Local & Community History Month: What is the History of the Church Row Cottages in Middleton Village?

When the Middleton Estate was sold at auction in 1924, Lot 61 contained all the six cottages of Church Row in Middleton Village. These Cottages were located in a single piece of land that covered an area of about 1 acre 3 roods and 3 perches (0.76 hectares). They were directly adjacent to the north of St John the Baptist Church.

Map showing in brown Lot 61 "Church Row Cottages" in Middleton Village, from the Auction Catalogue of the Middleton Estate, 1924.

In the auction catalogue the Cottages were described as brick built and tile roofed, with each containing a living room, pantry, coal space and two bedrooms. On the 1911 census, they were described as being “two up, one down”, with two bedrooms upstairs and a kitchen downstairs. The auction catalogue also noted that outdoors there was a common wash house, three water closets and six pigsties to serve all of the Cottages.

The Cottages had drinking water from a standpipe in the common yard, which was directly piped from the reservoir in the field adjacent to the west of this Lot (no. 228a in Lot 37). These Cottages had two rights of drainage, which permitted them to drain into the adjacent field 228a and also field 255, which surprisingly was part of Lot 57 on the south side of Church Lane opposite the Church. The land tax for Lot 61 was valued at £1 1 shilling and 10 pence (about £44.82 today).

The tenants of the six Cottages at the time of the auction were: George Ball; Leonard Dixon; David Wood; Charles Butler; John William Ball; and Arthur Dixon. The first four tenants were on monthly tenancies and the latter two were on yearly tenancies. Rent was paid half-yearly at the rate of £3 10 shillings (about £143.71 today) for the first two tenants and £4 (about £164.24 today) for the remainder. All of the rent was paid to Lord Middleton, which confirms that they were his direct tenants. Hence, as these buildings are indicated to be the direct property of Lord Middleton, it can be assumed that a Lord Middleton had constructed the cottages and the question remaining is then which Lord Middleton and when.

The six Cottages are clearly present in the same layout on maps from 1924 back to 1865. On the 1851 census the Cottages are named as “New Row”, a name they held for many decades after their construction. The 1831 OS map accurately depicts the lane of Church Row and indicates the presence of a building in roughly the correct location of the Cottages. However, the 1817 OS map clearly shows a row of buildings in the exact location of the Church Row Cottages. What is also certain is that the location of the Church Row Cottages was a field devoid of buildings in 1762. Hence, it is certain that the cottages were first built between 1762 and 1817, which was the ownership period of the Middleton Estate from Francis Willoughby, 3rd Lord Middleton, to Henry Willoughby, 6th Lord Middleton.

On the 1762 map of Middleton, the field boundary matches the boundary of Lot 61 exactly. Unfortunately, it is a small space on the map and is one of the few not to bear a name, but both the adjacent field to the west and the north were called “Churchfield Close”.

Today, the six Cottages of Church Row still exist. However, they have been modified and modernised with some having been combined but they still share a communal garden and the pigsties have also survived.

Question provided by: Janet Arrowsmith.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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