human activity on the landscape.
Our interest lies in the history of this area before 1900. Ten years ago a very comprehensive project was carried out by another local group who produced a range of resources to celebrate the Millennium, in which they traced the history of the parish during the Twentieth century. The results of this fascinating work can be seen in copies of their files now held at the Skipton Public Reference Library, including Monika Butler’s detailed account of the building of Embsay Reservoir at the beginning of the century (1900-1910).
On 29 September 2009, the new group made an exploratory walk around the Whitfield Mill site. We found plenty to think about, and several questions and issues were raised about the Mill, the development of the village and the impact of human activity on the landscape.
Our interest lies in the history of this area before 1900. Ten years ago a very comprehensive project was carried out by another local group who produced a range of resources to celebrate the Millennium, in which they traced the history of the parish during the Twentieth century. The results of this fascinating work can be seen in copies of their files now held at the Skipton Public Reference Library, including Monika Butler’s detailed account of the building of Embsay Reservoir at the beginning of the century (1900-1910).
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
1. UWHG Whitfield Project launched
The first walk with Miles - June 2009
Way back in June 2008 the Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group (UWHG) invited Miles Johnson from the Yorkshire Dales National Park to lead one of our summer evening walks – he chose to take us on a tour around the site of the former cotton mill beside the Reservoir above Embsay, near Skipton. Lying just within the boundaries of the National Park, the village of Embsay is a large commuter village, but was once a thriving industrial centre with spinning mills and a tobacco mill (which was later a tannery).
As Miles guided us around the reservoir and over to where Whitfield Sike Mill used to stand, he dropped several heavy hints to the effect that it would be really great if someone would research the history of the Mill, and carry out an archaeological survey of the area. We all agreed that the surviving features around the site, including the old mill ponds on the moor land behind the reservoir, were all very interesting.
Encouraged by our interest, Miles continued dropping those hints throughout the rest of the tour, and by the time we returned to the car park at the end of the walk, we knew we should seriously consider the possibility of adopting Whitfield Sike Mill as a UWHG project!
Several months of negotiations and discussion followed, with some Committee forays to investigate the potential of the site. The industrial archaeology enthusiasts among us became increasingly excited by the idea of the project and so UWHG finally offered to launch a Phase 1 study, which would consist of two strands – documentary research and a field survey.
Phase 1 is to focus upon the area immediately around the Mill site, up to the former sheepwash to the east, and onto the moorside, to include the old mill dam ponds. The site is divided into two parts – to the south is the grassland around the Embsay Reservoir which was opened in 1910 and now belongs to Yorkshire Water Authority. It’s a popular place for locals to walk their dogs, and is dominated by the last remaining standing building from the former Mill.
Way back in June 2008 the Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group (UWHG) invited Miles Johnson from the Yorkshire Dales National Park to lead one of our summer evening walks – he chose to take us on a tour around the site of the former cotton mill beside the Reservoir above Embsay, near Skipton. Lying just within the boundaries of the National Park, the village of Embsay is a large commuter village, but was once a thriving industrial centre with spinning mills and a tobacco mill (which was later a tannery).
As Miles guided us around the reservoir and over to where Whitfield Sike Mill used to stand, he dropped several heavy hints to the effect that it would be really great if someone would research the history of the Mill, and carry out an archaeological survey of the area. We all agreed that the surviving features around the site, including the old mill ponds on the moor land behind the reservoir, were all very interesting.
Encouraged by our interest, Miles continued dropping those hints throughout the rest of the tour, and by the time we returned to the car park at the end of the walk, we knew we should seriously consider the possibility of adopting Whitfield Sike Mill as a UWHG project!
Several months of negotiations and discussion followed, with some Committee forays to investigate the potential of the site. The industrial archaeology enthusiasts among us became increasingly excited by the idea of the project and so UWHG finally offered to launch a Phase 1 study, which would consist of two strands – documentary research and a field survey.
Phase 1 is to focus upon the area immediately around the Mill site, up to the former sheepwash to the east, and onto the moorside, to include the old mill dam ponds. The site is divided into two parts – to the south is the grassland around the Embsay Reservoir which was opened in 1910 and now belongs to Yorkshire Water Authority. It’s a popular place for locals to walk their dogs, and is dominated by the last remaining standing building from the former Mill.
This barn-like structure once acted as a storehouse for the cotton, but during the construction of the Reservoir was a base for the Navvy Mission Society, which aimed to provide a Christian ministry to the navvy workers. The more observant walkers will also notice that the boundary wall between the Reservoir area and the moor above, contains clear traces of the terrace of cottages that once stood here, built to house the mill workers. The houses themselves were demolished when the reservoir was built, but the blocked up windows can still be seen in the wall.
On the other side of the wall is the grouse moor belonging to the Bolton Abbey Estate. A popular bridleway lies nearby, heading up to Embsay Crag. It runs straight between three of the former mill ponds, which can be identified by their large embankments. A footpath branches off taking walkers down to the east end of the boundary wall and the site of a former sheepwash which now lies underneath a wooden footbridge.
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
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