Settlement Patterns and Population Change
Prehistory | Roman and Pre-Roman History | Early records | Early settlement pattern
Medieval history | Population | Industrial Revolution | The 20th Century
Prehistory
320 million years ago, when the area was a river delta, sediments were laid down and eventually transformed into sandstone, here called Millstone Grit. Today, a layer of peat, which started to form about 5000 years ago, covers the rock. Before the peat formed, most of the moors were covered with a dense forest of pine, birch and oak.The area was thinly populated in prehistoric times. It seems that, as animals recolonised the area after the last Ice Age, the area became a seasonal hunting ground for early humans. There were hunting settlements on the high ground by 7000BC Stone Age tools have been found at Pule Hill, Warcock Hill, Standedge and March Hill.
Roman and Pre-Roman History
The Celtic tribe in this area when the Romans arrived, was the Brigantes. They occupied a huge area north of the Humber, though the area was very sparsely populated. The Brigantes were a powerful tribe and were ruled by Queen Cartimandua.D Sykes, in his History of the Colne Valley, paints a highly fanciful picture of wild and independent hill people, indulging in Druidism and human sacrifice.
In 1881, a stone altar was found in Longwood, which read: To the Holy God of the Brigantes and to the Divinity of the Emperor, Titus Aurelius Quintus, by the decree of the Decunions has placed (this altar) and fulfilled his vow.
Early records
Marsden was first mentioned by name as Marchdene (boundary valley) in a document of 1177. In 1067, the land had been given to Ilbert de Lacy. In 1424, rents were paid for farmsteads at Binn, Clough Lee, Wessenden, Wessenden Head, and Lingards.In 1433, Henry VI leased Marsden to John of Nostell Priory, who cleared some of it for cultivation. In 1499, the King made Marsden a copyhold manor in the Honour of Pontefract. In the 14th Century, it was a forest hunting ground for the Lord of Pontefract, and the land provided pasture for 6 bulls and 26 cows, and pannage for swine.
Early settlement pattern
Local placenames show that the valley was settled by Norse graziers, coming into the area from Cumbria, rather than lowland Danes from the east.The early settlement pattern is that of scattered groups of homesteads and outlying farms. This pattern is still very recognisable today.
Medieval history of the Marsden area
William the Conqueror gave the land of the Colne Valley to Ilbert de Laci, who was the Lord of Pontefract. De Laci was a Norman, whose principal castle was at Lassi in Normandy. William gave him 204 manors in Yorkshire. The history of the succession of the Manor of Marsden is complicated and involved much subinfeudation, many times reverting to direct ownership by the king (including, for a time, John of Gaunt). A detailed history is given by D F E Sykes in The History of the Colne Valley.In the Domesday Book, the area of Marsden is described as Waste. The land was owned by Lewsin, a tenant of de Laci. At the time of Edward III, it was a forest used by the lord as a hunting area, one of the conditions on which tenants held land there being that they escorted their lord back to Pontefract after hunting. In 1232, de Laci was made the Earl of Lincoln.
The Subsidy Roll of Richard II lists no properties in what was obviously an impoverished Marsden, and only 20-30 inhabitants in the next village of Slaithwaite (Slaxthwaite).
In the Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII, two people are listed in Marsden - John Mellor and John Shaw. At this time, Holmfirth was the principal town in the area. The Hearth Tax of 1666 can be viewed at Census Returns. In the same tax, Slaithwaite had 78 households, one in six of them being Sykes.
Queen Elizabeth sold the manor of Marsden to one Edward Jones, for £29. Later, the manor passed to the Greenwoods, and by the 18th Century, it was owned by the Radcliffe family.
Industrial Revolution
The traditional settlement pattern remained the same until the 19th Century. Marsden itself was no more or less important than any of the scattered farmsteads in the hills.In 1801 a quarter of the English population was urban. By the end of the 19th Century England became the first country in the history of the world to have most of its population living in towns. Immigration from Scotland and Ireland and a staggering rate of reproduction meant that a population of 9 million in 1801 went to 18 million in 1851 then to 36 million by 1911.
From "The Making of the English" by Jeremy Paxman
The 19th century was a period of massive change. The population expanded to work in the many new textile mills, mainly living in Marsden village in terraced housing. The Colne valley became the heart of the country's woollen textile industry.
In 1841 there were 474 inhabited houses in Marsden; in 1901 there were 968.
The 20th Century
The industrialisation of the village, and the accompanying concentration of settlement in the village, continued throughout the 20th Century, with council house developments north of the river and along Mount Road. The textile industry went into decline from the 1960's, and the overcrowded Planks area in the centre of the village was demolished.Since then, derelict industrial sites and demolished mills have provided land on which have been built private estates, mainly for commuters to the nearby cities of Leeds and Manchester.