Friends of Middleton Park
History
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Middleton Park Timeline
Pre-Norman Conquest
- 500-1000 AD
Middleton meaning in Anglo Saxon a settlement between two places
1066-1600 Domesday, Boundary Disputes, Estate Building and Treason
- 1085-1087
Domesday survey lists that in 'rodewelle [rothwell] and loftose, carletone thorpe and middletone' there is pasturable woodland 2 leagues in length and 1 in breadth
- 1166
Richard Gramaticus [de Grammary] in possession of the Manor of Middleton
- 1200-1209
Boundary dispute between William de Grammary and Adam de Beeston. At one point Adam de Beeston's forester is put in the stocks. A boundary ditch is established between Middleton and Beeston and can still be seen today.
- 1310
William de Grammary releases the manor to Simon Crepping
- 1329
Gilbert de la Leghe becomes Lord of the Manor of Middleton
- 1361
John de Leghe died and his lands were listed as:- A capital messuage. 100a land 4a meadow, a wood lately cut, 28 bovates of land and a watermill.
- 1434
Gilbert de Leghe inheried the estate. He also held several burgages in Leeds including one in Briggate. By 1462 he was bailiff of Leeds responsible for the toll of the markets and other fairs and fines.
- 1501
Gilbert de Leghe died leaving the manor of Middleton and land in Rothwell, Carleton, Lofthouse, Wakefield, Osset, Bradforth, Manyngham, Allerton by Bradforth, Leyds, Busslingthorpe, Selby, Cawood and Birton by Ferrybrig.
- 1541
Willliam de Leghe was part of a plot to overthrow the King. He was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. His lands at Middleton were seized by the crown.
- 1598
Ferdinando Leghe inherits the estate. His mother is thought to have been a handmaid to Queen Elizabeth.
1600-1750 The Early Years of Mining
- 1622-24
Sir Ferdinando Leigh deputy governor of the Isle of Man
- 1632
Manor of Middleton including its woods and coal pits mortgaged to Robert Pierrepoint, Earl of Kingston upon Hull for 999 years, the first documented reference to Coal Mining at Middleton.
- 1646
Middleton is valued at £60 pa together with a 'colemyne' valued at £350 per year.
- 1697
Anne Leigh married to Ralph Brandling. They inherited the estate in 1706.
- 1733
Four men 'slain' in the Middleton woods coal pits. This is the first known mining fatality.
- 1748-1768
Estate under the control of trustees.
1750-1865 Country Estate, Mines, Waggonways and Financial Crisis
- 1751
Charles Brandling inherits family estates including Middleton.
- 1755
Construction of a waggonway to a river staith at Thwaite Gate.
- 1758
Act of Parliament enabling the construction of a waggonway from Middleton to Leeds.
- c1760
Construction of Middleton Lodge, a park and other estate buildings.
- 1767
Trustees buy Beeston Park estate for Charles Brandling, this includes Beeston Woods
- 1776
Charles Brandling and Joseph Wilkes open Beeston New Hold Colliery.
- 1812
Blenkinsop and Matthew Murray's steam locomotive began to haul coal to Leeds. This was the first commercial use of steam locomotives.
- 1836
Estate was put in the hands of trustees with mortgage debts of £95,060.
- 1850
Court decides that the estate should be sold to pay off debts.
- 1865-67
Francis William Tetley bought the estate for £100,000.
1865-1947 Middleton Estate and Colliery Company, Middleton Park, deep mining and the urbanisation of Middleton
- 1865-67
Felling of trees to create the clearings.
- 1868
The property passed to the Middleton Estate and Colliery Company, Tetley was a major shareholder
- 1920
1st July: Middleton woods / Lodge and parklands sold to Wades Charity and then leased to Leeds Corporation as a public park
- 1921
Grass tennis courts, bowling green, public lavatories and two drinking fountains constructed.
- 1922
Park refreshment room opens.
- 1923-4
Boundary wall on Town Street replaced by dwarf wall with railings and a new gate installed.
- 1924
Old Bandstand constructed
- 1925
Middleton Tram service through the park started. Previously, from 1921-1924 the line was used to haul building materials up through the woods to the new Middleton Estate.
- 1933
9 hole golf course constructed using unemployed labour
- 1934
Middleton Lodge taken over after the death of Miss Maude, at the end of 1933, and converted for use as the club house for the new golf course
- 1935
The formal rose garden constructed
- 1939-45
Clearings site of a searchlight battery plus two listening posts.
1947-2008
- 1947
Nationalisation of coal mines.
Middleton Fireclay Company set up to run brickworks.
- 1959
Middleton Fireclay Company estates sold.
Tram service through park ceased.
- 1960
Middleton Railway became the first standard gauge railway to be taken over by a preservation society.
- 1968
Middleton Broom Pit closed
- 1986
New golf club house opened and later Middleton Lodge demolished circa 1991
- 2005
Demolition of Top o' the Wood cottages (previously the park cafe)
- 2012
Building of a new Visitor Centre, Bandstand and other park improvements under a Heritage Lottery Funded Parks for People project.
- 2014
Middleton Park Golf Course is closed.