ECONOMIC HISTORY:
Agriculture.
In 1086
the demesne of Minchinhampton manor comprised
5 ploughlands and supported 10 servi; 20 a. of
meadow were also recorded on the manor. (fn. 62) The five
plough-teams each comprised 8 oxen in the early
12th century and they were probably still used in the
later part of the century when 10 demesne ploughmen, presumably a plough-holder and a driver for
each, were retained. By the later 12th century, however, some demesne land was leased to tenants and
arable farming had perhaps already yielded in importance to sheep-farming. In the early years of the
century a flock of 467 adult and yearling sheep were
recorded on the demesne and two demesne shepherds were employed by the 1170s. The other stock
on the manor early in the century included 6 dairy
cows, 29 goats, and 40 pigs, (fn. 63) and much dairy
produce and bacon was evidently shipped over to
Caen at that period; by the beginning of the 14th
century, however, the profits were mainly taken out
in cash. (fn. 64)
By the early 14th century the demesne was organised principally for sheep-farming. The flock then
numbered c. 1,000 (including the young animals)
and the annual sale of wool and fleeces brought in
c. £40, providing about a third of all the receipts of
the manor and comparing with corn sales of around
£17. The demesne land in tillage was then used
mainly for growing oats with smaller crops of wheat,
barley, rye, pulse, and dredge. The dairy herd and
the herd of pigs were still maintained. A number of
farm-workers were employed at wages and allowances in grain, and some also held tenements for
their service; those employed were usually 2 ploughmen, 3 or more drivers of plough-teams and carts,
3 shepherds, a cowman, and a dairyman. Some at
least of the customary labour-services were still used
for threshing. (fn. 65) By 1381 the flock of sheep on the
demesne had been reduced to 265 but the sale of
wool still brought in £22, which came partly from
the profits of the shearing of other sheep pastured on
the associated manors of Avening and Lowesmore. A
total of 108 a. were sown in that year, 51 a. with oats,
31 a. with dredge, and 26 a. with barley. The dairy
herd had been dispersed. (fn. 66) By 1412 arable farming
had been given up and most of the demesne land was
leased, but a flock of sheep, then numbering 522, was
still kept and some land retained in hand as pasture. (fn. 67)
In the succeeding years the flock was gradually
reduced, largely as a result of disease and kebbing,
and the remainder was sold in 1417, from which time
all the demesne land was leased. (fn. 68) In 1635 the
demesne lands on lease with the manor-house comprised 559 a., including 198 a. in the open fields. (fn. 69)
The tenants on the manor in 1086 were 32 villani
and 10 bordars with 24 ploughs between them. (fn. 70)
Later evidence for the tenantry in the Middle Ages is
comprised largely in two surveys of the manor, one
from the period 1155-76 and the other from c. 1300;
they include Rodborough as well as the part later
transferred to Nailsworth and the mill-tenements at
Chalford that belonged to the manor. By the later
12th century a variety of holdings had evolved, predominant among them 12 large freehold estates
which owed money rents and one or two ploughing,
reaping, and carrying services; they included a 5yardland estate of Reynold of Hyde, a 3¾-yardland
estate of Ellis son of Avice, and a 3½-yardland estate
of Hardwin son of Roger, (fn. 71) and undoubtedly some
represented the various sub-manors that later
evolved. At the beginning of the 14th century six of
the larger freeholds were distinguished by the
serjeanty service of journeying with Caen Abbey's
steward to Southampton with the cash profits of the
manor: Adam Spilman and Thomas of Rodborough
for their Rodborough manors and Alan of Forwood
for his estate were required to make the journey
mounted at their own cost, while Miles of Rodborough for Seinckley manor, Richard Elyvant for a
yardland, and John Mayel for a yardland with assart
land, performed their service on foot. (fn. 72) Some of the
other more important tenements, however, including
Achards manor in Rodborough, Delameres manor, a
2½-yardland estate at Hyde held by John Bennett,
and a 3¼-yardland estate of Richard Kynne, did not
share in this service. (fn. 73)
The largest category of tenements in the later 12th
century were 65 holdings whose occupants were
known as francalani; they varied in size but included
6 full yardland estates and 24 half-yardlands. Some
were held for money rents and boon-works and had
possibly never borne the full servile burdens but
others were former customary tenements whose
occupants had been given the option of performing
only the labour-services required in the busy August
month and compounding for the rest of the year. (fn. 74)
By the beginning of the 14th century, when the
tenants held by money rents and a few days' work at
particular seasons, that category of tenement had
become even more diversified; in particular there
were many more quarter-yardland holdings and
holdings comprising a house and a piece of assart
land, (fn. 75) and there were also three designated
burgages. (fn. 76)
The customary tenements in the later 12th century
comprised two yardlands, 10 half-yardlands, and 7
cotseldae. The service owed from the full yardland
included work on each day of the week except
Saturday at the usual agricultural tasks or sometimes
on the carriage of cheese and bacon to Southampton,
and servile dues such as pannage and toll on the sale
of animals. The service of a hen at Christmas and 5
eggs at Easter charged on the customary yardland
was evidently then as later given specifically for
having the custom of the wood, (fn. 77) and c. 1300 many of
the enfranchised tenants were also liable to it. (fn. 78) The
cotseldae tenements of the later 12th century owed
two days' work each week on tasks which included
helping the demesne shepherds with the lambing
and assisting the swineherd to drive the pigs to
mast. (fn. 79) At the beginning of the 14th century the
customary tenements were two yardlands, the
tenants of which paid some money rent, having been
quit of their work in alternate weeks between
October and July, 16 half-yardlands which still owed
their full services, and one fardel which owed two
days a week and was thus presumably the equivalent
of the earlier cotselda. In addition there were some
customary tenements the tenants of which had been
released from their works for life, and another which
owed only half the works because it comprised poor
ground. (fn. 80)
Some tenements on the manor were held for
specialized services. The two demesne shepherds
held a yardland by their service in the later 12th
century, (fn. 81) and c. 1300 there were 5 fardels known as
ploughman's land which had originally supported
the demesne ploughmen, although the tenants of
only two still performed the service. (fn. 82) At both
periods there was a half-yardland that was quit of
services while its occupant minded the lady's swine (fn. 83)
and a cowherd held a half-yardland by his service in
the later 12th century, as did the lady's reeve. (fn. 84)
Robert the smith, who also held a grindery at money
rent, was required to do shoeing service for his tenement c. 1300, while another smith held by the service
of hanging doors in the manor-house, providing the
ironwork for the demesne ploughs, and supplying
horseshoes, hoes, and sickles. (fn. 85)
In 1635 Minchinhampton manor, excluding
Rodborough, had about 35 agricultural holdings; the
largest had 140 a. of arable in the open fields but
most had around 30-40 a. All were held for lives but
only a few of them were specified as customary tenements, the others being perhaps held on leases for
lives free of all customary status. There were also 50
or 60 cottages or tenements held for lives without
any land attached, (fn. 86) reflecting the growth of
Minchinhampton town and, presumably, also the
beginnings of the outlying weaving settlements. A
considerable number of tenements was alienated
from the manor at quit-rents in the 1650s but some
copyholds survived into the mid 18th century (fn. 87) by
which time, however, leases for 99 years determinable by lives were the most usual form of tenure on
the manor estate. (fn. 88)
A crop rotation between 3 fields was apparently
the practice on the manor in the later 14th century,
for all the demesne land sown in 1379 lay in West
field and that sown in 1381 lay mainly in East field. (fn. 89)
There were 3 main open fields in the parish in the
16th century; they were West field lying between the
town and the Bulwarks, South field (later called
Gatcombe or Longstone field) on the south-east of
the town, and East field (later called North or Long
field) lying beyond South field. (fn. 90) A small open field
called Haygrove field adjoined the park near the Blue
Boys inn. (fn. 91) The fields covered a large area in the
early 17th century when the lands held in them by
the tenants of the chief manor were extended at
c. 1,300 a. (fn. 92) The first inclosure from the open fields
is said to have occurred at the beginning of the 18th
century at Peaches Farm (fn. 93) and was probably represented by the 72-a. field called Longfield Tyning
which belonged to the farm in 1823. (fn. 94) Inclosure was
apparently proceeding in 1721 when numerous exchanges of land in the three big fields were made (fn. 95) but
several hundred acres of open-field land still remained in 1780. (fn. 96) All the rector's glebe in West field
and Long field was inclosed by 1807, (fn. 97) and by 1839
inclosure of those fields had been completed leaving
only some land open in Longstone field near
Crackstone Farm. (fn. 98)
In the late 18th century it was believed that the
two big open fields on the east side of the town
had formerly been sheep-pasture; (fn. 99) the tradition,
although probably inaccurate, may reflect the scale of
sheep-farming in the parish in medieval times when,
besides the large demesne flock and the flock for
which the rector was employing a shepherd in 1294
and 1381, (fn. 1) there were evidently sizable flocks kept
by the tenantry. (fn. 2) Sheep were still sufficiently
numerous to employ three shepherds in 1608. (fn. 3) The
main pasture for the demesne flock in the Middle
Ages was provided by the Hampton Downs and
Aston Down, (fn. 4) lying beyond the common fields in the
extreme eastern end of the parish. The former, comprising Great Down with 103 a. and Little Down
with 36 a., were extended as part of the demesne
lands in 1635 but were said to be common during the
winter months while Aston Down, which presumably represented the part of the Minchinhampton
downs in which the men of Aston had common rights
c. 1200, was apparently common during the summer. (fn. 5)
In the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the former
downs were farmed as large, mainly arable, fields
belonging to Aston farm. (fn. 6) Their place as the chief
common pasture was taken by Minchinhampton
common in the north-west of the parish. The
meadow land of the demesne lay in Burymoor,
evidently situated in the vicinity of the Bulwarks,
and at Nailsworth in the Middle Ages (fn. 7) but whether
in common or several meadows is not known.
In the 18th century arable farming continued on a
considerable scale, occupying most of the land outside the woods and Minchinhampton common. (fn. 8) In
1780 the largest farms were overwhelmingly arable,
although they may also have maintained flocks or
herds on the common: they were a farm of 476 a.
on the manorial estate, of which only 18 a. were
pasture; 367 a. in the parish belonging to Aston
farm in Avening, of which 154 a. were pasture;
a farm of 286 a. with 13 a. of pasture; a farm owned
and occupied by Nathaniel Perks with 29 a. of pasture
out of 166 a.; and a farm of 139 a., belonging to Jane
Sheppard's estate, which had 6 a. of pasture. (fn. 9) In
1839 there were 2,230 a. of arable to 1,340 a. of
meadow and pasture in the parish (fn. 10) and arable still
predominated c. 1901 when 1,644 a. were recorded
compared with 1,107 a. of grassland. (fn. 11) There were
12 farms in Minchinhampton in 1856, mainly
situated in the east part of the parish and on the
northern slopes, (fn. 12) and there were 13 in the late 1930s,
including a smallholding, a poultry-farm, and a
pig-farm. (fn. 13)
Mills and the Cloth Industry.
Eight mills were
recorded on Minchinhampton manor in 1086 and in
the early 12th century, (fn. 14) a figure which probably
included some in Rodborough. Apart from some mills
at Chalford, which are dealt with under Bisley, and
others in the part of the parish that was taken into
Nailsworth, Minchinhampton contained six substantial cloth-mills; three of them occupied sites
which can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th
century, and one of them, Longfords Mill, was
developed as one of the most important businesses in
the region in the 19th century and still produced
cloth in 1973. The movement towards mechanisation
was under way in the mills of the parish by 1799
when the vestry decided that they were, as a result,
much under-rated and decided to add an additional
£20 to the valuation for each water-driven machine. (fn. 15)
The cloth industry was established by the later
12th century when there were four fullers among the
tenants of the manor, (fn. 16) apparently the earliest record
of the industry in the Stroud region. Walter le
Taynturer, whose son was mentioned in 1248, (fn. 17) was
probably a dyer or a tenter, and Richard le Scermon,
recorded in 1273, (fn. 18) was perhaps a shearman. Alice
the wife of Reynold the walker held a sluice near
Wimberley Mill c. 1300. (fn. 19) Seven fullers were paying
for licence to dig fuller's earth on the manor in
1307, although they included men from Woodchester
and Dudbridge, and William Huckvale (fn. 20) who
possibly worked a Stroud mill. The cloth-workers
enumerated in 1608 were 4 clothiers, 24 tuckers,
33 weavers, and a dyer, (fn. 21) and in 1824 it was
estimated that out of a population of c. 5,000 more
than half were employed in the industry. (fn. 22) The
service trades of the industry employed a few inhabitants, including a slay-maker recorded in 1735, (fn. 23) a
shear-maker who died in 1729, (fn. 24) and millwrights
recorded in 1737 and 1879. (fn. 25) A wool-stapler was
trading in the town in 1820. (fn. 26)
St. Mary's Mill, on the Frome below Chalford, (fn. 27)
took its name from the chantry in Minchinhampton
church to which it belonged from 1338. (fn. 28) It was a
fulling-mill by 1548 when it was granted with the
chantry's other possessions to John Thynne and
Lawrence Hyde; the tenant was then Francis
Halliday (fn. 29) and in 1594 the property, comprising a
messuage, 2 fulling-mills, a gig-mill, and a gristmill, was conveyed by Edward Halliday to Henry
Winchcombe (or Whiting) of Upton St. Leonards,
clothier. (fn. 30) Henry (d. 1617) was succeeded by his son
Henry, (fn. 31) who was styled a yeoman of Upton in 1640
when the mill was occupied by Edward Arundell.
The younger Henry devised the mill at his death
c. 1661 to his nephew Henry Ockold of Gloucester
and it passed to Richard Ockold (d. 1689 or 1690),
whose trustees sold it, with an estate of over 150 a. in
Minchinhampton and Nether Lypiatt, to Thomas
Ridler, clothier of Stroud. (fn. 32) It belonged to Thomas's
son Nathaniel Ridler of Cirencester in 1707 when he
had a grant in fee from the lord of Bisley manor of
the rack-grounds used by the occupiers at Skaits hill
on the opposite side of the valley. The mill passed to
Nathaniel's brother Robert (fn. 33) who was dead by 1711
when, at a partition between his sisters and coheirs,
the mill was assigned to Mary who married Richard
Cambridge of Pudhill, Woodchester. Richard sold it
in 1721 to Samuel Peach of Chalford, clothier, who
sold it in 1742 to Samuel Peach of Woodchester, (fn. 34)
his son-in-law. The younger Samuel died in 1768 or
1769 and a sale of the mill which he had agreed with
William Innell was completed by his trustees. The
next four changes of ownership reflect the fluctuating fortunes of the clothiers of the period. Innell
went bankrupt in 1774 and the assignees of his
estate sold it in 1777 to Thomas Fry Clarke who
went bankrupt in turn in 1780, his assignees selling
the mill to John Bryant, merchant, in 1782. Bryant,
who had failed in his mortgage repayments, had to
sell the mill in 1795 to Monkhouse Tate, whose
debts forced him to convey it to his chief creditors in
1812. He joined with them in the sale of the mill to
Nathaniel Partridge of Bowbridge in 1816. (fn. 35)
Partridge sold it almost immediately to William
Cotton of Limehouse (Mdx.) who in 1819 leased it
for 14 years to Samuel Clutterbuck of Bowbridge.
Samuel, who took up an option to buy the freehold
on the expiry of his lease, (fn. 36) worked the mill until
1833 or later (fn. 37) but by 1847 the whole or part of the
site was occupied by Frederick Wiggins & Co.,
paper-makers, (fn. 38) who gave up business in 1850. (fn. 39)
Samuel died in 1860 (fn. 40) and in 1874 his family leased
St. Mary's Mill to the flock-manufacturer, William
Charles Grist, (fn. 41) who worked it with the near-by Iles
Mill until c. 1890. (fn. 42) It stood empty for some years
until 1903 when it was taken over by the newly
formed Chalford Stick Co., which employed 100
hands at the outset in making umbrellas and
walking-sticks. (fn. 43) The mill and the business were
bought in 1965 by the brothers G. L. and G.
Reynolds who carried on stick-making on a small
scale together with a small printing-works in 1973. (fn. 44)
St. Mary's Mill was one of the most complete
complexes of buildings surviving in 1973. The
principal mill building, a block of 4 storeys and
attics with paired windows, on the west of the site,
was evidently built by Samuel Clutterbuck c. 1820; (fn. 45)
one of its two massive water-wheels was preserved in
1973 together with a steam-engine which formerly
powered the stick-making machinery. On the south
of the site is an earlier building with mullioned
windows to which an engine-house was added,
probably also by Clutterbuck, who had installed
steam-power by 1834. (fn. 46) Another block of buildings
in the centre of the site had been demolished by
1972. The central range of the fairly extensive
residential buildings on the east of the mill is
probably on the site of and may incorporate part of
the medieval mill-house. Adjoining it on the south is
a tall late-16th-century range, probably originally of
two floors with the elaborately moulded roof visible
from the upper floor. At the other end of the central
range a more modest building was added in the 17th
century and extended to the east in matching style in
the 18th. In the earlier 18th century the 16th-century
south range was refronted and redecorated, two
upper floors inserted, and a new staircase block
added behind it; and in the early 19th century the
south range was lengthened by the addition of
flanking blocks (fn. 47) and the staircase was remodelled.
From that period the north range was used as a
separate dwelling, originally as the mill manager's
house, (fn. 48) and the central range was also in a separate
occupation in 1973.
Wimberley Mill, near Bourne, (fn. 49) was held from
Minchinhampton manor by rent and seasonal works
c. 1300 when a moiety was occupied by John Gille
and a moiety by Maud Gille. (fn. 50) It later passed to
Robert de la Mare (fn. 51) (d. 1382) and was presumably
the mill that belonged to Delameres manor in 1475. (fn. 52)
No subsequent record of the mill has been found
before 1625 when it was occupied by a clothier,
Robert Ridler, (fn. 53) and it later passed to Nathaniel
Ridler of Edgeworth (d. 1707), who devised it to his
son John. (fn. 54) In 1765 it was being worked as a fullingmill by Samuel Whitmore (fn. 55) of Hyde Court, who
died in 1783. (fn. 56) In 1804 it was owned and occupied
by Miles Beale (fn. 57) of Hyde Court (d. 1814), (fn. 58) who
devised it to his wife Charlotte (d. 1832) with reversion to his nephew Thomas Beale. (fn. 59) In 1820
two cloth-manufacturers, John Webb, senior, and
Thomas Jones were the tenants, (fn. 60) and John Webb
held the mill on lease from Thomas Beale in 1839; (fn. 61)
in 1856 it was occupied by the dyer David Farrar, (fn. 62)
and David Farrar, junior, and William Farrar had a
cloth-making and dyeing business there in 1870. (fn. 63) By
1879 Wimberley Mill was occupied by Felix A.
Liddiatt & Co., umbrella- and parasol-stick makers
and timber-merchants, (fn. 64) but in 1883 it was taken over
by Uriah and Francis E. Critchley for their newlyformed pin-making business. The firm, called
Critchley Bros., extended its business to include
the manufacture of wood and bone knitting-needles
and crochet-hooks at the beginning of the 20th
century, when they had acquired the adjoining Dark
Mill in Stroud; later those articles were made in the
locally-produced plastic called Erinoid. (fn. 65) After the
Second World War the firm specialized in making
plastic fittings for the electrical industry, (fn. 66) and they
continued this branch of production, together with
the manufacture of land drainage tube, in 1973,
when c. 300 people were employed on the Wimberley
and Dark Mill sites; the manufacture of aluminium
knitting-needles was given up in that year. A single
stone mill building then survived at the Wimberley
Mill site among extensive factory buildings put up
in the 1960s. (fn. 67)
On the Nailsworth stream, where it forms the
boundary between the parish and Woodchester, two
mills belonged to Minchinhampton. Dyehouse
Mill, (fn. 68) formerly called Philpot's Mill, (fn. 69) was recorded
from the earlier 16th century when it was an outlying
tenement of Coaley manor held by copy by Thomas
Barnfield. Thomas's sons John and Richard were
disputing it in 1584. (fn. 70) Later it became a dye-house
and was worked in turn by Samuel Yeats (d. 1680),
his son Samuel (d. 1722), and Samuel, son of the
younger Samuel, (d. 1729). (fn. 71) It was afterwards
worked as a cloth-mill by Richard Cockle (d. 1794), (fn. 72)
who was succeeded by his son Thomas, who formed
a partnership with R. C. Paul of Tetbury in 1801. (fn. 73)
The firm built a new five-storey mill for machinery
beside the old fulling-mill before 1804, (fn. 74) but they
gave up business in 1810, (fn. 75) and Cockle was forced
to convey the mill for the benefit of his creditors two
years later. It was bought in 1815 by Thomas
Foxwell (fn. 76) and was being worked in 1820 by J. B. and
P. Foxwell. (fn. 77) By 1833 Dyehouse Mill was worked by
William Hunt, (fn. 78) who installed 8 power-looms in
1836, and in 1839 also had 22 handlooms. (fn. 79) W. H.
Anstie was making cloth there in 1856 but a few
years later the mill was turned over to the manufacture of shoddy and mattress-wool by the firm of
Grist & Tabram. (fn. 80) In 1879 S. J. Newman founded
an engineering business there, which in 1896 became
by amalgamation Newman, Hender, & Co., brassfounders, making engine fittings, gun metal, and
valves. (fn. 81) For some years in the earlier 20th century
the firm was part of a consortium called United
Brassfounders and Engineers Ltd. which broke up
in 1923, and by 1973 it had become by amalgamation
Hattersley Newman Hender Ltd., which was itself
part of a larger combine. The firm then employed
750 people at the Dyehouse Mill site and made
industrial valves and equipment for the oil industry. (fn. 82)
Merret's Mill, the next below Dyehouse Mill, (fn. 83)
may have been worked by James Merret, recorded
as a fuller at Minchinhampton in 1641. (fn. 84) Daniel
Webb of Merret's Mill was mentioned in 1703. (fn. 85) In
1769 it was being worked as a cloth-mill by Mary
Dudley & Son. (fn. 86) By 1804 the mill, with two stocks
and a gig, was owned and occupied by Thomas
Haycock (fn. 87) (d. 1828) and it passed to his son Thomas
Reddall Haycock (d. 1837) and to a cousin of the
younger Thomas, William Haycock of Stamford,
who probably sold it before his death in 1851. The
tenant in 1842 was William Hunt of Dyehouse Mill. (fn. 88)
In the later 19th century Merret's Mill was one of
those worked as a flock, shoddy, and mill-puff
manufactory by members of the Grist family:
William Grist occupied it in 1863 (fn. 89) and in 1889
Matthew Grist, whose firm, which later specialized
in the production of bedding wool, remained at the
site until the mid 20th century. (fn. 90) In 1963 the Grist
family sold Merret's Mill to H. Cameron Gardner
Ltd., who employed c. 50 people in 1973 and made
hydraulic loading equipment for use on agricultural
tractors. (fn. 91)
A small mill called Millard's Mill, which was
apparently on the Avening stream south of
Gatcombe wood, (fn. 92) was occupied before 1695 by
Samuel Millard. (fn. 93) It was a grist-mill belonging to
the manor estate in 1718 when it was leased to
Joseph Smith. It formed part of the settlement on
Jane Sheppard but in 1781 she and her daughters
exchanged the site with Edward Sheppard for other
lands; the mill building had apparently been
demolished by then. (fn. 94)
Longfords Mill, on the Avening stream at the
south-west corner of Gatcombe wood, (fn. 95) was
recorded from c. 1300 when Mabel of Longford held
it from the manor by rent and seasonal works. (fn. 96)
William of Longford was recorded as a miller in
1333 (fn. 97) and he or a namesake held the mill until fairly
late in the century. Subsequently it passed to John
Hampton, senior, (fn. 98) and it belonged to the Hamptons'
estate in 1463 when the tenant was John Hillier; (fn. 99) in
1507 John Reynolds took a tenancy of the mill from
Alice Hampton, (fn. 1) with whose estate it passed to the
lords of Minchinhampton manor. (fn. 2) William Windsor
leased it c. 1543 to Thomas Davis and it passed to
Thomas's wife Joan, who later married Richard
Herbert. After Joan's death in 1568 her daughter by
her first marriage, Mary, wife of William Weltden,
claimed the mill against Richard's son Charles and
the clothier Thomas Elkington, who claimed to be
the sub-lessee. (fn. 3) Thomas Elkington was described as
a clothman of Longfords in 1591 and William
Elkington of Longfords was mentioned in 1620. (fn. 4) By
1640 the mill was occupied by the clothier Edward
Pinfold, whose son Thomas bought the freehold
from the lord of the manor in 1651; the property
then comprised a messuage, 2 stocks, a gig-mill, and
a grist-mill. (fn. 5) Another Thomas Pinfold later succeeded to it, dying c. 1738, and it passed to his
nephew John Pinfold, who was living at Peers Court,
Stinchcombe, at his death c. 1779 when he devised
Longfords Mill to Lewis Hoskins (d. 1788). Lewis's
son Edward contracted to sell it to Thomas Playne
(d. 1789), the tenant under a lease of 1783, and the
purchase was completed in 1790 by Thomas's widow
Martha and his son Peter, a minor. By 1806 Peter
and his brother William were working the mill in
partnership and in that year they made the large
pond called Gatcombe Water above the site, and
built a new mill, powered by 3 water-wheels, called
Lake Mill. By a partition of the property in 1813
Peter took Lake Mill and William the old mill
buildings (fn. 6) but the brothers apparently continued in
partnership until 1822 when Peter granted Lake Mill
to William in exchange for Dunkirk Mill at Nailsworth. (fn. 7) As William Playne & Co. the business at
Longfords became one of the most successful in
the district, relying largely on the production of
'stripe' for the East India Company's China trade. (fn. 8)
There were some setbacks, however: in 1829, when
the business was being carried on by William
Playne's son William in partnership with his cousins
William Playne Wise and John Wise, the elder
William had to convey the mill to the Tetbury bank
as security for a debt of £12,000 owed by the
partnership, (fn. 9) and in 1834 a strike of the firm's
weavers led to the discontinuance of stripe production. (fn. 10) Steam-power was introduced by 1815 (fn. 11) and in
1839 there were 90 handlooms and a power-loom at
the mill. (fn. 12) The elder William Playne died in 1850
and the younger William in 1884 when the business
passed to his son Arthur Twisden Playne. (fn. 13) The firm
became a limited company in 1920 when it formed
an association with Hunt & Winterbotham of Cam
and Strachan & Co. of Lodgemore Mill. (fn. 14) Playne &
Co. still occupied Longfords Mill, employing 120
people, in 1973; the firm had recently begun to
specialize exclusively in the manufacture of cloth for
tennis balls. (fn. 15)
The buildings at the site in 1973 included Lake
Mill, some structures of later in the 19th century,
weaving-shops built in 1912 on the site of the old
mill-pond, and a large new spinning-mill built in
1951. (fn. 16) At Longfords House, just above the mill, the
original square block at the west end was built by
William Playne c. 1800. (fn. 17) A wing containing larger
principal rooms was added on the east about 20 or 30
years later and within the same period a further
block, containing kitchens and balancing that on the
west, was added beyond the dining-room. In the later
19th century a new entrance hall and staircase was
built on the north side of the middle range and a
conservatory and billiard room added on the south of
the kitchen block. The house remained the home of
the Playne family until the Second World War when
it became a girls' approved school. (fn. 18)
The Iron Mill, a short way below Longfords, (fn. 19)
was originally an ironworks but had ceased to
operate as such by 1635. (fn. 20) The site was being used
for fulling by 1673 when, comprising a messuage and
two fulling-mills, it was sold by Thomas Pinfold of
Longfords Mill to the lessee Thomas Pinfold of
Burleigh. (fn. 21) It later passed to Edward Pinfold,
clothier, who by will dated 1712 left it to his wife
Mary with reversion to their son Nathaniel.
Nathaniel, who appears to have acquired his mother's
interest, (fn. 22) was evidently in possession of the mill by
1714 when a part was occupied by John Barnfield of
Forwood Farm. (fn. 23) By his will of 1720 Nathaniel
devised it to Mary with reversion to his nephew
Edward Pinfold. Edward, who was working it in
1723, devised it at his death in 1740 to his brother
Giles, then in business as a distiller at Bristol. (fn. 24) By
1749 the mill was occupied by John Webb (fn. 25) who was
exporting cloth to Russia in 1756, the year of his
death; (fn. 26) James Webb was carrying on the business
at the Iron Mill in 1763. (fn. 27) Ownership of the mill
apparently remained with the Pinfold family, however, for it belonged to John Pinfold Westley, a
clothier of Shepton Mallet (Som.), in 1791 when he
sold it to his tenant John Perrin. It was once more in
the same ownership as Longfords Mill from 1812
when Perrin sold it to William Playne (fn. 28) and Playne
& Co. were using it c. 1839. (fn. 29) In 1856 it was being
used as a saw-mill by William Barnard (fn. 30) but Playne
& Co. once more had it in hand as a cloth-mill in the
late 19th century. (fn. 31) Part of the buildings survived in
a derelict state in 1973. The millowner's house on
the north of the site bears the date 1686 and the
initials of Edward and Mary Pinfold; occupied as
cottages in 1973, it is a gabled 17th-century building,
extended and remodelled in the 19th century.
In 1839 there was a small ruined mill in the north
of the parish just below Besbury Farm, belonging to
John Hughes Warman, and another mill, also in
ruins, at Forwood belonged to the manor estate; (fn. 32) no
other record of either has been found. A windmill,
which gave its name to Windmill Place on the main
road west of Minchinhampton town, was owned and
worked by William Clissold in 1804, (fn. 33) and in 1839 by
Samuel Kearsey. (fn. 34) George Taylor was the miller in
1863, occupying it with Edmund Taylor, a maltster
and corn-dealer. (fn. 35)
Other Trade and Industry.
Apart from those
employed in the cloth industry and by the industries
which later took over the mills, Minchinhampton
parish appears to have always had a fairly substantial
body of tradesmen and craftsmen, most of them
working in its small market town. A skinner, a shoemaker, and a man described as the son of the potter
were among the tenants of the manor in the later
12th century. (fn. 36) There were butchers and shoemakers
in the town in the early 14th century, (fn. 37) and in 1381
the inhabitants of the parish included 3 smiths, 4
brewers, a tailor, and a baker. (fn. 38) In 1608 34 men
following a variety of trades were recorded compared
with 62 cloth-workers and 32 men engaged in agriculture. The clothing trades, then represented by 7
tailors, 5 shoemakers, a mercer, and a staymaker, (fn. 39)
appear to have been of some importance. A glover
was recorded in 1641, (fn. 40) a hosier and 3 mantuamakers in 1764, (fn. 41) a milliner and a linen-draper in
1777, (fn. 42) and 3 women straw-hat makers in 1842. (fn. 43)
The Quaker family of Fowler was prominent in the
town as mercers and general dealers during the late
17th and the 18th centuries, (fn. 44) and the shopkeeper
recorded in 1748 (fn. 45) and the wine-merchant who lived
there in 1764 (fn. 46) also emphasise the town's role as a
minor retailing centre.
Among the less usual craftsmen recorded were a
roper in 1750, (fn. 47) a cutler who died in 1770, (fn. 48) and a
basket- and sieve-maker in 1856. (fn. 49) The making of
saddle-trees, carried on in the parish from before
1740, (fn. 50) was later developed on a considerable scale
by James Chambers of Forwood House (d. 1787); (fn. 51)
James's son Thomas was described as a saddle-tree
maker in 1797, but his main concern appears to have
been the malting business which his father had also
run for a period. (fn. 52) The crafts of blacksmithing,
cabinet-making, and wheelwrighting were among
those which survived up to the Second World War. (fn. 53)
Quarrying of the local oolite was recorded from
the early 14th century when numbers of inhabitants,
including Geoffrey the mason, paid rents to the
manor for the privilege. (fn. 54) By the beginning of the
18th century there were quarries of freestone and
weatherstone on Minchinhampton common, (fn. 55) where
the quarrying rights were retained by the lords of the
manor except for a period in the early 19th century
when they were alienated to Richard Harris. (fn. 56) Other
quarries east of the town were worked for stone
tiles. (fn. 57) Some of the largest workings in the parish
were at Wall's Quarry near Burleigh; 3 quarrymasters lived there in 1856 (fn. 58) and the quarries there
were worked commercially until the mid 20th
century. (fn. 59) One quarry at Burleigh was owned by
Gloucester cathedral, providing stone for repairs to
the fabric, but it was no longer used in 1973. (fn. 60)
Reconstituted stone was made in the mid 20th
century at a site east of the town. (fn. 61) The building
trades were represented in 1608 by 3 masons and 3
tilers, (fn. 62) and remained of some importance in the
18th century when masons, (fn. 63) tilers, (fn. 64) and pargetters (fn. 65)
were fairly numerous.
The malt-house of the Chambers family at
Forwood House (fn. 66) was one of many in operation in
the parish at the beginning of the 19th century. (fn. 67)
Another was worked in 1813 by George Playne of
Forwood Farm (fn. 68) who had expanded it into a brewery
by 1839; (fn. 69) after his death in 1847 (fn. 70) his family carried
on the business until 1897 when it was taken over by
the Stroud brewery. (fn. 71)
The professions were fairly well represented at
Minchinhampton during the period of its importance
as a local centre. An apothecary was recorded in
1652 (fn. 72) and there were usually several surgeons living
in the parish during the 18th century, (fn. 73) when the
professional classes were also represented by the
attorneys Edmund Clutterbuck of Hyde (fn. 74) and
Richard Plummer of Burleigh (d. 1769). (fn. 75) In 1820 an
attorney, a land-surveyor, and three surgeons were
established in the town. (fn. 76)
Markets and Fairs.
Caen Abbey had a grant of a
market on Tuesdays and a six-day fair at Trinity on
its manor of Minchinhampton in 1269. (fn. 77) The main
roads through the parish evidently encouraged plans
for the establishment of a trading centre and it was
perhaps also hoped to provide a local wool mart,
although the abbey itself and other big local producers presumably dealt privately with woolmerchants, such as the one whose horse was stabled
at the abbey's expense in 1307. Receipts of 8s. 10d.
for stallage and 3d. for toll at the fair were apparently
the sole profits in 1307 but some tradesmen had by
then been encouraged to settle in the town: butchers'
shops were repaired by the manor in 1307, (fn. 78) and in
1316 it received 3s. 3¼d. rent from shoemakers 'and
other merchants'. (fn. 79) Six shops paid rent to the manor
in 1442. (fn. 80) Apart from the record of a merchant
among the inhabitants in the later 12th century (fn. 81)
before the founding of the market, and of another,
John Chapman, a man of considerable wealth, in
1381, (fn. 82) there is little evidence that the town was ever
a trading centre of any great importance in the
Middle Ages.
In 1565, when it was said that the town had much
decayed in recent years, Edward Windsor secured a
grant confirming the Tuesday market and two oneday fairs, on Trinity Monday and 18 October (fn. 83) (later
altered by the calendar change to 29 October). In
1698 Philip Sheppard built a new market-house as
part of a scheme to establish the town as a centre for
the sale of wool and yarn, (fn. 84) and two older markethouses were also in use c. 1708, for the sale of white
meat and corn respectively. (fn. 85) The wool- and yarnmarket attracted sufficient support initially to pose a
threat to the old-established one at Tetbury (fn. 86) and it
was regarded as one of the four chief wool-markets
of the county in 1702; (fn. 87) the tolls were valued at £30
a year in 1718. (fn. 88) Sheppard's scheme did not have any
lasting success, (fn. 89) however, and it was probably only
as a formality that the wool- and yarn-market was
included in the sale of the manor in 1814. The other
tolls and profits of the markets and fairs were on
lease from the manor at a rent of £28 in 1718 (fn. 90) compared with £12 in 1635. (fn. 91) One of the fairs specialized
in traffic in horses by 1760 when its site was moved
from the Blue Boys inn to West End, (fn. 92) and Minchinhampton was considered to have one of the best
horse-fairs in the county in 1856. (fn. 93) The markets and
fairs appear to have gone out of use c. 1880. (fn. 94)
The market was held at the north end of High
Street. The shops at the gate of the manor court and
at the gate of the churchyard mentioned in 1330 (fn. 95)
were presumably sited to overlook the market area,
and the butchers' shambles which the churchwardens repaired in 1600 (fn. 96) probably also adjoined
the south side of the churchyard. The sites of the
market-houses for meat and corn are not known for
certain but one was probably in the Lower Island in
the centre of the market area. (fn. 97) The market-house
built by Philip Sheppard in 1698 stands in the northeast corner of the market area. It is supported on
stone columns, arcaded on the north side, with an
inner row of wooden columns, and has a large room
on the first floor and an attic storey from which
dormers were removed c. 1870. (fn. 98) The first-floor
room was used for a school in the early 19th century, (fn. 99)
when some alterations were made, and later for
public and social activities, for which purpose it was
refitted in the early 1950s. (fn. 1) The building was given
to the town by H. G. Ricardo, the lord of the manor,
in 1919. (fn. 2)