The History of the garden site.
The start!
When we cleared the garden we discovered a large circular bed and pathway. Originally Bracken Edge primary school was Elmehurst Middle School, and we thought the original layout of the garden was linked to the middle school. A supporter of the group, Carole Sharp, is a keen local history enthusiast, and she volunteered to have a look around to see what she could find.
The Leeds Tithe Map
Carole began by finding map references to the post code.
http://locateit.leeds.gov.uk/tithemaps/TwinMaps.aspx?srch=&singleplot=&hlt=&hlp=&e=431130&n=436083&scale=0.5&tabL=L3&tabR=R1Tithe Map Digital Resource - The Leeds Tithe Map Project
locateit.leeds.gov.uk
If you look on this map you can see the old maps on the left , and if you look at the aerial photograph from 2006 on the right, the school is the large square white building with the hole in the middle. Our garden on the aerial 2006 map is just below the letters "c" and "0" in the word "council" . You can see it is surrounded by woodland.
http://locateit.leeds.gov.uk/tithemaps/TwinMaps.aspx?srch=&singleplot=&hlt=&hlp=&e=431130&n=436083&scale=0.5&tabL=L3&tabR=R1Tithe Map Digital Resource - The Leeds Tithe Map Project
locateit.leeds.gov.uk
If you look on this map you can see the old maps on the left , and if you look at the aerial photograph from 2006 on the right, the school is the large square white building with the hole in the middle. Our garden on the aerial 2006 map is just below the letters "c" and "0" in the word "council" . You can see it is surrounded by woodland.
The census
Carol began by finding the 1901 census for the area.
By the next census in 1911 Frederick Jowett had moved to Hollow
Hall(?Hill), Ripley with his wife and family, including their 9 year old twins -
who may have been born at Elmhurst. She says
" The Jowetts were wool
merchants so perhaps looking into the wool industry and factories?
I'm curious about the rectangular plot
shown on the early maps that seems to be part of your circular garden. Looks
like a row of trees on the roadward side of it. Could it be a tennis
court?"
By the next census in 1911 Frederick Jowett had moved to Hollow
Hall(?Hill), Ripley with his wife and family, including their 9 year old twins -
who may have been born at Elmhurst. She says
" The Jowetts were wool
merchants so perhaps looking into the wool industry and factories?
I'm curious about the rectangular plot
shown on the early maps that seems to be part of your circular garden. Looks
like a row of trees on the roadward side of it. Could it be a tennis
court?"