(A) THE TEMPLE, OR BLACK DICK'S TEMPLE (see photo)
The Temple is located at the highest point of any of the walks round Lepton and Kirkheaton and so the views are of great interest and it is well worthwhile spending a little time picking out the villages, woodlands, mills, roads and buildings on the distant horizon. The building, standing as it does some 220m above sea level, is a prominent landmark and can be seen from many parts of Huddersfield and District. Built at a time when 'follies' and other interesting buildings were thought to enhance an estate, the Temple is a characteristically 18th century building and was probably built as a summer¬house. The huge cellars beneath may have been used for wine storage and cooling. Local legend connects the summerhouse with Sir Richard Beaumont who is reputed to have been wicked and who is well known locally as 'Black Dick'. The epithet 'Black' applied to Sir Richard is assumed to refer to the fact that the Beaumont family fortunes suffered during his lifetime. He is, in fact, reputed to have signed away on his death-bed, half of Huddersfield to the Ramsdens in settlement of a gambling debt. However, contemporary letters refer to him in terms of cordiality and admiration so the 'Blackness' of Dick may mean noth¬ing more or less than that he was a dark haired man of swarthy countenance. What is sure is that the Temple now so firmly associated with his name was built long after his death which occurred in 1631.
(B) THE BEAUMONTS AND WHITLEY HALL
The roadway (see photo) once led to the left to Whitley Hall, a fine Mansion which, alas, is no more, having been demolished in 1949 to make way for open cast mining. The Beaumont family had land interests in Lepton for more than 700 years and they were Lords of the Manor for nearly 450 years. William de Bellemonte, ancestor of the Beaumonts of Whitley, received ten oxgangs of land in Huddersfield from Roger de Laci, Lord of Pontefract. William accompanied Roger and Richard I on the Third Crusade and was present at the Siege of Acre. By the 16th century the family was established both at Whitley and Crosland and whilst in later centuries the most important branches lived at Whitley Hall and Lascelles Hall other Beaumonts with the status of yeoman, husbandman or mason were early established at Houses Hill, Gawthorpe and Rowley.
The oldest parts of the late mansion were the work of Sir Richard Beaumont who was born in 1574. Over the centuries various heads of the family made alterations and additions to the house which was an excellent example of an old English manor house. Hobkirk writing in 1868 says of it:"It stands advantageously on an elevated plane declining to the west but sheltered by higher ground on the east."
Inside, the house was distinguished by many graceful rooms noted for their wonderful plaster-work, panelling, decorated ceilings and marble mantel-pieces. The great dining hall was a magnificent room with what was probably an Adam ceiling ornamented with cupids and grapes.
In the 18th century two heads of the family served as High Sheriffs of Yorkshire and most of the sons held commissions in various Regiments of Foot. Much of the family's endeavour during the 17th and 18th centuries was spent in building up and administering the family estates and lands in Lepton, Dalton, Kirkheaton and Crosland and in the 19th century the then head of the family, Henry Fredrick Beaumont, gave the land for the building of Lepton Church and the National School and Beaumont Park near Crosland Moor was also his gift.
Mr. H.F. Beaumont, who, in 1881, lived at the Hall with his wife and eight daughters, was the last head of family to live there. The staff then included two governesses and fifteen servants. However, by the early years of the twentieth century, the house stood empty with many of the beautiful rooms dismantled and its grounds lapsing into a wilderness. Like so many other landed families the Beaumonts had found the upkeep of their ancestral home too expensive and so they had to let it go. Various schemes for the future of the house came to nothing but the district surrounding the house was rich in coal. The coal measures beneath the hall eventually sealed its fate as they could not be worked unless the house was demolished. And so a fine old English house started in the later years of the first Queen Elizabeth and full of architectural and historical interest ceased to exist.
As you walk down the hill through the Estate, you will see where a plantation of spruce trees used to be to the right of the fence in the area which is marked Hall Wood on the O.S. map. These trees were planted after an out-cropping in the 1950's and probably replaced the orig¬inal deciduous cover. Hopefully they will be replaced, though at the moment their felling has opened up a wide vista to the right with Castle Hill clearly prominent. The Beaumont papers for the 17th and 18th centuries show that the family was engaged in establishing new trees in the parkland. For example, "Paid for carriage of 100 chesnutts to plant at Whitley one shilling", appears in the accounts for March 1732 and is only one of many such entries.
Opposite where the plantation used to be is Pheasantry Hill (see photo) where, as the name suggests, the Beaumonts reared their pheasants ready for their great annual shooting parties. You will soon be on the valley floor, which in early May is covered by a brilliant carpet of bluebells. Llisten and you will hear the sound of running water and soon you will come to the stream which for centuries has been the boundary between Lepton and Whitley Townships. This is Rods Beck and, like Rods Cottage on the right, it takes its name from the Royds which were land clearances made in mediaeval times.
(C) RODS MILL/COTTAGE (see photo)
Rods cottage is all that remains of a once sizeable scribbling mill built in 1793. In 1813 the Lepton Rental describes the mill as a two storey building, twenty yards in length and nine in breadth, and in 1822 the upper chamber is said to have contained two scribbling engines, two card¬ing engines and two slubbing billies. At this time the mill was water powered although a valuer had advised that because of the shortage of water a steam engine would be of great advantage. The mill which was owned by the Beaumonts was run for the first sixty years of its history by the Wood family who were sometime resident at Oakes Fold. By 1851 at least a dozen workmen were employed at the mill and a steam engine had been installed. In April 1854 Thomas Wood died and the management of Rods Mill passed to James Tolson and John Beaumont who had recen¬tly gone into partnership as fancy manufacturers at Whitley Willows. They ran Rods Mill principally to do the scribbling and carding for their other mill.
The new partnership flourished for three years but then, at 8 o' clock on the morning of Friday 30th January 1857, a fire was discovered in the teazer room in the bottom storey of the mill. The workmen tried for some time to contain the flames but the fire started to spread and a messenger was sent to Huddersfield for the Leeds and Yorkshire fire brigade. The messenger arrived in Huddersfield at a quarter-to-ten and the brigade immediately started out and incredibly reached the mill in twenty minutes. By the time of their arrival the fire had spread throughout the mill. The brigade, however, managed to save the water mill, the steam engine and the cottage. The mill itself was completely destroyed. Tolson & Beaumont's loss was estimated at about £900 and they were not insured. Mr. Beaumont decided against rebuilding the mill and, between May 1857 and August 1858, carpenters, builders and a blacksmith were called in to repair and enlarge the cottage which by 1860 was being referred to as Rods Mill Cottage or the Gamekeeper's Cottage.
The gamekeeper in question was Joe Woffenden. He moved to the cottage in 1860 with his wife, Ann, and their eight children. At least five more children were born at the cottage and it is pleasant to stand in this now quiet place and imagine the bustling everyday life of such a large family.
(D) SPITTLE ROYD
In the year 1851 there were 5 houses where this single 18th century farmhouse now stands on the site of what, according to place name evidence, is a very old settlement. Royd is common in the area and means a clearing. It is the element Spittle which is of interest for it is a corruption of Hospitallers. The first documented reference to the name was in 1528 when the Knights of St. John made a grant of land here to John Wood but the name is probably much older than that for the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights Templars were active at the time of the crusades and early documents show that they had land interests in Lepton as well as in other local areas. Some of the earliest known residents of Lepton had the christian name Jordan, which suggests a connection with, if not a participation in, the Crusaders' Wars. Ten¬ants of the Hospitallers' and Templars' land were exempt from tythes and to show this they had the Knights' Cross carved on a stone in a prominent position on their prop¬erty. An example of such a cross can be seen in the wall of Emley Church. It is quite possible that such a carving has survived in our area, used perhaps in an old barn or wall. So should any sharp eyed walker spot a stone with this cross carved on it the writers of this book would be delighted to hear of it.
(E) SQUARE FOLD OR LEPTON SQUARE (see photo)
This group of buildings was originally known as Clayton Square and was built by John Clayton and his father James on the uncultivated common or waste between 1770 and 1790.
In the 1822 Rental for Lepton the premises are described as stone and slate buildings one of which was a house with four low (downstairs) rooms and two chambers, occupied by Widow Clayton. A further three cottages on the east side of the fold yard each had one low room and one chamber and a lean to milk-house. One of these was occupied by John Clayton himself. On the west side of the fold was another range of buildings consisting of a barn, an ash house and three cottages each with one low room and chamber. One of these was occupied by Mark Clayton who was a fence maker. On the south side was a range of irregular buildings consisting of one cottage with three low rooms, a barn, mistal and two stables. The Clayton's com-plete holding in 1822 was 46 acres, 3 roods and 35 per¬ches, and it had an annual value of £48. 6s. 10d.
The Claytons were quite numerous in Lepton, two of them appearing as farmers and horse dealers in White's Directory of 1853, and it would seem possible that any present day Claytons in the area are descended from this family. In 1851 the eight houses, by then known as Square Fold, were still inhabited by separate families whose occu¬pations included horse dealers, farmers, stone masons and a stone dresser.
(F) THE WHITE HORSE (see photos)
The 315 Restaurant was formerly (before reconstruction) the White Horse public house. The previous building dates back to the 1930's but the site is much older. The fact that it was built on the Wakefield - Austerlands Turnpike and near to the toll gate suggests that the original was a coaching inn. It predates the 'new turnpike' of 1820 by at least 40 years for it is shown on the Lepton Township Map of 1780, set in a semi-circle of land with the building at an angle to the road. The Lepton Field Book of 1798 mentions George Wood, Innkeeper, as a tenant of 17 acres of land. Whilst his Inn is not named it is possible to deduce that it was the White Horse because the fields where his holding were i.e. 'Rugh Royd’, 'Square Royd' and ‘New Close' are all near to the Inn. Additional corroboration is provided by his entry's position in the Field Book for his neighbour is James Clayton who held part of the uncultivated common nearby. George Wood, publican, is mentioned again in the rental of 1800 and the Inn remained in the hands of the Wood family for at least 80 years. In 1800 the house was described as 'moderate good' although the 'barn needs repairing'. The old house shows a typical two storey 18th century building set diagonally from the road. Below ground were beer and keeping cellars. Above these were a Tap Room, a Best Room and Bar, Snug and Kitchen, whilst on the first floor was a Club Room, Private Sitting Room and three Bedrooms. Outside was a mistal for twelve beasts, three stall stable, a loose box, 3 sheds, two pig sties, two earth closets, an ash place and a wash house. The old buildings and land were sold in 1928 by Mr. R.H. Beaumont and demolished in the 1930's when the White Horse was built.
(G) THE PINFOLD (see photo)
A short distance along Pinfold Lane opposite a footpath sign several large trees form a semi-circle bordering a small piece of rough land. This was the Pinfold which gave Pinfold Lane its name. The first documented reference to a pinfold is in the Manor Court rolls of 1547 when: 'Robert Drauncefield was elected Pinder this year'.
The pinfold was a pound, or enclosure where straying animals were collected and kept. The owners would then have to pay a fine to the Manor to secure the release of their animals. The Pinder was the man responsible for administrating the pinfold and was elected annually at the Manor Court. Naturally such extra taxation was resented by the local farmers and many clandestine animal rustling operations took place, when the pound would be broken open and the confiscated animals unlaw¬fully released. Lepton's pinfold as you will see is now in a dilapidated state but the general outline can be picked out, and in winter, when the undergrowth has died back, traces of its paved floor can be seen. It would be a worthwhile project to rebuild and restore it to its original state and thus provide Lepton with a rather rare historic site, for, whilst every village once had its pinfold, few remain today.
(H) GREAT LEPTON, TOWN END AND TOWN BOTTOM (see photos)
Walking from Town End to Town Bottom you are walking along the original village street. It was here that Great Lepton began and remained until comparatively recent years as a fairly isolated hamlet. It was only with the building of the new Wakefield Turnpike in 1820 that communications improved between Lepton and the other scattered hamlets in its Township and only in the 20th Century that extensive building on the south side of Wake¬field Road shifted the centre of the village from its age old position. The first reference to Lepton is found in 1086 in the Domesday Book when it was described as "waste". The name Lepton, originally Leap-town, tells us it was of Anglo-Saxon origin, probably a settlement on a steep hill. Thus, Town End and Town Bottom refer to the limits of the original 'tun' or town. By 1379 Lepton had a population of about 75 people, but it is important to rem¬ember that these were distributed in the Hamlets of Gaw¬thorpe, Rowley and Lascelles Hall as well as Great Lepton and Little Lepton and it is impossible now to say just how many lived on or near the village street. The Township as a whole had at this time about the same number of inhabit¬ants as Kirkburton and Kirkheaton and about half as many as Huddersfield. The names of the people mentioned in the Poll Tax Returns of 1379 are interesting and tell us some¬thing of their locations or origins.
They include: Richard Lascy (Lascelles), Richard de Gaukethorpe, Adam de Hopton, John de Roulay, Margeria Heton, John del Crosse (Lepton Cross), Agne de Grene (possibly Highgreen) and Matilda de Lepton. To come to more modern times the Township map of 1780 shows nine buildings between Town End and Town Bottom. By 1851 there were 43 families living in the area amongst whom were eight families of Sykes. The Sykes family has long been connected with this area, Edward Sykes being one of the last farmers to exchange his traditional strips of land at the time of the Enclosures. Field Gate House, its name suggesting it was built on the site of or near to the gate to the ancient open fields, was owned by the Sykes family until 1980. There in 1851, for instance, Nathaniel was a farmer of 40 acres and a maltster. The maltings were demolished in the 1940's. Field Gate House can be seen on the right soon after Quintrel House. The latter was built as a Co-operative Store and was managed in 1881 by Benjamin Blackburn. Also in 1881 in Town End there is evidence of youthful enterprise for here lived Ben and Ernest Brook, aged 18 and 14, who were oat bread bakers and Jesse Brook who was an oat bread hawker. In the last row of cottages on the right at Town Bottom is a house where, in the upper storey, services were held before Lepton had its Parish Church.
(I) BOTANY BAY (see photo)
The two rows of cottages on the right were built in 1806 to house textile workers and were named Botany Bay after the penal settlement in Australia. It was quite a common practice to give such outlying settlements names which suggested distance. There are, all over the country, many isolated houses and farms with names such as Quebec, Egypt, Alaska and Moscow and so the name Botany Bay is simply following this fashion.
At the end of the cottages stand and look over the fields to the right towards what was once Lodge Mill Colliery, though little trace of it survives (see photo of Lodge Mill Farm). Coal has been mined in Lepton for over six hundred years. A coroner's report for 1357 shows that: "John Long of Lepton was accidentally killed by falling into a colpyte". In 1532 tenants were forbidden to sell coal outside the Manor and penalties for those offending were "12 pence for a wagon load and 2 pence for a horse burden". There are the remains of many small coal pits and day holes in the area but with the sinking of mine shafts the operations took on a more commercial aspect. Lodge Mill Colliery was owned by Benjamin Elliott and Sons Ltd., who also owned Fenay Bridge brickworks. In 1906 a tramway brought the coals across the fields to a terminus just above the junction of Botany Lane with Addlecroft Lane. By 1929 this was extended to include an aerial ropeway which cut across the fields and over the brow of the hill to coal chutes in Wakefield Road above Cowms, where Elliotts brickworks took a large supply of coal for use in the brick kilns. The supply from the pit was augmented by the coal from a day hole close by Rods Cottage. A writer in the 'Huddersfield Examiner' in 1930 tells also of trucks running down from the Temple to the pit which were there turned and sent off with the rest.
(J) ADDLE CROFT and LODGE MILL
Addle Croft is the name of the house on the right which stands on or near the site of one of Lepton's earliest settlements. The first evid¬ence of it is in a document of 1329 where it is referred to as 'Arkel Croft' i.e. the croft of a man called Arkel. This name suggests a Scandinavian settlement, for Arkel developed from the old Norse Arnkell or Arnkettel. As such it would fit in well with other place name evidence suggesting a Scandinavian settlement in this area, for Gawthorpe (Goukthorp) and Thurgory (Thorgalhau) are both names of Scandinavian origin.
Rods Beck, which was known seven hundred years ago as Lepton Brook, was for many years the only source of power available to the Beaumonts of Whitley Hall and it was here, in the area once called Bottoms, that they sited their manorial corn mill, Lodge Mill. The mill was owned by the Lord of the Manor and it was to this place that the Beaumont tenants would be obliged to bring their corn for grinding. The first documented reference to the mill is found in 1487: 'a mill held by William Swallow in Whitley'. The Swallows remained at the mill for at least another forty years as in 1533 there is mention of Robert Swallow of Swallow Myln. Seventy years later the Court Rolls mention: 'the milne belonging to Richard Lodge'. From that time the mill must have been known as Lodge Mill for in 1699 there is reference to a thirty-one year lease, to Joshua Jackson of Loydge Millne, Miller: There is only one more reference to the mill as Lodge Mill in the Beaumont papers for the next hundred years. Obviously as long as it was the only mill there was no need to identify it by name, but from 1793 references to it become frequent as the Beaumonts started building other mills around this time. Lodge Mill was still operating as a corn mill in the last quarter of the nineteenth century although by then the miller was also described as a scribbler and fancy manufacturer.
References in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to Whitley Hall Lodge Mill suggest that the origin of the name Lodge has been lost over the years. The fact is that there was no lodge or lodge keeper here; Lodge Mill, as has been seen, owes its name to the Lodge family who settled in the area circa 1575.