The ruins of Middle Ramsden Farm stand halfway between NORTH RAMSDEN and SOUTH RAMSDEN farms on a gentle slope between the summit of Ramsden Hill and Ramsden Wood. They are accessible only on foot and the only living creatures in the vicinity are sheep.

In the olden days, South Ramsden Farm was known as Horsepasture and North Ramsden Farm was not in existence under that name, hence Middle Ramsden was referred to simply as Ramsden Farm. Indeed, it wasn’t until the 1850’s that it became known as Middle Ramsden.

The first mention of Ramsden Farm is in 1700 with the death of Thomas Butterworth. He was a husbandman farmer, married to Alice, with an army of children. Ten of these children were still alive when he made his WILL in 1696. The inventory after his death shows he left an estate of £30 18s 11d., which was a tidy sum in those days. However, his children received just "6d a piece and no more". His wife got the rest providing she remained a widow, and should she remarry she could keep a third of it, the rest going to his two youngest children, Thomas and John. As he made his son John his executor, it seems all the children were adults by this time. His daughter Elizabeth was married to REUBEN HAIGH, a clothier of Inchfield Pasture.

Then came a Holt family headed by Edmund, followed by Abraham Crossley and his wife Grace Barker. They baptised eleven children between 1717 and 1737, and Abraham was described as a husbandman of Ramsden.

The farm is listed as having reserved pews at St. Mary’s Church in 1775, and a year later it seems that Thomas Jackson and his bride Hannah Cryer moved in. Thomas was a son of “old deaf Sam” of POTOVEN. Thomas inherited the sum of £20 from his father in 1809, along with an interest in the nearby FOULCLOUGH COAL MINE on Inchfield Pasture. That was a princely inheritance in those days, and would have set Thomas and Hannah up well.

Thomas and Hannah are said to have had one son and twelve daughters, but there are only baptism records of one son and seven daughters – more than enough for anyone!

Hannah died at Ramsden in 1817, followed by Thomas in 1822 after some 46 years as farmer at Ramsden. Their son Thomas took over immediately. He was known as Tummy Lad all his life and married Mally Fielden. They married in 1808 and initially lived at the SUN INN, Walsden, with Mally’s sister Grace and her husband Abraham Fielden, who was the landlord. Their first son was born at the Sun Inn, but before long they had moved to live with the Jackson family at Ramsden, which is where their subsequent eleven children were born. Five of these twelve children died as infants.

Having taken over the lease in 1822 on the death of his father, Tummy Lad continued at Ramsden for at least 35 years. He and his family can be seen in residence in the 1841 and 1851 censuses, at which time he was farming 40 acres.

There must have been at least two attached cottages in 1841, as his married daughter Mary and family, and married son Abraham and family are living there, although by 1851 Mary and her family have moved on.

A note made in a diary in 1853 states:

“Old Thos. Jackson's Wife Middle Ramsden Walsden died Decr. 5th.”

Tummy Lad continued for a few years after his wife's death, but eventually handed over the reins to his son Thomas and retired to live with his married daughter at SQUARE in Walsden. He died at Square in 1864.

Thomas junior had served his apprenticeship on the farm prior to his marriage, working for his father as a carter. He then married Hannah Fletcher in 1845 and moved down to the valley for a period, eventually moving back to Ramsden when his father retired. Thomas and Hannah failed to follow in the footsteps of the previous occupants of Ramsden farm by only producing one child. Hannah died at Middle Ramsden aged only 37 years, leaving Thomas with their daughter Mary.

He soon married again to single mother Ann Crossley. She and her son Henry Crossley moved to live with Thomas at Middle Ramsden, and she gave him four more children. They can all be seen living there in the 1871 census.

Thomas died just short of his 55th birthday, leaving the lease of the farm to his widow Ann. The widow continued to farm at Middle Ramsden until her death in 1898. No doubt she had plenty of help from her children, although they are all recorded as having occupations of their own.

The 1938 Ordnance Survey map shows Middle Ramsden as still standing. It now lies in ruins, presumably because of its inaccessibility. Standing amongst the ruins, it is easy to imagine the hard life the folk would have endured, especially in the winters. It was a long walk to anywhere, and with the decline of this type of hill top farming, no-one would want to continue without a road, electricity or other modern conveniences. The Jackson family endured it without a break for over 126 years. They must have been a hardy lot.

 

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