On the windswept Fecit Hill above Cheesden Pasture, 1 mile from Turn Village to
the northwest of Knowl Hill, near where the Grain Brook flows into the Cheesden
Brook are the now very sad and scant remains of what was Four Acre Mill (OS Grid
Ref: SD 827175). A section of the mill wall used to stand there but has had to
be demolished for safety reasons. Four Acre Mill was built as a Woollen Mill
just before 1810 by John and George Haworth - who were both farmers at Croston
Close in the Cheesden Valley. The mill later became a cotton spinning mill. John
Haworth also built Great Lodge (now dried up) about half a mile further up on
the moor to help feed the brook at Four Acre, and an embankment was also built.
George Haworth also ran mills at Lower Croston Close in the Cheesden Valley, and
Coal Bank (Carr Woods) in the Ashworth Valley roughly between the period 1830
and 1860. Admittedly, the Haworth brothers did not always see eye-to-eye and
would often fall out over business ventures. Four Acre Mill had closed down by
the late 19th century.
A.V. Sandiford & T.E. Ashworth tell us more about Four Acre Mill:
"The history of the Cheesden Valley is dominated by three names; The
Ashworths, the Ramsbottoms and the Haworths and from them emerges a figure
whose enterprise, perhaps ruthless enterprise, did much to develop the
industries of the upper valley in their formative years. The man was John
Haworth who with his brother George was a farmer of Croston Close. Before he
was thirty he was operating a mill in Croston Close Bottoms a little way
downstream from Cheesden Lumb and he ran another, Four Acre Mill, high up on
the moors above Cheesden. Four Acre was powered by a waterwheel thirty six
feet in diameter and four feet in width and it took all of Haworth's ingenuity
to provide a head of water to drive it. The task of harnessing the waters of
the Cheesden Brook to the valley industries was an exacting one to every mill
owner, but Haworth at Four Acre, situated well upstream, it was a particular
challenge. But it was one to which he proved more than equal.
"The mill lay only a short distance from the confluence of the Cheesden and
Grane Brooks but the Cheesden was not of sufficient height to provide a goyt
for the lodge at Four Acre. The Grane Brook, however, was higher so Haworth
built an embankment across the former and diverted the water into the latter.
Furthermore, in the triangle thus formed the earth was excavated to provide
useful extra storage at little expense to the construction. A weir,
constructed a few yards from the confluence, can still be seen and from it the
goyt can be traced to the lodge above the mill.
"But Haworth later turned to a greater concept. Despite the ingenuity of
their con-struction the mills, in their early years, were still heavily
dependent on a regular rainfall and workers were at times called from their
beds to work long hours at their machine when stormwater flooded down the
valley to turn the wheels. Haworth was far from satisfied with this situation
and literally with shovel in hand led the construction of a lodge, later known
as Great Lodge, where the Cheesden Brook rose among peat covered moorland 1478
feet above sea level. He erected an embankment across a narrow neck of the
valley to impound the water draining from the moss some four-hundred yards to
the north east, and fitted sluices to guarantee a steady flow of water to the
industries below.
"When the work was complete he called a meeting of the valley mill owners and
offered the use of the water to each of them. The acceptance would have been
unanimou but for one dissenter. so Haworth in his tempestuous manner, replied
'if all don't want it, then none shall have it!' and kept the sluices closed.
Perhaps he relented later for Great Lodge was, in fact, used and provided a
valuable service in regulating the work of the mills.
"The dissenter may possibly have been his brother George. History has
provided countlesss examples of the bitterness which can exist between members
of a family and it would appear that the Haworth brothers were no exception.
John's daughter, Alice, often recalled in later years - a time shortly after
the brothers quarrelled when George became ill. Convinced his end was near he
despatched a messenger to request John to visit him so that the breach
existing between them could be healed. John, it is said, listened to the
request, paused for a moment then turned to the messenger and replied 'Now
thee goo back an' tell tell 'im as sent thee to get on' wi' 'is deeing. I want
to see him neither dead nor alive!'".
Sources of above text information:-
Photo (top) Four Acre Mill remains by Kevin Waterhouse (Creative Commons):https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7255201
A.V. Sandiford & T.E. Ashworth, The Forgotten Valley, Bury and District Local History Society, 1981.
Copyright © RayS57, 2025.
