Buildings of Interest

Description

History & Memories

Notice the unusual stepped flooring, as evidenced by the windows. It is on Winstanley Estate and was the home of the Fouracre family for generations. It was a mixed farm of about 50 acres. A John Brown tractor was added to work with the two cart-horses in the 1950s. The tractor's front wheels fell into old coal mining. The Fouracres originally came up from Somerset to work in Winstanley Hall and retained a Somerset accent through the 20th century. Sam and his son John were the last Fouracres to work the farm. I worked on the farm and enjoyed the "baggin" that Mrs. Fouracre brought to the fields each morning and afternoon, and the two duck eggs or 4-yolked hen eggs she gave us at the end of the day. We built haystacks in the stack yard behind the Hall Lane Cottages. Across from the farmhouse was an old tythe water mill, which was demolished in 1927. One millstone is buried by the side of the Mill and the other was taken up to the Moat House. Water for the mill was provided by engineered waterworks from the Figure Eight ponds up Hall Lane and from a diversion from Smithy Brook. Some of the best times of my life.

Text & Image by Derek Winstanley