New-Mills
NEW-MILLS, a township and manufacturing district, in the parish of Glossop, union of Hayfield, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, 8 miles (E. S. E.) from Stockport, and 170 (N. W. by N.) from London; comprising the hamlets of Beard, Ollersett, Thornsett, and Whittle, and containing 3595 inhabitants. It is situated on the north bank of the Guyt, and reaches from Kinder-Scout to Mellor. Formerly, the inhabitants were accustomed to grind their corn at a common mill in Hayfield; but about a century since, when the township was formed, a mill was erected upon the river Kinder, in the hamlet of Ollersett, and the name of New-Mills was, in consequence, conferred on the township, the inhabitants of which ground their corn here. The appellation is more definitely applied to a cluster of factories and houses, which rise one above another from the brink of the river to the summit of the Crags, a height of several hundred feet, and also extend along the turnpike-road, as far as London Place: the whole is lighted with gas. The Kinder derives its source from the mountain of Kinder-Scout, and, separating the county of Derby from that of Chester, falls into the river Guyt at a place called the Tor. The original branches of manufacture in the district were those of paper and cloth, which have been superseded by cotton, calico-printing, and bleaching works, &c.: coal-mines abound in the neighbourhood, which contains also some veins of lead-ore. The township comprises by measurement 5030 acres, of which 4345 are meadow and pasture, 360 arable, and 199 woodland: the soil is various; some small plantations, in different districts, add to the picturesque scenery of the neighbourhood. The great tithes have been commuted for £92. 10., and the vicarial for £15. A local subscription amounting to £1000 having been raised towards the erection of a district church, the sum of £2500 was granted by the Parliamentary Commissioners in aid of the expense, and a piece of ground was given by Lord George Cavendish, for the site. The church is a handsome structure in the pointed style, with a nave, chancel, and aisles, and contains 500 free sittings: it is dedicated to St. George. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Vicar of Glossop; impropriator, Earl Fitzwilliam. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists; and the Roman Catholics have a chapel in the decorated style, a perfect revival of an ancient parish church. Several bequests have been made for instruction, and for distribution among the poor.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.