Now even the most humble of buildings will have a story if
you know where to look.
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| Those farm buildings circa 1970s |
Of course in the great sweep of history most of us will
plump for a Tatton Hall or ruined medieval castle.
But even the most mundane workaday building will offer up
something.
So here I am on St Werburg’s Road with one of the farm
buildings of Park Brow Farm.
Somewhere in the collection I have a set of pictures from my old friend Oliver Bailey whose family farmed there from the beginning of the last century and before that were on Chorlton Row from the 1760s.*
 |
| The farm and buildings in 1844 |
But it is there on the OS map for 1844 and I rather think it
also shows up on Greenwood’s map of 1818.
So there is history here and given time and a bit of research I want to explore the archaeology of the building. In particular the brick stairway up to the first floor and when and why the large entrance on the eastern side was bricked in.
For now I will just close with the thought that it would
have been on Mary Moore’s route to Dog House Farm.
Mary lived on the Green and as brutally murdered in the June
of 1838, but that as they say is another story.*
Location; Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Picture; the farm buildings circa 1970s from the Lloyd
Collection, and detail from the OS map for Lancashire showing Park Brow Farm, 1844, courtesy of Digital archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Chorlton Row is now Beech Road
**The murder of Mary Moore from Chorlton out in Whalley Range and an inquest in Withington, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-murder-of-mary-moore-from-chorlton.html
**The murder of Mary Moore from Chorlton out in Whalley Range and an inquest in Withington, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-murder-of-mary-moore-from-chorlton.html
I recall Bailleys farm there in 70s -Leonard I think. He was a larger than life character. Did his daughter then marry in to the Artley family who lived across the road?
ReplyDeleteI will ask
ReplyDeleteTo me that farm was anything but mundane. I often wondered why the buildings still existed, complete with a small field, decades after all the other farms in this suburban setting had houses built on them with the original farmhouses generally demolished.
ReplyDeleteTo me that farm was anything but mundane. I often wondered why the buildings still existed, complete with a small field, decades after all the other farms in this suburban setting had houses built on them with the original farmhouses generally demolished.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely married the Artley family. I was at school with Richard (born 1963 ish) who I last heard was doing academic work in Oxford/Cambridge. Richard had a younger brother (by 2 or 3 years) called Malcolm.
ReplyDeleteThe Mary Moore doesn't work but this does, if it's the same story https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-murder-of-mary-moore-from-chorlton.html
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard l will investigate
ReplyDeleteMy mum used to send me there to buy eggs from the farmhouse, i would say hello to the pigs in their styes whilst there
ReplyDelete