A
few years later came the Norman conquest and the small township,
together with the hamlet of what is now Moorhead became the property of
Ilbert de Lacy.
After
reverting to the Crown at the time of Edward I, the land was granted to
Nicholas de Morays when he returned from the Crusades in the Holy
Land. So began a succession of owners, most of whom acquired
the
title and land by inheritance or through marriage.
As
the town of Bradford grew to accommodate the fast increasing textile
trade, coal to fire steam power was in much demand. Small open
cast mines began to be worked and the richest of the Shipley collieries
was the outcrop at Shipley High Moor, with workings in Old Spring Woods
and Northcliffe. The mines were worked continuously by the
Jackson
family as Lords of the Manor until about 1840. Evidence of
mining
can still be seen in the mounds of shale and delves of open cast
digging in both woods.
Tythe
maps around this date show fascinating field names such as High Bank,
Five Days Work, Six and Eight Days Work on land which was later used as
golf links by Shipley Golf Club.
When
the club moved to the new course at Beckfoot, the newly formed
Northcliffe Gold Club negotiated permission to play on the Moorhead
course prior to their moving to their present site. The old
tees
and greens can still be seen on playing fields below the clubhouse.
When
the fifth Earl of Rosse put up for auction much of his land and
property at Shipley, the fields and woods, offered as lots 98 and 99,
were described as "together forming a freehold building estate for the
development of garden suburbs, an area of picturesquely undulating
surface, bounded on the south side by a wide belt of natural woodland
of great beauty." A newspaper report on the sale states that
no
bids were received for the land between Bradford Road and Moorhead Lane
but that a considerable number of lots withdrawn were sold by
private treaty.
Mr
H N Rae MP, later Sir H Norman Rae MP, was the purchaser of lots 98 and
99, generously presenting them to Shipley Urban District Council to be
used as public playing fields. A plaque on the imposing main
gate
records their opening on 12th June 1920, the gift of Sir H Norman Rae
MP, as an open space for recreation and benefit of the public, forever.
I
doubt if even Sir Norman, with all his foresight and generosity, could
have envisaged how priceless this oasis "of great natural beauty" with
all its wealth of flowers and wildlife would become. Surely he
deserves the title of the First Friend of Northcliffe.
by the late Gladys Shuttleworth
Founder Member
