Norland's Water Supply

For many centuries the folk who lived in Norland were dependent on the small streams descending from the moor, or on the springs that occured naturally in some places on the hillside. The core of old Norland Town was fed by a small stream that came off the moor just to the west of Stormer Hill, passed below Heath Hall, close to Illing Hall (Lane Ends Farm) and then ran alongside Norland Town Road. A short section  can still be seen across the road from Fallingworth. It seems to have forked near the Blue Ball or been deliberately diverted, for there are two fords marked nearby on mid 19thC maps, one on the footpath leading to the vaccary wall, and the other on the east side of the road.

Most old settlements were built where there was a water supply, so it can be assumed that many of the scattered farms and cottages below Norland Moor were built where there was a spring. A large cluster of houses such as Sowerby Croft must have had a very reliable source of water, and the ribbon development along London Road, Sparkhouse Lane and Harper Royd Lane indicates that this was on a contour line along the hillside where several springs rose. I have a spring in my field below Pickwood Lane, although as far as I know this has only ever been used as a water supply for farm animals. Well Head Springs (see below) on the eastern side of the moor later became the site of two small reservoirs.

If there was no running water on the surface, it was not a major task to dig a small well, but I don't think there were many (if any) vertical wells in Norland. However, old maps show several "wells" dotted around the village. I believe this is because the word well was used to describe an area where spring water was tapped, often with a stone trough as a small reservoir. Perhaps the finest example is a drinking trough below Hollin Well (between Clough Head and the New Hobbit). This was errected in 1874 by James Wood and carries the Latin inscription "Pro Bono Publico", which means "for the benefit of the public".  

On the eastern edge of NorlandMoor, about 300 yards from Clough Moor Bridge, is a small wooded area. This is Well Head Springs, which still supplies water to the nascent Norland Stream that runs alongside the path. It was also known as Seven Springs or Boiling Springs and was once a popular destination on the 1st Sunday in May, known as "Spa Sunday". Similarly, lots of people visited the mineral springs in Cragg Vale and Luddenden Dean. In May 1877, the Halifax Courier reported as follows:  "The first Sunday in May has always been, within living memory, a favourite occasion for visiting the springs on Norland Moor. Last Sunday, a moderately large number of the inhabitants of the adjacent districts were on the moor in good time in the morning, and were rewarded for their early rising by bright, sunny weather.....Many of the visitors had glasses with them so that they might drink the icy waters of the spring as soon as they came to the surface. The springs are variously known as "the boiling wells" and "the seven springs". The word "boiling" is a difficulty to the youngsters, who are disappointed to find that it means the bubbling of the water as it gushes up in plenty from the rocks. Formerly the effect of this was very pretty, the water forcing its way through a thick bed of sand, the grains of which were kept in a continuous whirl by the boiling of the water. Years ago, it is said, that this was stopped by an attempt to choke the spring. The clearance of the obstruction liberated the water, which now comes straight from the rock. The word "seven" probably relates to the channels in which are separate springs. As a fact, there are more channels than seven, but in only one of them...is the water seen rising out of the ground. The visitors on Sunday morning enjoyed their walk in the calm and quiet befitting the Sabbath, but some of them could remember a time when the first Sunday in May on Norland Moor was a sad scene of dissipation. A mixture of "rum and eggs" was then esteemed a delicious beverage, well suited to such an occasion, and was much drunk; tossing (ed. gambling on the toss of a coin) and racing were favoured diversions; and before the day ended many a quarrel had to be settled by force of arms. Happily, better days have come and nothing was to be seen on Sunday morning to which the well-ordered could take  just exception. Many of those not too tired with their visit to the springs crossed the moor to the Ladstone and the cliff that forms the western edge of the moor......The romance of the cliff is gradually disappearing under the hammer of the quarryman. In a few years, with the continuance of these ravages, we shall not be surprised to see the Ladstone itself cut up, and the last vestige of this remarkable "edge" turned into a quarry. Can nothing be done to protect the cliff from further mutilation and to ensure the safe custody of a rock which has always been regarded by local antiquarians with a deep interest in which the mysterious is a large element?"  (HXC 12 May 1877). A local Sunday School also had an outing to the springs later in the month, as the Courier reported 2 weeks later. "The Sunday Schools of the various denominations had their Whitsuntide treats on Tuesday. The oldest school, the Wesleyan (ed. from Greetland, not Norland), walked in procession to Mr Alfred Jowett's farm (1) adjacent to the "seven springs", where two fields had been secured, and there had coffee and buns etc." (HXC 26 May 1877)

(1) This is Lamb Hill Farm off Norland Road on the way to the Spring Rock.

 With improving public health standards, there was a need for a better regulated water supply. In 1881 work costing £200 was carried out at Well Head Springs to install a tank to store water. It may have been at this time that the course of the stream was canalised slightly, taking it in a straight line from the stepping stones to the road. Most of the water at this point flows down the gutter at the side of the road towards Clough Moor Bridge, but a closer inspection shows a culvert and pipe crossing underneath the road, reappearing briefly in the field behind the wall, where it continues in an underground pipe, heading towards Stormer Hill.  Does this still supply anybody with water? 

In 1899 the Halifax Rural District Council came up with an improved  scheme for two small reservoirs at Well Head Springs, one to supply Upper Greetland and one to supply Norland. A public meeting, or "inquiry" was held on Tuesday 25th July at the "National School" (ie St Luke's) in Norland, chaired by Col. C H Luard, Royal Engineers,  as Inspector. As regards Norland, it was stated that the population was 1,437 in 1891 (ed. down 269 compared to 1851) and that the cost of the proposed new scheme (£750) would lead to an increase of 1/2d in the £ on the rates. The flow of water at Well Head was stated to range between 13,930 gallons in 24 hours in drought conditions (1), to 44,000 galons in 24 hours in rainy periods. Some oppostion was expressed, mainly on the grounds that the scheme was not sufficient to supply every house and the possibility that Norland might be taken over by Sowerby Bridge in the not too distant future. At the end of the public meeting Col. Luard was taken to view Well Head Springs. (HXEC 25th July 1899)

(1) the surveyor quoted a period of 47 days of drought 

The scheme went ahead and early  the following year, this break down of costs for Norland appeared in the paper: Construction of reservoir £340, iron pipes £146, excavating for pipes £108,  total cost of £594. The Upper Greetland reservoir cost the same, but with a greater distance of piping to fit, that scheme came to a total of £1,088 6s 8d. (HXEC 15 February 1900)

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