NEWMILLERDAM COUNTRY PARK – A WALK THROUGH TIME – EXPANDED VERSION The Friends of Newmillerdam Country Park have produced a leaflet to help you enjoy a guided walk of approximately 2½ miles through the history of the Park. The leaflet is available locally and from the Boathouse Sunday Café when open. The text of the leaflet appears on a separate page. The content of the leaflet is restricted by its size and this page contains the leaflet text plus additional information and photographs. The woodland and lake were designated as a country park in 1976. Covering 237 acres, it is owned and managed by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. The Park was once part of an estate which belonged to Chevet Hall. According to an old lettered beam, the Hall was built in 1529 for Sir John Neville and his wife Elizabeth and it remained in the Neville family until the 1760s. After the death of her husband Harrison, Anne Pilkington nee Neville, the sole heiress to the Chevet Estate, sold the property to her late husband’s eldest brother, Sir Lionel Pilkington, eighth baronet. The property remained in the Pilkington family until 1949 when Sir Arthur Pilkington sold the Hall to Wakefield Corporation. The Hall was not used again and was sold for demolition in 1955. Further information about Chevet Hall and its people is available on a separate page. Leave the car park by the steps just beyond the ticket machine and turn right along the Barnsley Road. A short distance along on the right is Sowtail Well (1). In the days before the village had a tapped water supply, some cottages had a well in the cellar. Those who didn’t have a personal well obtained their water from several wells in the village. Sowtail well supplied the drinking/washing water for those who lived on the West side of the village. For those living on the Eastern side the Pilkington family allowed the villagers use of a spring. This was situated several yards from the Boathouse and access was from a small gate in Water Lane (now renamed Hill Road). Janet Booth remembered taking a bucket to the spring and not deviating one inch from the path for fear of meeting a gamekeeper. Another watering place was a small well/spring set in the right hand side in the path leading to Slack Lane. There is no evidence to confirm it but the very large stone trough which stands outside a property at the bottom of Hill Top Road is reputed to be from the Pledwick Well. A few metres along Barnsley Road and standing at one of the entrances to the Park is West Lodge (2) one of the two surviving lodges situated within the Park. In the 1870's the family built nine lodges to house estate workers. The last inhabitant of West Lodge was Gordon the Warden, employed by Wakefield Council. One of Gordon’s tasks was to close and lock the gates at twilight and he put a notice on the gates giving the closing time which varied according to the time of year. This did not stop anyone from entering the woods after closure because there are other entrances but it did mean that members of the public were often caught out and had to walk quite a distance to get out. Prior to Gordon, the Warden’s name was Percy and he had a small museum housed in East Lodge.

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Continue across the dam. On the other side of the road beyond the café is the Corn Mill (3). A mill was in existence as early as 1285 when the deep valley was dammed to provide a reservoir which would give a head of water needed to turn the water-wheel. The mill was one of three; the others were at Wakefield and Horbury. The present building dates from round 1820. By 1960 the mill was no longer in use. There were plans to preserve the building but it was completely burned out by a disastrous fire in August 1975. After renovation the building reopened in October 1979 as The Old Corn Mill Restaurant. Later it changed hands and was reopened as a beauty parlour. It has stood empty since the beauty parlour closed. The lake was unprotected from the road until July 1907 when loose chains were erected across the dam. By July 1908 wooden fencing had replaced the chains. Richard Coldbeck, the local blacksmith, was returning home on his bicycle when he was knocked off by a car driven by Mr George Stringer, colliery owner from Scisset. The collision caused the wooden fencing to collapse and Coldbeck’s ear was almost severed, his shoulder was dislocated and he was badly bruised. No compensation was offered or given but the Coldbeck family thought that Mr Stringer was kind and considerate because he called several times to see how the blacksmith was progressing, bringing with him a few groceries to help the family out. However, when the accident caused the wooden fence to collapse, four year old Josephine Iveson was thrown into the water and would have drowned but for the fast action of Mary Darwent , age 14, who, by laying down on the flags was able to pull Josephine out of the water and thus averted a tragedy. Further down at the far end of the dam is the war memorial (4). In 1919 W Bramald chaired a committee, of which Lady Kathleen Pilkington was part, to commission a War Memorial to commemorate the men killed in the Great War. W H Watson, a Wakefield architect, offered to design and supervise the building for free and it was constructed by Messrs Hepworth. Funding was raised by subscriptions and a committee organised entertainments such as concerts. Canon Ivens from Chapelthorpe presided and Lady Kathleen Pilkington did the actual unveiling. However, there was still an outstanding amount of £5 when the memorial was unveiled on 4th June 1920 which led to further fundraising and it wasn’t until 1925 that the debt was finally paid off. A plaque gives the names of 20 young men from the area who died in First World War and 5 in the Second World War.

Accident on the Dam

War Memorial

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The Old Mill Wheel

Fire at the Old Corn Mill

Enter the Park by the gates (5) on your right. These gates were made by Abraham Coldbeck, blacksmith of Newmillerdam. Sir Lionel Pilkinton of Chevet Hall commissioned the work in September 1871 and they were finished in February 1872. They were made in the blacksmith’s shop (now 653 Barnsley Road) and carried down and erected by Coldbeck and his son. The gates remained in position and unchanged until 1955 when Wakefield Corporation bought the property and removed the central decorative arch to provide access for the lorries that were delivering shale for the pathways. The building on the left is East Lodge (6), thought to be built in the latter part of the 19th century. There are two features at East Lodge which differ from the other lodges. One is the ‘Angel Window’, originally a diamond pane leaded window and thought to be a copy of a window in the gable of Humley Manor House dated 1662. Unfortunately, because of vandalism the window at East Lodge has been broken and is now boarded up. The second point of interest is the Pilkington coat of arms adorning the building at roof height. Notice also the stone hood moulds above the door and windows. These directed rainwater down the sides of the doorway and windows and were a basic form of guttering.

Follow the lakeside path for 350 metres. The building on the right is the Boathouse (7), built around 1835 by the Pilkington family to provide facilities for the family and guests while they were duck shooting and fishing on the Dam. Steps from the lower room led down to a small jetty under the archway at water level where a small boat was kept. In Sir Thomas Pilkington’s time Clincker, the housekeeper at Chevet Hall, would send a large wicker picnic basket packed with food and drink. Guests ate in the upper room and the estate workers ate in the lower room. At the end of the shoot the ducks were sent back to the Hall where they were added to the game pantry. The Boathouse became council property in 1951 and was renovated in 1999 at a cost of £272,000, the money coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund and Wakefield Council.

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The Angel Window – East Lodge

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Plan of the Gates

Gates at East Lodge

The Angel Window at East Lodge

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Boathouse 2016

A diversion is available here to the former Moor Gate Lodge, another of the nine estate lodges. Just before the Boathouse a track leads up through the woodland to Hill Top Road and the lodge, now privately owned, stands at the entrance to a field. A bridleway crosses the field and passes St Helena’s lodge (see below) as it enters the woodland. From the Boathouse continue along the lakeside path as far as the causeway (8). Look for the steps on the left just beyond the causeway and climb through the woodland until you reach the bridleway. St Helena’s Lodge (9) stood at the boundary of the field. While nothing remains of the house, the distinctly curved wall and the gate are still in place as are rabbit traps built into the wall. The nearest one to the lodge is in the best condition and the traps were constructed at the same time as the wall. Each one consisted of a small stone lintel above a hole through the wall at ground level. A narrow pit through the wall was covered by wood balanced rather like a see-saw in the centre. When a rabbit ran through the hole the wood dipped and the rabbit fell alive into the pit. Each evening the gamekeeper examined each trap and let loose female and young rabbits, while buck rabbits went for the pot.

Boathouse Renovations Boathouse in the Snow 2010

Picnic at the Boathouse

Moor Gate Lodge Moor Gate Lodge 2016

Fishing near the Boathouse

From the site of St Helena’s Lodge follow the bridleway to the “crossroads” (10). At this point by turning left and taking a short uphill diversion of 150 metres, the old coach road to Chevet Hall stables can be seen. Follow the path as it bends to the left and look for the remains of a gateway (11) on the right. The coach road goes beyond the gateway for about 10 metres but originally continued to the stables at Chevet Hall. The gate was unusual because the gatepost only had one hole for one hinge. A steel plate was fixed underneath the gate but in a corresponding position to the hinge. Set in the ground was another steel plate with a protruding steel spike which caused a pivot action when the gate was opened. The gate was so balanced that it closed automatically thus saving the footman’s time because he had no need to close the gate behind the carriage. There was also a metal turntable gate at the top of several stone steps (now gone but part of an iron fence remains) which allowed estate workers or those on foot to pass through. Retrace your steps to the “crossroads” and look for the stones in the path which helped the horses on the incline. Turn left at the “crossroads” and take the public footpath to the edge of the woodland, which was the site of the menagerie (12). There is no recorded evidence of exotic animals being housed here but it was fashionable in the 18th century for the homes of the gentry to boast such animals – a status symbol. There are only ruins today to show that a building stood here. In Sir Thomas Pilkington’s time it was known as the kennels and it housed families of estate workers. One such was the Mellor family, with brothers William, Harry and Ben all gamekeepers. Another game-keeping family to live at the menagerie were the White family and a grandson was surprised to see in the parish registers that his grandfather was born in the dog house! In reality this was the kennels alias the menagerie.

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St Helena’s Lodge

Gateway on old road to the stables at

Chevet Hall

William Mellor

The Menagerie

Return to the crossroads and turn left to the bridge across Bushcliffe Beck (13). Another gate was originally here but only the two stone gateposts remain. Again, the gate had only one hinge and operated in exactly the same way as the gate described earlier. A diversion is available from here to the capped shafts of Bushcliffe Colliery. Follow the track towards the Barnsley Road but do not cross the old railway bridge. Take the track to the right and after a short distance the capped shafts can be seen on the right. Bushcliffe Colliery was sunk in 1923/24 to a depth of 101 feet which took it to the Woodmore seam level where some of the best household quality coal was mined. It was privately owned until nationalisation and closed and backfilled in 1968. Returning to the bridge across Bushcliffe Beck, follow the path by the stone wall (14) on the left. This was rebuilt in 2014 by volunteer stone wallers, Dennis and Paul Brunneye, who incorporated some interesting features. After about 130 metres take the path to the right, cross the bridleway and follow the track towards the lake as far as the humpback bridge (15). Cross the bridge and on the left is the start of the Lawns Dike trail (16) built by the Friends of Newmillerdam Country Park. A circular boardwalk with seating leads to a view of the valley. It was built to encourage visitors to explore new areas of the Country Park away from the popular lakeside path. It is constructed of non slip, recycled plastic. Funding was mainly from the Landfill Community Fund administered by WREN. In 2014 the Lawns Dike Trail was awarded first prize by the Wakefield Civic Society in the best new project category. At the end of the boardwalk was a viewing platform. The original platform and a section of the boardwalk were destroyed in May 2016 by a fire that had been started deliberately. The Friends rebuilt the boardwalk and viewing platform and the work was completed in the spring of 2017. In May 2018 the viewing platform was again completely destroyed in another arson attack. This time the damage was more extensive as the fire spread along the boardwalk and across the bridge over the stream. It had taken the volunteers many hundreds of hours to build this section and the total value of the materials lost was approximately £30,000. In addition 60 trees had to be removed because of fire damage. At the time of writing (September 2018) the Friends are planning to reinstate the circular walk and replace the bridge with a steel structure. The viewing platform will not be replaced.

Gatepost near the bridge

across Bushcliffe Beck Stone Wall Feature

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With the sign for the Lawns Dike trail on your left, follow the track that climbs up through the woodland. The conifer plantation on the right - King’s Wood (17) - is a reminder of the area’s industrial heritage as the purpose of the original planting was to provide wood for pit props.

You are now following the Gnome Roam trail in reverse and full details of that route are available in a separate leaflet.

Turn right at the next track and make a short diversion to visit the Newmillerdam bear (18) – follow the sign on your right. A board tells the story of the bear that escaped from its cage in 1867 and terrified the local residents. Return to the track and follow it round to the right and then take a left turn towards the arboretum (19).

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The Bear

Lawns Dike – same viewpoint 2015

Viewing Platform at the end of the Lawns

Dike Trail – spring 2017 Site of the Viewing Platform – after the

fire in May 2018

Lawns Dike 1950s

The arboretum area was first planted by Wakefield Council in the early 1980’s with a diverse collection of small trees. In 2007 the newly-formed Tree Wardens voluntary group was asked to take on the major project of restoring the arboretum working with the Council’s forestry team. The area was first cleared of sick, dead and damaged trees and then new trees were added with benches, bird and bat boxes and wild flowers, all funded by the community. Many of the trees are dedicated to lost loved ones and a book of dedication is on display in the Boathouse.

At the far end of the arboretum take the steps or the track (beware of cyclists) to return to the car park. The Friends of Newmillerdam Country Park are extremely grateful for the

historical information and photographs provided by Elsie Walton. Thanks

are also due to the Crigglestone Local History Archive and Wakefield

Metropolitan District Council.

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