| Back to Book Corner | Home Page |
|---|
An History of the Ancient Town and
Borough of Congleton by Samuel Yates,
1820
A reproduction of the book written by Samuel Yates and printed in 1820, now available on eBay in hardback.
And yet so much of the town of Congleton (the name possibly from the Anglo Saxon Farmstead name Cung Hil Tun meaning Round Hill Farm) would still be recognisable today from that time. This is an old historical account of a small to medium-sized market town in England's North West, in the county of Cheshire. At first glance this seems like an unremarkable town when seen on the map, perhaps unheard of by most people outside of Cheshire. And yet this became one of the three towns, with Stockport and Macclesfield, which became the centre of the silk industry in Britain, and the silk produced was, for decades, the main source of silk exported throughout the world.
This history of Congleton was written in 1820 by Samuel Yates and hence predates the history "Congleton Past and Present" by Robert Head, printed in 1887, by almost 70 years.
Yate's history is of great historical interest as he not only describes the history of Congleton as it was understood in the early 19th century, much of this being ascertained from charters dating back to the thirteenth century, but he also describes the social and economic circumstance of the then contemporary Congleton, which has some interesting comparisons to that the history written by Robert Head. The first chapter gives a narrative history of Congleton, from earliest the earliest known times, with a brief mentions of the Roman and the Saxon times, little of which was understood at the time. The history is much more detailed after the thirteenth century, and is particularly full of facts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, finishing with the Scots invasion of the town in 1745, when up to 1300 Scots entered the town, led by Lord George Murray. This was an event that happened a few years before the opening of the first textile mill in the town.
The second chapter deals with the town in the then current period. For us now this forms part of the towns more distant past and gives a remarkable insight to how the town functioned, its population, manors and the town corporation. Yates goes in a lot of detail about the royal visit made by the Prince of Wales in 1806. A few years later it is noted how great improvements were made to the town, street lighting was starting to be introduced and the streets were starting to be paved with stone. Mention is made of an Edmund Antrobus, one of the Congleton Antrobus family, paying for flag stones to pave West Street.
LEFT: "Silk Mill, Congleton" - Later known as The Old Mill. Photo about 1900, the first silk mill in Congleton, completed in 1755
Chapter five gives a history of Congleton's manufacturing, and a lot of the chapter is devoted to the town's textile manufacturing industry, the first mill being built in 1752. The textile industry continued to grow over the following decades and brought wealth to the town. The town had been in decline for over a century after the population was considerably reduced by plague in the 1640s and was further impoverished during the civil war. After the first silk mill was built by John Clayton in 1755 more mills were erected in rapid succession such that by 1820. When Samuel Yates was writing up his history there were over thirty silk mills in Congleton alone. Yates gives very interesting descriptions and details of the machinery and workings of the mills which has great historical value.
Work in a textile mill early 19th century
Samuel Yates uses the Old Mill as the main silk mill for his example. It was originally called simply "Silk Mill, Congleton but would eventually become known as 'The Old Mill'. This mill was further extended shortly after Yate's history was written such that it employed over six hundred people, making it one of the largest mills in the country. Over the years the mill was much altered, but it continued in use in the textile industry right up to 1998 as R.H Rowe PLC, a clothes manufacturer. This mill, which was written so much about in Yate's history, was finally demolished in 2002. The textile industry became the main industry of the town for over one hundred and fifty years, with Silk throwing and later fustian and velvet cutters being the main function of the mills. To find out more about the history of the mills in Congleton read Mill Walks and Industrial Yarns, A History of the Mills and Businesses of Congleton and District by Lyndon Murgatroyd.
In the appendix a section about of Astbury Church goes into some detail about the history of this large church which seems far too large for the small village of Astbury. However this is the parish church for the ancient and what was once the very large parish of Astbury. For centuries the town of Congleton was in the parish of Astbury, and Astbury church was the main church for the area almost up to the twentieth century. A church has stood on the site where the present day church stands since Saxon times, the current church dates from the Norman times. Yates provides a history and a description of the church, beginning with the Normans and Gilbert Venables. He describes the church in some detail as it was in the early nineteenth century. Since Yates wrote his history, in modern times in fact, an old Yew tree in the church grounds has now been dated by experts to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old and probably this suggests the location of a pre-Christian site before a church existed on the site.
Yates also provides a list and description of the grave stones to be found at Astbury church in the early 19th century, with family graves sites of the Lee, Moreton, Wilbraham Swetenham, Shakerley and other families, and this includes the Antrobus family of Congleton..
Samuel Yates' History of Congleton contains 159 pages long
Chapter I - Ancient State
Congleton, its Origins,- Etymology,- Incorporation and history till the introduction of the silk manufacture.
Chapter II - Modern State
Description, situation, &c. - Market,- Fairs,- Manor,- Population,- Perumbulation of the Borough, - Flagging and Lighting.
Chapter III - Civic Government and Borough
The Corporation,- Sessions, - Courts leet, Lists of Mayors, high stewards, and deputy Stewards, Guild-hall,- Work-house-Town lands, Poors' rates,- Highway ley.
Chapter IV - Ecclesiastical Affairs
The Church,- Right of nominating the clergymen,- Monumental inscriptions,- Extracts from the parish registers,- Unitarian chapel,- Methodist chapel,- Calvanist chapel.
Chapter V - Manufactures
Linen and woollen weavers,- Glovers,- Congleton-points,- Silk-throwing, first introduced,- List of silk throwers in and near Congleton,- Cotton Manufactures,- Ribbon Weavers.
Chapter VI - Charitable Institutions
Benevolent society,- Bible society,- Sunday schools,- Sick clubs,- Savings bank,- Benefactions and charities.
Chapter VII
Charters, grants, &c.- Bye laws,- Freeman's oath.
Appendix
Astbury church,- Biographical Sketches of eminent men who have resided in Congleton.
