Walk 5 Hebden Village
1 miles (2 km)
Start at the Post Office and head north passing the Village Institute on
the left (page 80). Just before crossing the B6265 (carefully) take a look
straight ahead down Brook Street. These houses where mainly built for farm
workers in the early 17th century with no 7-9 being of particular interest
in that it contains unique plaster friezes. It is called the Manor House
(1) but then so is another to which we will come later.
After crossing the main road and passing the second bridge, to Brook Street,
turn left after about 100 yards (Sign posted ‘Bridlepath’)
go through the white painted iron gate and note two barns. One on your
immediate left which has been converted and a few yards further on the
second on the right (2). Both of these seem to make a statement like buying
a posh car. They have some very fine architectural detail. Follow the wide
path to the left and be aware of the fine new dry stone walls on your right
which shield the yard of one of Hebden’s entrepreneur’s, Longthorne
Brothers, who run about 40 trucks carrying mainly limestone from the surrounding
quarries.
Follow the path back to the main road, through a wooden gate, cross the
main road on to Brayshaw Lane or locally called Back Lane. This was the
original thoroughfare through the village before Main Street. Continue
down Brayshaw Lane being aware that you are on the west boundary of what
is a planned village, the plan being instigated c. 1300. If you look at
the map it is fairly obvious that the village is divided, between Main
Street and Back Lane, into eight strips, the northern one being diagonally
divided by the main road. These are referred to as Tofts and Crofts each
one, in the main, having a significant house on it which in the passed
formed the farming nucleus of the village. There is now only one working
farm in the village the other seven are as satellites, around the edges
of the town fields.
If the church is open (3), take a quick look inside. A good solid building
of 1841 with a very fine Harrison & Harrison organ which was put in
by The Rev F A Colbatch-Share Ma in 1894.
Go down Church Lane back to Main Street and turn right. If you look over
the wall to your left across the valley and at about the same eye height,
you will see a small building without a roof and to the right of that a
rounded entrance. This is the entrance to Hebden New Level and was mined
between 1873 and 1888. It penetrates into the hillside, in almost a straight
line, for over 2 _ kilometres (page 61).
Carry on south down Main Street passed some of the afore mentioned significant
houses, Green House, Croft House and Chestnut House then when the road
starts to wiggle, on the left is Manor House (4). On this site is thought
to be the original manorial building as in very dry weather lines of foundations
are obvious in the lawn and a fish pond is discernable in the croft adjacent
to the south.
A rough snicket joins from the right. This is the continuation of Back
Lane and the original thoroughfare through the village.
Continue on passed some large, seen better days, wooden buildings. These
were built in 1909 for a CHA Guest House (5) (page 82). There is a very
successful nursery school in one corner.
Down the hill in a Holloway, which indicates the age of this road, and
looking ahead the River Wharfe will be seen, with through the trees, the
suspension bridge built in 1885 alongside the stepping stones put in many
centuries earlier.
Immediately after crossing the road bridge over Hebden Beck turn left.
On the right is the building which contained the manorial corn mill (6).
This dates before 1693 and it is possible that there was a previous mill
on the same site.
Walk between the two modern houses, passed a conifer wood on the left and
up into the fields and over the issue from Johnson’s Gill (7). The
large wooden huts and the fibre glass tanks constitute a salmon farm. Over
_ a million fish are brought on every year, hatched from eggs, and after
about 15 months sent up to the sea pens in Scotland. Carry on over the
bridge passed the weir, just north of the fish farm and the old mill ponds.
These are supplied by Thruskell Well (8) which can always be relied upon
and supplements the beck water in drought conditions.
Go through a wooden kissing gate, up a rise and looking across the beck
there is the huge spoil heap from the lead mine and a stone wall at the
bottom of this which is the old wheel pit (page 61). Now over a style,
right close to the beck and up a cobbled path, no doubt put in for the
miners to pass to and fro from the village. (The rise up to the roofless
building near the mine entrance is called Smithy Hill (9) because this
is where William Bell, blacksmith had his smithy and from which he probably
made the suspension bridge across the Wharfe. Page 77.)
On the right is the old school (10) and passing through a metal kissing
gate takes you onto the Main Street once again and then it is only a few
yards back to the Post Office.
