Macclesfield Times

Rainow

IN THE OLDEN TIME

Its History and Romances

[BY WALTER SMITH]

No. 19

Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer August 5th 1932

   Who, in Macclesfield, has not heard of the Hulleys and the One House? The first recorded Hulley of the One House was named John; his son was Laurence. But the most frequent masculine Christian name in the family was Jasper, with Jonathan as a close second. John settled at the One House in 1490. Jonathan Hulley rebuilt the house in 1703. Jasper Hulley was Mayor of Macclesfield 1709-10. John was in the same position 1741-2, Thomas 1743-4, John 1748-9, and Jasper 1794-5. Jonathan Hulley was the first librarian of the Macclesfield Public Library; an office he held from 1876 to 1892. Descendants of the Hulleys are living in Macclesfield today.

   The name of the above Mayors is recorded as Hulley with the exception of “John Hooley,” 1748; but I take it that he was a member of the Hulley family. “1744, September 19th, Mr. Thomas Hulley, Mayor of Macclesfield, buried” (Macclesfield Registers).

   Dr. Ormerod, chief of Cheshire historians, makes the following references to the Hulleys: “In the southern part of the township (Rainow) is another ancient stone mansion called the One House, which for many generations has been the residence of the Hulleys, who not improbably represent a younger branch of the Hoghleghs, of Taxal, one of the nine families which held lands by forest service in Macclesfield forest in the reign of Edward I. “The Davenports of Calveley were also proprietors here (in Rainow) of lands which probably descended from the Mottrums through the Calveleghs. In 5 Henry VII, Ralph Davenport, esq., demised to John Hulley for a term of years a parcel of land called the One House, in Raynow.” (Ormerod, III, 771-2).

HOGHLEGH OR HEGHLEIGH?

   The suggestion that the Hulleys descended from Hoghleghs of the Forest is really untenable. “The conjecture made by Dr. Ormerod , “ says Earwaker, “that the Hulley family are descended from Richard de Hoghlegh, one of the sub-ordinate foresters of Macclesfield Forest, must be abandoned, for, as pointed out on p. 7. [of Earwaker’s history] this name should be Heghlegh, not Hoghlegh.” (Earwaker’s East Cheshire II, 663). Earwaker makes the following references to “Heghlegh,” the place and name: “This word is clearly Heghlegh, and not Hoghlegh, as printed by Dr. Ormerod, who conjectured that the name Hulley might have been derived from this latter name”. (Ear. II, 7.) “This [Heghlegh] passed to the Savages in 1398, and from them to the Leghs of Lyme by a deed dated 26th July 1411, and still preserved among the Lyme deeds.” (Ear. II, 446-7). “Sir Peter de Legh, Knt., by deed dated 26 July 1411, had a grant of a piece of land called Heghleghfield, in the Forest of Macclesfield, together with the office of Forester there.” (Ear. II, 293).

   “Heghlegh, or, as sometimes wrongly written, Hoghlegh, gave its name to a local family who held their lands by forest service. Richard de Heghlegh was one of the subordinate foresters in Macclesfield Forest in 1287. Their lands were ultimately acquired by the Leghs of Lyme.” (Ear. II, 446-7.)

HIGH LEE IN SUTTON

   Not only does Ormerod give the wrong name for the forester family, but Heghlegh itself, the place from which the Heghleghs derived their name, was in Sutton and not in Taxal. Of the nine subordinate foresterships of the Forest of Macclesfield, two belonged to Sutton - one to the manor and held by the Suttons, and the other to Heghlegh in Higher Sutton, and held by the Heghleghs. This name, Heghlegh, is represented today by High Lee, just below Cophurstedge. The place is referred to in the Forest Report of c. 1510, as follows:-
   “Item [also] Sir Peter Legge [Legh] hath a certayne close called Helefields [Heghleghfields] which is in the holdings of Ralfe Hollenshead by the wh. Sir Peter clameth to be on of the fosterers [claimeth to be one of the foresters] of Macclesfelde and wh payeth to the said Sir Peter Legge by yeare xxvjs and viijd [twenty-six shillings and eightpence.]”

HULLEY HEY

   A much better suggestion as to where the Hulleys name came from is made by Helsby, Ormerod’s history was published in 1819. In 1882 an edition was published containing additions and corrections; with Helsby as editor. While Helsby defends Ormerods “Hoghlegh” hypothesis , he says on his own account: “Hulley Hey (in Saltersford) probably acquired the name from the Hulleys.” (Orm. III 772). It is certainly much better to connect the Hulleys with Hulley Hey in Rainow, than to connect them with Heghlegh in Sutton. Independently of Helsby, I have come to think that the Hulleys were of Hulley or Hooley Hay and may have descended from William de Holeye, the Regarder of the Forest, 1285-86. The Hulley surname is often written “Hooley” and “Howley”, just as we have found the same forms for the place-name at Hooley Hay. These are but variations of the one name which means in any of the three forms - hill-lea. (Another derivation is possible, namely, from “holh,” hole, hollow, and “leah”, lea, but hill-lea seems preferable - a clearance on the hills.)               

THE ONE HOUSE

   “The One House has been in the possession of the Hulley family from the end of the fifteenth century. By a deed dated 2nd March 5 Henry VII (1490), Ralph Davenport of Calveley, Esq., leased to John Hulley ‘a p’cell of lond cald, one howse lyinge in Ranowe’ for a term of years. His son and heir, Laurence Hulley, was living in Rainow in 1524, and his descendants have continued there since that time. There are many entries relating to them in the Macclesfield Registers.   The house appears to have been newly fronted in 1703, as that date and the initials I.D.H. (Jonathan and Dorothy Hulley) are over the door. The derivation of the name is obscure.” (Earwaker II 455).

   The Hulleys left the One House about 20 years ago , and the house is now divided into two or three tenements. It is situated on the lower side of Buxton Road midway between Macclesfield and Walker Barn. To the east rises the hill called Hooley Moor (now cultivated) while on the west side a pleasant vista is obtained down th valley between Eddisbury and Ecton with distant views over the plain beyond. The spacious apartments and magnificent ceiling of the old dining-room speak of the former dignity of this abode of gentry. The window in the great kitchen contain on hundred and forty four panes of glass, and a small turret-like semi-detached structure is said to have been a place where one of the Hulleys confined his wife (or himself, no reliable information can be obtained) for peace and quietness’ sake.

There does not seem to be any difficulty in explaining the name. As the name of ther house is consistently “One House,” generally spoken of as “the One House,” it must mean ‘solitary or lonely house’.

No. 20

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer August 12th 1932)

   From being the owners of a piece of land called after a solitary house, or “one house”, the Hulleys, by acquiring and adding land to land, became small landed proprietors, the owners of some half dozen farms that all lay together, forming a desirable and substantial estate. The following notes briefly record some of these along with some names of the family and of their friends. Though somewhat incomplete the records are of much interest.

   1691: “Parcell of land in Ranowe called Goodshaw now in possession of Edward Walker.”
             “A p’cell of land in Ranowe called Harre Eddesbury.”
             “Jasper Howley of the onehouse within Ranowe, Rebecca his wife, Jonathan Howley, son and heir apparent
             of the said Jasper, and Josiah Howley second son of the said Jasper”.
             “Settlement after marriage of Jon’n Hulley with Miss Dorothy Hulme”.

   In these extracts we see the beginning of the name of Walker Barn, and the old name of Eddisbury (Hare Eddesbury). We have already seen that the initials of Jonathan and Dorothy Hulley appear on the lintel of the front door of the One House.

   1708: “Jonathan Hulley purchased of William Watson of Swanscoe two closes or parcells of land in Ranow at or
             near a certain place called Edesbury and commonly called the Bottfield and Watsons meadow.”
   1712: Messuage near a certain place there called Edsbury and all that other messuage neare the said place called
             Edsbury and that cottage at or neare a certain place there called Edsbury Yate and all that field or parcel of
             land at or near the said place called Edsbury and commonly called or known by the name of the lower side of
             the Lea Croft”.
   Names found in the Hulley papers of the time of Queen Anne: William de Swanscoe, gen., Elizabeth ejus., Edw. Thornycroft de Thornycroft, William Clowes de Langley, John Oldham de Titherington, fferdinand Jackson de Ranow, Jonathan Hulley de Ranow, Thomas Pott and Joseph Pott.

HURDSFIELD WATERS

   1731: Conveyance from Thomas Chetham to Jasper Hulley 21 Mar., 1731, of a “small parcel of land situate and lyeing and being in Macclesfield and in Hurdsfield at a certain place called the Waters and bounded by the lands of Mr. Edward Blagge on the east, the lands of Jasper Hooley on the south, and the wast lands or commons on the west and north that are in the possession of Edward Cherry, Gentleman, deceased, and now in the tenure, holding, or occupation of George Goodwin as tenant to the said Thomas Chetham.” Mr. Edward Cherry was grandfather of Mary Chetham, wife of Thomas, as above. His name appears in the list of new and capital burgesses of the borough under the Charter granted by King Charles II to the burgesses of Macclesfield in the year 1685. He held the office of Town Clerk in 1688 and sat in the Mayoral chair 1696-7. Mr. Edward Blagg held lands on the east of those of Mr. Jasper Hooley. The Blagg family were prominent in Macclesfield for two or three hundred years. John Blagge was one of the new and capital burgesses in 1685 and Fence House was erected in 1728 by William Blagg who was Mayor of Macclesfield 1737-8. The Chethams were of Mellor, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, ”waters” still cover this parcel of land after heavy rains.

HARRISON’S HOUSE

   A house was built on the parcel of land conveyed to Jasper Hooley in 1731 and is mentioned in a deed dated 1738, February 7, “as all that messuage, burgage, or tenement commonly called or known by the name of Harrison’s House situate and being at or in a certain place in Macclesfield called the Waters”. This property was bequeathed by Jasper Hooley to his son, Jasper. His two sons, Thomas and John, and his daughter Rebecca, were the executors of the will which was proved in 1743. Jasper, junior, died and the property went to Thomas. In 1744, Thomas Hooley gives and devises to his brother, John, the dwelling house at the Waters called Harrison’s. Harrison’s House was in the Clock Alley and this locality was called “Waters” as well as that called “Waters” at the present day. Clock Alley crosses the bottom of Waterloo Street and Fence Street.

ROPE WALK

   Incidentally it may be mentioned that Thorp Street in this locality was formerly called the Rope Walk and not Clock Alley. Some property in Thorp Street is described in 1810 as “a piece of land situate lying and being in Macclesfield at or near a certain place there called the Waters bounded on the westward end or side by a brook or stream of water,” and in in 1819, “at or near a place called the Waters bounded on the westwardly side by the River Bollin and on the eastwardly side thereof by a certain street road or way called the Rope Walk”.

SOME SURRENDERS

   1759: 32 Geo. II. Surrender by Jasper Hulley of (1) dwelling house in Edsbury Lane occupied by Peter Billinge. (2) One in occupation of Edward Walker, (3) Some in Hurdsfield. (4) Poorhouse in Rainow. (5) One in Rainow; also the Roofield and Rushy Meadow in Rainow. Edsbury Lane is the narrow lane below the One House connecting Cliff Lane with Buxton Road. The Rainow poorhouse was between Tower Hill and the River Dean below the War Memorial. The Roofield and Rushey Meadow were on Buxton Road above Eddisbury Hall carriage drive.

TENEMENTS AND TENANTS

   1779: 32 Geo III (1) One House.
(2) - “That other messuage lately erected upon part of the lands belonging to the One House occupied by John Rhodes as tenant farmer”.
(3) - “All that other messuage now divided into two dwellings Thomas Hulley and Peter Boothby did formerly inhabit now Robert Boothby and Benjamin Bennet as tenants or farmers.”
(4) - “All that other messuage and land called the Goodshaw late in tenure of Joseph Warren now occupied by John Wilkinson.”
(5 - “Also all that close, closure, or parcel of land called Har Edsbury heretofore in possession of Jasper Hulley now in tenure of John Jackson as tenant.”
(6) - “Also that other messuage called Windyway Head occupied by James Taylor.”
(7) - “Also the Brink late in the occupation of Thomas Rowson and Samuel Norbury now in occupation of Jonathan Hulley and Wm. Swindells.”
   1790: 30 Geo. III. “James Walker tenant of Windywayhead.”
   In the will of Jonathan Hulley 27th October, 1790, he leaves to his wife Mary that part of One House he then lived in with furniture, a field called the Knowe, another the Lower Moor. The children of Jonathan were Jasper, Jonathan, Thomas, Martha, and Mary.
   1799: Thomas Hammond sold to John Bailey, of Gawsworth, a messuage or tenement called Clough House being a moiety of a tenement in Rainow called Crowmans. John Baileys’ will was proved at Chester 1832. Clough House is only a few yards away from the One House and forms part of the estate.

No. 21

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer August 19th 1932)

   Several of the Hulleys are named in the will of Mary Heywood, a spinster who lived in Chestergate in the seventeenth century. Below only those parts of the will in which the Hulleys are mentioned are given.

   1690. - Will of Mary Heywood, spinster, Chestergate:-
   “To Mrs Howley, my best silk apron that is black, and black silk hood, and a wine cup.
   “To Jasper Hooley, the younger, £3. To Katherine Hooley, a round table in the kitchen. To Jasper Hooley, the elder £1.
   “After my debts and funeral expenses are paid the rest and residue of my monies and securities to my dear nieces Hanna Heywood and Martha Day, and to my God-daughter Mary Clowes, daughter of my cosen Clowes of Bollington, to whom I am nearby related, and to my God-daughter Mary Hooley, daughter of the aforesaid Jasper Howley, the younger, to be equally divided between them.
   “Executors: William Clowes, of Bollington, John Corker, of Hurdsfield, and Jasper Howley, the elder of the One House.”
   Codicil 1691: Witnesses - Catherine Thornycroft, Hannah Howley, Thomas Heywood.
   Codicil 1693: I m devise to my God-daughter Mary Hooley (daugher of my niece Hannah Howley), all such monies except a tenth part thereof as are owing to me by my cosen Edward Thornycroft, cosen Corker of Hurdsfield, and Alderman Johnson, of Macclesfield, when she come of age or be married.” (From Mr, Chas. Beswick’s “Historical Notes.”).

ARDERNES AND HULLEYS

   “The Oak estate in Sutton was owned in the 17th century by a family named Broadhurst, and by the marriage of Mary Broadhurst to Phillip Arderne, a younger son of Ralph Arderne, of Harden Hall, near Stockport, Esq., in 1664, it passed to him. He had an only son James Arderne, whose son John Arderne was born in 1690 and died in 1753, leaving two daughters co-heiresses, Mary, married to Jonathan Hulley of the One House, Rainow, and the other, Martha, married to the Rev. Peter Mayor, Vicar od Prestbury.” (Earwaker II, 453). Earwaker has the date 1753, as above. In a private pedigree John Arderne is said to have died in 1735.

   Dr. Ormerod deduced the descent of the Ardernes of Cheshire from the Ardernes of Warwickshire, a fact, says Earwaker, previously unknown. Sir John de Arderne, the first male ancestor of the Cheshire house of Arderne, was the younger son of Eustace de Arderne, or de Watford, of Watford, in Northampton. About 1200 Sir John, who had most probably married the daughter and heiress of Richard de Aldford, had a grant of Aldford, near Chester, from Randle Blundeville, sixth earl of Chester, and in the charter the duty was imposed of Sir John of keeping in repair the Earl’s “haia de Macclesfeld,” or the Fence of Macclesfield.”

John Arderne, of Harden, who inherited the estates of this family in 1752 preferred to use the name “Arden” instead of “Arderne,” and the altered form became the family name thereafter. It is interesting to observe that Mr. Arderne Hulley, the last Hulley to hold the One House, now deceased, was so named from the fact that Mary Arderne a member of a younger branch of the ancient and honourable house of Arderne, was married to Jonathan Hulley of the One House as stated.

CONSTABLE HOOLEY

   A document in my possession written by Jasper Hooley shows the accounts of this gentleman in connection with the office of Constable for Macclesfield Forest township which he held in the year 1763.

The accounts of Jasr. Hooley
For serving Constable for ye yr 1763.
Oct. 11, 1763:-
Constable of Macclesfd. Forrest.
		£	s	d
Pd for Bread and wine ...........................................................		0	12	6
For going to 7 Monthes Meetings ...........................................		0	03	6
Pd for 2 Notices of visitation ..................................................		0	01	4
Pd for a warrant of Search .....................................................		0	01	0
For 4 forms of Prayer ............................................................		0	02	8
Pd to John Frost for walling chapel yard ................................		0	01	0
Pd to Wm. Booth for going on Jury ........................................		0	05	0
Pd to Eliz: Heald for washing serpels .....................................		0	02	6
Pd at Towns meeting ............................................................		0	01	8
For going to the Cort Leet .....................................................		0	00	6
Pd when I came into office ....................................................		0	00	6
Pd for going to Return Brefs ..................................................		0	00	6
For going out of my office ......................................................		0	01	2
For writing the present accounts ............................................		0	00	6
		__	___	___
Disburst ............................................................................		£	s	d
		1	14	4
Rcd of the towns money ......................................................		1	04	3½
		__	___	___
Out of pocket ......................................................................		0	10	0½
		__	___	___

Approved by us,
Hugh Barlow
Jonathan Hulley.

OFFICE OF CONSTABLE

   Jasper Hulley must have had property in the township of Macclesfield Forest. The office of constable was filled by rota of tenement in the township and when Jasper’s turn came he served. Such, at least, was the custom, and there is nothing in his accounts to indicate that he served for another and not for himself. The constable combined the office of churchwarden with that of conservator of the peace; hence the allusions to the bread and wine for sacrament at the Forest Chapel, the visitation of bishop or arch-deacon, the forms of prayer, repairs to the Chapel yard, and the washing of the surplices by Elizabeth Heald. The Court Leet was held at the Town Hall, Macclesfield, and the “town’s money” means the money of the Forest township. Frost, Booth and Heald are all old Forest surnames. The Frosts, lastly. lived at Cumberland Farm, the Booths at Wickenford, and “Yell’s farm” (Heald’s farm) a ruin, is between Torgate and Brough’s Place.

   Another entry in the Forest township accounts is :- “1802 Francis Hooley the office of Constable for Thomas Trafford called Mellor’s tenement.“ That is, Thomas Trafford, who lived at Mellor’s tenement, should have served for that year, but Francis Hooley served in his stead. A much more important office, that of High Constable of Macclesfield Hundred, was occupied by Jasper Hulley of the One House, in the year 1829, by election.

No. 22

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer August 26th 1932)

   In continuing this history of the Hulleys and the One House a few short notes may be made use of at this point. There are Hulleys in Macclesfield and overseas and they will be interested to read of the names of some of their ancestors, their connections, and their doings.

   1749, July 17: Marriage of Sam Longford (Langford, or Lankford) of Macclesfield, Esq., to Miss Rebecca Hooley, sister to the Mayor of Macclesfield (John Hooley). Samuel Lankford was Mayor of Macclesfield, 1753-4.

   A mural stone on the Brink farm (on the higher side of Buxton Road, between the One House and Walker Barn) has the letters R T M. 1775. In 1770 we find the Brink spoken of as “late in the possession of Thomas Rowson and Samuel Norbury, now in occupation of Jonathan Hulley and Wm. Swindells.” The letters on the stone are the initials of Thomas Rowson and (presumably) his wife, M.

   1806: Jasper Huley on a will dated 1806 left a candle factory, situated in the Gutters, to Rev. David Davies, John Smith, and John Wright, Mary and Matthew Bayley were witnesses to the will. The Gutter was behind the Town Hall and in this quarter there several chandleries.

FARMS FOR SALE

   1815: the following farms and land belonging to the One House were advertised for sale in 1815. Occupiers names are given.    Shady Yard Green (Sutton), Robert Greaves.       Grove Farm , Joseph Sheldon and Martha Sutton.    Windywayhead Public House, Geo. Preston.    Eddesbury Lane Farm, Alexander Hooley.    Three fields called Eddesburys, widow of Peter Arnold.    Bott Field Farm , Martha Hammersley.    Marsh Rails, with five fields, John Rhodes.    Vale Royal, late in the holding of Jeffrey Mottershead, now Thomas Hesford.    Messuage or public-house called Walker Barn, occupied by William Heald, with barn and stable.

    What the result of the sale was I do not know, but later on in the same year (1815) certain parts of the estate were (again) offered for sale. “One House lately in occupation of Mrs. Hulley, certain parts of the estate offered for sale. Jonathan Hulley, who resides near the One House is appointed to show the premises. For further particulars apply Mrs. Hulley, Parsonage Green, Macclesfield. In this same year Richmond Lodge was held by Joseph Broadhead, and in 1822 ”Richmond Lodge [was] in holding of Benjamin Pickford, situate at Eddisbury Lane.”

INTERESTING WILL

   Will of John Hooley of Macclesfield, dated 30 Oct. 1769. To his wife “two messuages or Dwelling houses situate and being in Back Street in Macclesfield, one whereof is now in my own occupation and the other in the holding of Mrs. Hewitt, widow” - also half my Household Furniture, Plate, Linen, together with a Sitting place in my seat or pew in Macclesfield Church for and during the term of her natural life.”

   In provisions made for his two daughters, Mary and Hannah, mention is made of property in Over Alderley, a Dwelling-house in Macclesfield in a street there now in possession of George Heard, and all these six new Dwelling houses situate and being at the Waters, and one other Dwelling house called Harrison’s at the Waters in Macclesfield. “And all these closes or parcels of land in Macclesfield aforesaid called the Bowfields purchased from Godfrey Watkinson, Esquire, and Stapleton Meadow which I purchased from Peter Brooke, Esquire, and all my other messuages, Lands, and Heredictaments situate and being in Macclesfield aforesaid or elsewhere with their opposite names.”    Witnesses: Frank Day, Phil. Holland, Thos. Faulkner. The will was proved 22 July, 1770, by executors, Rev. Samuel Saunder, Clerk, Vicar of Knutsford, Henry Lankford, and Mary Hooley. A brass tablet to the memory of John Hooley is affixed to a pier at the entrance to the Macclesfield Church.

ELECTION OF RECORDER

    A hotly contested election for the Recordership of the borough of Macclesfield took place in 1804, the candidates being the Hon. James Abercrombie, and J. Roe, Esq. The number of freeman entitled to vote amounted to 271, of whom 112 voted for Abercrombie, and 128 for Roe: 31 freeman did not vote. The Recorder was the legal adviser of the Corporation and the office was distinct from that of the Town Clerk. In the list of voters appear the names of the Hulleys which I gave with two other names.
   Jasper Hooley, snr., A., Macclesfield Forest.
   Jasper Hooley, ,jnr., A., Macclesfield Forest.
   Jonathan Hooley, A., Macclesfield Forest.
   Francis Hooley, A., Macclesfield Forest.
   Jasper Hully.
   John Hully.
   Jasper Hully, Alderman, A., One House.
   Thomas Hully, Common Side.
   Ferdinand Jackson, A., Rainow.
   Matthew Bayley, A., Rainow.
   Those marked A. voted for Abercrombie; the others did not vote.

AN OLD RECORDER

   In the same year that this election took place (1804) a former Recorder passed a way. This was a member of the Cheshire Arderne family, already mentioned, with which the Hulleys were connected by marriage. Richard Pepper Arden was Recorder of Macclesfield form 1771 to 1780. He was born at Harden Hall in 1744. William Pitt, the Prime Minister, his intimate friend, appointed him Master of the Rolls in 1788 and he was knighted the same year. He became Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas in 1801 and created Baron Alvanley, of Alvanley, co. Chester. He died , as stated, in 1804.

Note: The number of panes in the window of the great kitchen at the One House is 216; not 144, the number given in Article No. 19. The are oblong panes of glass and not of the small diamond leaded light type. W.S.

No. 23

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer September 2nd 1932)

      In 1796 an Act of Parliament was passed for the dividing, allotting, and inclosing the commons and waste grounds to the extent of about seven hundred and sixty acres within the manor and borough of Macclesfield. Josiah Potts, Thomas Rowley, and Richard Smith were appointed Commissioners to carry out those provisions of the Act that related to the allocating of the commons and waste and their Award is preserved in the archives of the Corporation.

SWINE PARK

   Swines Park Road (rather a grassy lane) branches off Commonside Road; a lane that leads to Commonside Farm. The land here was literally on the side or edge of the old Macclesfield Common and the name was therefore most appropriate. This good name has, unfortunately, been recently changed for the euphonious one of “Eckton Avenue”; although the lane is not an avenue in the ordinary sense and Eckton is farther away than Commonside.

   Swine Park Road branches off Commonside Road near Commonside Farm and, for a time, keeps parallel though below, the new Buxton Road. A modern house is passed on the left, then, in a short space, an old house formerly known as Swines Park, now the Homestead. having passed this, the track begins to rise, bears right, and shortly emerges on to the Buxton Road opposite the Eddisbury carriage drive. The field abutting on the main road and through which the track passes is the Swines Park. It is in Macclesfield, but touches the boundaries of Hurdsfield and Rainow; a triangular stone in the hollow being a three townships boundary stone. The Swines Park, therefore, though             in Macclesfield, is bounded in part by the township of Rainow, and is attached to a Rainow farm.

   In 1796, the Commissions named granted to Jasper Hulley, of the One House, “all that piece or parcell of waste Land or Ground situate lying and being in Macclesfield being part or parcel of certain Commons and waste Grounds there called Macclesfield Common as the same is now meted out measured or set out containing two perches of Statute Measure or thereabouts and is near the North Eastwardly end of the Swine park Road there adjoining to a meadow belonging to the said Jasper Hulley (subject nevertheless to a Cart Road through the said piece or parcel of Ground hereby granted together with free Ingress Egree and Regress in and by and through all such Roads or Ways as now or hereafter shall be awarded by the said Commissioners).”

   In a deed date 1847 mention is made of a field below the One House called Brooms Croft, and a field called “the Swine Park or Swine Croft then late part of the Macclesfield Common.”

CAPTAIN HULLEY

   One well-known name in the Hulley family is that of Captain Hulley. The following references to this worthy are taken from the works of our esteemed townsman, Mr. John Earles.

   “Mr. Jasper Hulley proved his loyalty to his country by raising a regiment of volunteers in the days of Bonaparte, when the country was threatened by a French invasion. As he himself paid for most of their equipment, and was appointed Captain-Commandant, the regiment became known as Hulley’s Volunteers. These patriotic and self- serving men were called the Macclesfield Volunteers, and were organised in the year 1803. They did most of their drilling and practice in the Old Church Yard, and for many years their flags, as well as those of the ‘Loyal Macclesfield Foresters, ‘ were preserved in the sacred edifice.” “For many years these flags were hung up in the Old Church until they became much worn and dilapidated. At the time of the Church Restoration in 1883 they were removed and handed over to the Hulley family for preservation.” (Old Macclesfield: p.p. 164, 174).

VICISSITUDES OF FORTUNE

   The vicissitudes of fortune common to most county families of long standing were experienced by the Hulleys and frequently there was much trimming of sails to catch sufficient wind to bear the ship along. The One House was divided to allow of more than one occupier, sales of furniture, farms and land, were effected and other expedients resorted to, but without much research it is impossible to state just what the sequence of events was. What is of interest in the sale of lands is the more or less adequate notion the names of lots and occupiers enable us to form of the topography and nomenclature of the district.

    Before passing on to a list of farm-names, we may note that in 1820, Jonathan Hooley occupied “a messuage, cottage and garden situate at Kerridge”; that Mary Hooley, in 1820, gave the interest of £120, to be given on the anniversary of St. Michael, in gowns of tammy, to six poor widows not receiving parochial relief, and that Jasper Hulley, plumber, resided in Derby Street, Macclesfield, in 1845.

   Six lots of the One House Estate were desired to be sold by auction in 1846; one of these was the One House itself.

   1.- The One House in Rainow now in occupation of Matthew Gibbon Esq., as tenant.
   2. - Grove Farm in Rainow in occupation of John Kirk as tenant.
   3. - Knoll Nook in Rainow in occupation of Mrs. Alice Rhodes as tenant.
   4. - Eddisbury Lane Farm in Rainow and Macclesfield in occupation of Mrs. Sheldon as tenant.
   5. - Bottfield House Farm in Rainow and Macclesfield in occupation of James Broadhead as tenant.
   6. - Windy Way Head Farm in Rainow and Macclesfield in occupation of Joseph Bennett as tenant.

   The One House, though still the property of Jasper Hulley in 1850, was the residence of Matthew Gibbon, Esq., and James Gibbon, silkman and throwster. Mrs. Maria Hulley was living at the One House in 1874, and Richard Heaton in 1892.

No. 24

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer September 9th 1932)

   1671: Ann Sidebotham, by will, gave £5 to the poor of Macclesfield, charged upon a plot called Bott’s field, part of    an estate called Eddisbury, Rainow, the interest to be distributed amongst the poor on St. Thomas’s day. At one time Jasper Hulley, of the One House, paid 12s. yearly on account of this charity and stated that he and his father before him had paid it and that he was satisfied that he was bound to make the payment, although he could find no evidence in the writing relating to the estate.

   1671: William Watson, by will, gave £5 charged on a tenement called Swanscoe, the interest to be paid by those who enjoy the same.

   The above citations, taken from Mr. Chas. Beswick’s valuable collection of “Historical Notes,” introduce us to a most interesting example of the influence of a woman’s personality on the name of a Rainow farm.

   It appears that in 1671 Ann Sidebotham, of Rainow, and William Watson, of Swanscoe, Hurdsfield, were contemporaries, acquaintances, and neighbouring landowners . Ann Sidebotham owned a piece of land on Eddisbury called Bott’s field, and William Watson owned an adjoining meadow called Watson’s meadow. It seems that in the same year they both agreed, probably talking the matter over together, each to leave a charity to posterity; one charged on Bott’s field and the other on the house where Watson lived called Swanscoe. It will more fully appear, from records to be quoted, that Bott’s field and Watson’s meadow lay together in Rainow on the eastern side of Eddisbury, that Bott’s field was acquired by Watson, and, later, both parcels of land were purchased from Watson by Jonathan Hulley and became the land attached to a farmstead later erected and called, in course of time, Bott’s Field House Farm, now Bonny Catty.

ORIGIN OF FARM

   1708: “Jonathan Hulley of Rainow agreed with William Watson of Swanscoe for the purchase of all those two closes or parcells of land in Ranow called Edesbury now in possession of the said Jonathan Hulley and called by the name the Bottfield and Watson’s meadow.”
   1756: In a deed of surrender dated 23rd March 29 Geo. II, James Hulley of Aston, Warwickshire, son of Jonathan Hulley, surrendered to the King, as Lord of Macclesfield, “that messuage and tenement …. situate and being in Rainow aforesaid at or near a place there called Edsbury all those closes or fields called the Bottfield and Watson’s meadow.” Here is the first mention of the messuage, but it is not named.
   1790: George Massie is admitted to a messuage at or near a place called Edsbury with two fields called the “Bott field and Watson’s meadow,” adjoining to, and usually occupied with the messuage.
   1815: “Messuage or farm known as the name of Bott Field Farm in the occupation of Martha Hammersley.” Here the messuage is called a farm for the first time and named “Bott Field Farm”.
   1846: “Bott Field House Farm in Rainow and Macclesfield in the occupation of James Broadhead.” Originally in Rainow only, Bott Field House Farm is her described as in Rainow and Macclesfield because of the addition of a field in Macclesfield township. This field, called “Common piece,” was acquired by the Hulleys and added to Bott Field Farm. It is the field at the corner of Green Lane and Eddisbury Lane, and was formerly part of the Macclesfield Common.
   1847: “All that Farm community called the Bott Field House Farm now or lately in the occupation of James Broadhead with Bonny Cattey Homestead, etc.” At this point of time we see the farm still called Bott Field House Farm, but the homestead, which of course was Bott Field House, is rather curiously called “Bonny Cattey Homestead. Why?

BONNY CATTY

   This curious farm name long defied interpretation. Neglecting the simple method of going to the man on the spot, I looked up the component parts of the name.. In addition to ther adjective “bonny”, I found the word was an obsolete mining term, while “catty” is an Eastern weight or measure. “An original packet of tea, less than half a chest, is called in the trade a box, caddy, or catty. This latter is a Malay word - kati - a catty or weight; equivalent to 11/2 lb, avoirdupois (“Notes and Queries.”) This gives us the etymology of our “tea caddy.” These meanings, however, make no appropriate sense for the farm-name.
   Lighting upon the farmer one day, I said should like to know the meaning of the name. “I think I can tell you that” he said. “A woman named Catherine once lived here. She was a bright, bonny woman and was always singing. There old pit workings about this house and the colliers who worked here could hear her singing as she went about her work at the farm, and they called her ‘bonny Cathy,’ or ‘bonny Catty.”   Let me add to this that there is an old pit shaft only a stone’s throw away from the house. The mouth of the shaft is neatly covered and the green grass grows all around.   

CATHERINE JACKSON

   The explanation was quite sensible, but - one does not like to be taken in - was this merely a bit of folk etymology? Did a woman named Catherine ever live at the farm? Right enough, on looking further into the matter, I quickly found, under date 1826, mention of a messuage and tenement in Rainow then, or then late in possession at or near a certain place called Edsbury and adjoining to and usually occupied with the said messuage known by the name of the Bottfield and the Watson meadow.” The name and date were right, that is, in agreement with the explanation given and with the records already quoted, and here was our “Bonny Catty”.

   The explanation was corroborated in another quarter. I communicated the find to a local gentleman who, has, had a lifetime’s experience on this side of the town. He replied; “With reference to ‘Bonny Catty,’ I distinctly remember - now very many years ago - an old man who had worked in the pits on the One House estate telling me that ‘Bonny Catty’ Farm was named after a woman named Catherine who lived there. This bear out the information you have yourself obtained.”

ANN’S HOME AND CHARITY

   Where Sidebotham lived I have not been able to trace for certain, but I think it would be the Clough House, only a few yards away from the One House. A mural stone on this house has the letters and date:

S F A 1697

The A. S. (according to the usual custom) are the initials of a woman’s name (F being her husband’s initial) and I have no doubt they stand for Ann Sidebotham. Clough House was formerly a moiety of a tenement in Rainow called Crowmans.

   The annual account of the Old Church Charities shows the 1671 charities of William Watson and Ann Sidebotham                                        bringing together an income of 12 s. which is expended on clothes for the poor on St. Thomas’s Day. Every year a demand is made on, and met, by the owners of the Swanscoe and Bottfield estates, although, like Mr. Jasper Hulley, they know practically nothing about its origin, and the Rev. Norman A. Vesey, the present Minister to the Macclesfield Church, has the pleasure of distributing the charity left by the old time benefactors whose works still follow them.

No. 25

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer September 16th 1932)

   The Hulleys, of the One House, appear to be in possession of the middle part of Eddisbury Hill in 1691 when the land on the higher side of Buxton Road between Eddisbury Hall and the New Inn is described as “ a p’cell of land in Ranowe called Harre Eddesbury.” This is spoken of in 1779 as “that close or parcel of land called the Hare Edsbury heretofore in possession of Jasper Hulley now in tenure of John Jackson as tenant.”
   This parcel of land was turned into a number of smaller fields, for in 1817 we find “a parcell of land called the Har Edsbury then late converted into several parcels and theretofore in occupation of John Jackson as tenant or farmer then John Rhodes and James Brassington,” but a little before that, in 1815, thee of the fields called Eddesburys are in occupation by the widow of Peter Arnold. In 1817 the Edsbury fields are four in number called respectively, the Near Eddisbury meadow, the Higher part of Eddisbury meadow, the Middle part of Eddisbury meadow, and the Top part of Eddisbury meadow. These four parcels were the one of 1691 called “Harre Eddesbury.” Two of these fields are on the left of the Coalpit Road, one on the right (second from main road),and one on the top of the hill. In this field there has been a trigonometrical station at 992 feet, and a little higher the 1,000 feet altitude is reached.

HARRE EDDESBURY

   There is no mistaking the site of “Harre Eddesbury.” It was a parcel of land in Rainow. The steep part of the hill facing west and south-west, comprising the plantation, hall, and farm, is “Eddisbury bank,” and is in the township of Macclesfield; the south side which bears some “Rulow” names, is also in Macclesfield. The Bott fields are on the top facing the east and are described as “situate and being in Rainow at or near a place called Edsbury,” The remaining part of the hill is that parcel of land (now parcels) called by the name of the “Edsburys,” though it is likely that the whole of the top or higher part of the hill including the Bott field was at one time called Edsbury, and then when part of this was acquired by Bott his part became “Bott’s field at or near a place called Edsbury.”

   The designation “Harre” is now lost; the field s are simply “the Edsburys,” It is a Middle English variant of “herre,” higher, a comparative of “heigh,” high, ,chief. “Harre Eddesbury” means “Higher Eddesbury.” Richmond Lodge, in Edsbury Lane, was formerly called “Lower Eddesbury.” One of two or three originals is possible for the final element of the name - “bury.” The Old English “beorg.” a hill, mound, possibly a burial ground; the O.E. “burh,” a fortified place , camp, or the O.E. “ bur”, chamber, cottage, villa. All these develop into “bury”, and as we have no very old forms of the name “Eddesbury”, we cannot be sure of the meaning. The first element is evidently a personal name in the genitive case, possibly “Edda”; Eddesbury meaning “the hill of Edda” (or grave, mound, etc.). In deeds dated 1691 to 1712 the name is spelt variously as Eddesbury, Edesbury, Eadsbury, and Edsbury. In later deeds the general form is Edsbury, and that is the general pronunciation; although the present orthodox spelling is Eddisbury.

EDDISBURY LANE AND FARM

   A short lane connects the New Buxton Road with Cliff Lane passing below the One House. This is evidently a continuation of the lane that connects the New Road with the Old in Rulow Hollow. Coming along this lane from the Rulow end, Bonny Catty Farm is passed on the left, Eddisbury Gate Fram on the right, Eddisbury House Farm on the left, and Richmond Lodge (Lower Edsbury) on the right at the New Road end. This lane is often called Bonny Catty Lane, its proper name is Eddisbury Lane. In bonny Catty’s time we get -“Richmond Lodge, situate in Eddisbury Lane”. (1822).

   Two fields belonging to this farm were as late as 1847 called “Billinge Meadows.” Peter Billinge occupied a “dwelling in Edsbury Lane” in 1759. In 1815 “Eddesbury Lane Farm” was occupied by Alexander Hooley. Mrs (Ann) Sheldon occupied “ Eddisbury Lane Farm” in Rainow and Macclesfield” in 1846, and in the following year the same name is given again as the name of Mrs. Sheldon’s holding which comprised the Homestead, two Billinge meadows, Hollow field, lower part of Rowfield, Rowfield Road (to coal-pit) and the Swine Park. These are the only fields attached to the farm in 1847 and they are attached to it today. The farm, originally in Rainow only, came to be in Rainow and Macclesfield after the Swine Park had been added, and the above facts prove that the lane on either side of Buxton Road is Eddisbury Lane, and that this particular farm should be called Eddisbury Lane Farm.

No. 26

(Extract from the Macclesfield Times and Observer September 23rd 1932)

KNOLL NOOK

   Knook Farm between the One House and the Marsh : the homestead is in Cliff lane over against the Knowl Field behind the One House. References to this farm are found in the following data:-

   1779 : “Messuage lately erected upon part of the lands belonging to the One House occupied by John Rhodes as tenant farmer.
   1782 : “Messuage then lately erected on part of the lands of Jasper Hulley in tenure of John Rhodes as farmer.
   1815 : Marsh Rails with 5 fields - John Rhodes.
   1816 : Knoll Nook in Rainow in occupation of Mrs. Alice Rhodes as tenant.
   1847 : Mrs. Alice Rhodes at Knoll Nook or Higher Marsh.
   
   This farm thus appears under three names - Marsh rails, Knoll Nook, and Higher Marsh. Knoll Nook, topographic- ally, is really part of the “marsh”, and the five fields of 1815 are named in 1847 (commencing at junction of Cabrowfold Lane with Cliff Lane and going towards Buxton Road), Marsh field, Marsh meadow, Lower side, Middle field, and Top field (the two latter being on the higher side of Buxton Road). A small enclosure interset between the first two by the lane side is called at this date “Fish Pond and Plantation.” It was evidently something more pretentious than it is at present.

FIELD NAMES

   Field-names on the One House estate - names extant in the middle of ther last century - seem for the most part to have gone out of use. The Edsburys, now part of Eddisbury Gate Farm (Rainow), were then attached to the One House. Down in the valley in front of the New Inn there was a Palfrey Meadow; a name indicative of a light saddle-horse for riding, especially for ladies. On Ecton, overlooking the valley, there was a Daisy Field Brow; surely a brow of the hill where the dog-daisies bespread themselves in June. The Higher Moor and Lower Moor were on the higher side of Buxton Road over against the One House, and the Knowl Field, behind the One House, was at the corner of Buxton Road and Cliff Lane.    On the plateau below the plantation on the highest part of Ecton (south-west) is the Great Wall Field, and behind the plantation what was called “The Foot Hill field” ; the largest field on Ecton. North of this, behind the Hurdsfield Wood on Ecton, come the Higher Bar Field and the Lower Bar Field; the latter opposite Cliff Farm. Above the farm in a bend in the lane on the right is a small three-cornered croft (in Hurdsfield) that was called “Waste and Coalpit Bank”; evidently coal was brought here from the coalpits in the fields behind.

   Next to this on a slightly elevated ridge were the Great Ridge Meadow and the Little Ridge Meadow. Between these and the One House there was a Windmill Field; still known by that name: the name is evidence of the existence of a windmill there. In addition to the fields named, there several meadows, pastures, gardens, and plantations on the estate. The corner field opposite Richmond Lodge is the Leah Croft; mentioned in 1712 as the “Lea Croft,” later “Leah.”   A new house called “Restormel” has been erected in this field. This, the name of an old castle in Cornwall, has been given to the house by a Cornish lady resident thereat.

HULLEY NAMES

   Variously spelt by the Hulleys themselves, the surname appears as Hulley, Howley, and Hooley; no doubt there were individual preferences. In like manner, Hooley Hey, Rainow, the place which probably gave the Hulleys their name, appears in the same variant forms.   The frequency of the Christian names Jasper and Jonathan will have been noticed. A delightful change comes in late on in the history. Loton Holland built the neighbouring Hordern house. His wife was a Hulley. As a result, we find in the Hulley family (1855) a Holland Hulley, and in the Holland family, a Jasper Loton Holland. Arderne Hulley’s name came from the Ardernes of the Oak, Sutton, into which family one of the Hulleys had married.

NIGHT FALLS

   One cannot but regret that the connection of the Hulleys with the One House has been severed - but nothing lasts forever. Three dates in the Hulley history are impressed on my mind. In 1490 John Hulley acquired “a p’cell of lond cald one howse lying in Raynowe.” Here a beginning is made of the One House estate. Midway in the history Jonathan and Dorothy Hulley rebuilt and embellished the One House and grave the date and their initials on the lintel of the door

H
I    D
1703

   The third date is pathetic. On the step of a stile leading from the Lower Moor to the Higher Moor are cut by an inexpert hand the letters and date ;--

A H XXVII MAY 1911

Arderne Hulley, May 27, 1911

   It was as if the sun had set and the shades of night were closing in about the One House when Arderne Hulley took his stand on Hooley Moor and looked down on the home of his fathers and the parcel of land lying in Rainow that had been theirs for four hundred and twenty years.

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November 2021

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