SALFORD HUNDRED 



ROCHDALE 



RADCLIFFE of Tod- 

 morden. Argent a bend 

 engrailed table in the 

 iiniiter chief a Jleur de 

 Us gules. 



with gables and mullioned windows, originally in a 

 pleasant situation on the north-west bank of the Calder, 

 to which its gardens sloped ; but it is now, however, 

 almost completely shut in by other buildings, and its 

 surroundings entirely altered. It takes the place of 

 an older building on the same 

 site of which it is probably a 

 rebuilding or an enlargement. 

 There is, however, nothing 

 in the existing structure which 

 appears to be older than the 

 year 1603, at which date the 

 rebuilding was carried out by 

 Saville Radcliffe, though it is 

 possible that a portion of the 

 west wing may belong to the 

 older building. The type and 

 plan is that of a centre block 

 with projecting end wings, the 

 principal front, facing south, 

 having stone gables and straight parapets with ball 

 ornaments and large mullioned and transomed win- 

 dows with hood-moulds. The centre and eastern 

 wings are much loftier than the western, and sug- 

 gest that the 1603 rebuilding may have comprised 

 this portion of the house alone, the lower wing con- 

 taining the kitchen being a part of the older house. 

 The porch is an addition to the original west wing, as 

 shown by a stiaight joint, but its detail suggests its 

 having been erected at the same time as the rest of 

 the house. The centre wing has two large four-light 

 windows on each floor, those on the ground floor 

 having double transoms, but the original windows of 

 the east wing were cut away in the i8th century and 

 larger square sash windows inserted on both floors, 

 entirely spoiling the picturesque appearance of the 

 house and altering the proportions of the front. These 

 windows remained till 1908, when they were removed 

 in their turn, and new mullioned windows put in their 

 place. In 1626 Todmorden Hall is described in the 

 Manor Survey 7i as ' a capital messuage fairly built of 

 stone,' and in the will of John Fielden, who died there 

 in 1734, the house is mentioned 'with its gatehouses 

 and cottages.' From that date the hall seems to have 

 been divided into two houses, when Abraham Fielden 

 inherited it, except ' the new parlour, the dyning room, 

 the mealhouse, the new chamber with part of the 

 cellar,' which were reserved for the use of his mother. 76 

 This probably refers to the west wing, to which an 

 addition was built including a new kitchen, the original 

 kitchen being turned into the dining-room. The Hall 

 still consists of two houses, but the plan was apparently 



so much modified in the l8th century that the 

 original arrangements are not clear. This work 

 appears to have been done by the Fieldens somewhere 

 about the year 1743 (that date being on a stone in the 

 cellar), and includes the present large stone staircase 

 in the eastern part. 77 



The roofs are now covered with modern blue 

 slates, and the main roof is carried down at the back 

 between the gables, finishing with overhanging eaves, 

 the north front of the house being straight and un- 

 broken, and producing something of the nature of an 

 H plan in the upper story. The north elevation has 

 end gables of unequal height similar to those in the 

 principal front, but the pitch of the western gable 

 has been altered on one side by the later kitchen 

 addition. The exterior of the house bears no date, 

 but a stone bearing a shield with the arms of Rad- 

 cliffe quartering Greenacres, found in one of the 

 attics during the restoration of 1908, was placed 

 over the porch in the same year. The spout 

 heads, however, have a bull's head, the Radcliffe 

 crest, within a circle. The interior has been con- 

 siderably modernized, but the principal front room at 

 the east end is panelled in oak to a height of 10 ft., 

 and has a finely-carved oak mantelpiece, on which, in 

 the centre, are the arms of Radcliffe quartering 

 Greenacres, impaling Hyde of Norbury, with the 

 crests of Radcliffe and Hyde, and the mottoes, 

 ' Natale Solo Duce.' ' Ama Virtutem.' On the cor- 

 nice is the date 1603, and above three black shields, 

 the centre (larger) one being inclosed within a garter 

 and surmounted with an earl's coronet. 78 Below are 

 four shields : (i) a lion rampant, (2) Radcliffe, 

 (3) Hyde, and (4) a cross flory and the Radcliffe 

 crest in a circle, between which are the initials 

 S. R. K. R. (Saville Radcliffe and Katherine Hyde his 

 wife). In one of the upper rooms is a portion of a 

 good plaster ornamental frieze, now on two sides of 

 the room only, but formerly continued all round. 

 There is a space 5 ft. high between the ceiling of the 

 corridor of the eastern house and the floor of the 

 landing above, entered by a trap-door, and giving 

 rise to the usual story of a priest's hole. The 

 upper part of the porch in the western house has an 

 open arch and wooden balustrade, forming a kind 

 of small gallery to the hall, and is approached from 

 the bedroom, an arrangement which gives rise to the 

 story of a minstrels' gallery. 79 The hall is said to 

 have had coloured glass in several of its windows 

 until recent years, 80 but all of this has now disap- 

 peared. 



The Fieldens of Bottomley 81 and the Crossleys of 



manor of Todmorden, Hermithome, and 

 other lands being included ; Surv. ut sup. 

 134-6. Saville Radcliffe, in 1631, paid 

 ^25 on refusing knighthood ; Mite. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 216. 



A settlement of the manor of Todmor- 

 den was made in 1695 by Roger Main- 

 waring and Elizabeth his wife, Saville 

 Radcliffe and Mary his wife, and Radcliffe 

 Scholefield and Mary his wife ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 234, m. 92. 



Roger Mainwaring the younger and 

 Elizabeth his wife were in possession in 

 1701 ; ibid. bdle. 246, m. 107. The 

 same and James Mainwaring held it in 

 1717 ; ibid. bdle. 277, m. 107. This fine 

 was probably levied in connexion with the 

 sale. 



75 Quoted by Fishwick, Rochdale, 471. 



7* Fishwick, op. cit. 472. 



77 The oak balusters of a former 17th- 

 century staircase are still preserved in a 

 lumber room in the house. 



? 8 It is said to have had the arms of 

 Radcliffe Earl of Sussex. 



7 9 It is possible that the entrance hall 

 of the present west house may mark the 

 ' screens * of a former building, the great 

 hall of which would be the central por- 

 tion of the east house now occupied by 

 the two front rooms and the passage be- 

 hind. The plan of the building suggests 

 its having been rebuilt on an older foun- 

 dation. But the porch is certainly of 

 later date than the original hall, the min- 

 strels' gallery of which, if there ever was 



231 



one, would probably have been over the 

 screens. 



80 Fishwick, op. cit. 472. 



81 For an account of this family see 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 457-64, with pedigree. 

 The surname appears to have been Fieldend 

 originally. 



William Fielden in 1581 made a 

 feoffment of messuages, &c., in Hunders- 

 field ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 43, 

 m. 164. About the same time Nicholas 

 (bastard son of Bartholomew) Fielden and 

 Christabel his wife purchased a messuage 

 in Hundersfiel.I from John Stansfield and 

 Agnes his wife ; ibid. m. 167. In the fol- 

 lowing year he acquired another messuage 

 from Edward Milne, Agnes his wife, and 

 Charles his son ; ibid. bdle. 44, m. 87. 



