OCCUPATIONS
Millers
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The first mention of Walk Mill appears in 1298; documents describe how tenants were obliged to send their corn to be ground at the ‘Lord’s Mill’; the lord being the Bishop of Lichfield. It is known that Robert Deakin bought the mill from John Jones in 1795 and the family owned it throughout the 19th Century
The Polls books show John Arkinstall was miller in 1832. This was at the upper mill at Offley Brook
He had been born in 1807 over the border in Bolas Shropshire and moved to Staffordshire and married Sarah Jervis in Eccleshall Church on 13th July 1839.
1834 Directory lists Isaiah Deakin, Robert’s son, as the miller at Sugnall Magna (Walk Mill) and John Arkinstall as Corn Miller at Offley Brook. This is the mill currently still working higher upstream. In the Directory of 1835 John is still placed at the upper mill.
In 1841 Michael Plant is listed as miller, occupying the mill and land there. Isiah Deakin is listed as freeholder.
By 1851 Michael Plant had moved to Mere Meece and the Arkinstall family were living in Walk Mill and had five children. John is still working at the Mill as journeyman miller. It is not clear if the two mills were operating independently or had merged.
In 1861 Charles Mellow 45, is named as miller with John Arkinstall. The families live ten houses apart, on Walk Mill Road, but with little indication of exactly where.
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In 1871 Charles Mellow has died and his widow, Elizabeth and son John are listed as millers. John Arkinstall is now listed simply as miller
In 1881 John Arkinstall, the miller was dead and brothers Daniel and William Penfold have taken over his job. They combine milling with farming, perhaps to make ends meet, or simply for convenience. Abraham Wallers is listed as miller, but in fact he is still a journeyman.
In the 1888 Trade Directory, John (perhaps a misprint?) Wallers is the miller at Walk Mill
By 1891, the Penfolds have moved away to Cheshire and the miller is again listed as Abraham Wallers.
1901 Census documents record the Pitt family living at the hamlet of Walk Mill, Eccleshall They were all registered as born in Bromyard, Herefordshire. Thomas Pitt (snr) and family had moved from Herefordshire to work Walk Mill which was now owned by Sugnall Estate. Thomas is listed as coarse miller, alongside his son Thomas who is the assistant miller. Abraham Wallers is listed as the journeyman miller.
1911 Census documents one person, Thomas Pitt age 60 living at Walk Mill House, Eccleshall. His birthplace is given as Pencombe, Herefordshire, but this makes sense as the small village of Pencombe is very close to the town of Bromyard. His occupation is given as a Miller
1928 Trade Directory shows Thomas Bratton as the miller. He remains there in 1936 and is still listed in 1940.
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The setting of the Upper Mill at Offley Brook is directly linked to the topography of the area. The River Sow passes under the main road almost at the crossroads and forms a mill race which feeds the large mill pond. Offley Brook is less than a mile upstream of its neighbouring mill site, Walk Mill; The availability of water for driving waterwheels was an important factor in the location of industry and many watermills were sited on the most suitable watercourse in order to harness water power, often leading to the location of watermills in isolated, rural spots.. At the time of the Domesday survey, two mills were recorded at Eccleshall; the site of Offley Brook Mill and its position on the River Sow is likely to be one of the mills recorded, along with its neighbour, Walk Mill.
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The owner of the mill from 1801 was William Heath, who had built Heath House in the 1780s as the miller’s house. In 1840 Heath owned Heath House, Offley Mill and Mill Farm; the mill and farm being let to tenants. The mill still operates today.
Publicans
The earliest record I have mentioning a pub is from the 1828 trade directory which lists John Woodhouse as publican of the Rising Sun at Copmere End. This is the old name of the Star Inn.
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In the 1841 census William Matthews 23, is the publican, then by 1851 Thomas Wilcox is the publican at the Star Inn and runs the shop next door. This is a particularly hard period for the village. Many inhabitants are listed as paupers or as servants out of a place. Most people were dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Ag lab is the most common occupation in the early census returns for walk mill.
In 1871 two publicans are listed, Thomas Wilcox at the Star Inn and William Vernon at the Alehouse. I think that Thomas Wilcox was the owner, while William Vernon 30 is the publican of the Star Inn and Martha Key who lives next door is a retailer of tea and coffee.
In 1881 George Barnett is running the Star Inn and this changes to Thomas Bradbury Wakefield in 1891.
By 1896 Charles Case Blakeman is listed in the Trade Directory as running the Star Inn
In 1900, Charles Blakeman 45 was still the publican and in fact remains there until at least 1928.
More new trades are starting to appear, engine driver, railway worker, clerks, nurse and coal miner
In 1939, Ellen Silvester is running the Star Inn and her son George is a grocery shop assistant. I think he probably worked next door where Ellen Jackson had a grocery store and sub post office.
Shopkeepers
The earliest record I can find is from the 1828 Trade Directory which lists Samuel Whitaker as Mole catcher and shopkeeper in Garmelow, and he is still there in 1834.
In the 1841 census Thomas Howard in Tythe plot 25, on Walk Mill Lane, had a lodger, Harriet Jackson, a young widow with her daughter Charlotte. Harriet Caroline Hood was born in Bishops Offley in 1809 and had married Thomas Jackson in Dewley Magne in 1829. Their daughter Caroline Hood Jackson was born in 1831, but Thomas died in 1838 aged 27. She is described as a shopkeeper, so it looks as if there was a shop at plot 25.
In 1851, Sarah Arkinstall, the wife of the miller John Arkinstall, is described as a shopkeeper of tea and sugar etc. They are living somewhere in the cluster of houses around Offley Hay Farm, and although it is difficult to pinpoint where exactly, it is possible she is at plot 25 next door to plot 27/28. The 1851 directory lists her husband John as a shopkeeper. Elizabeth Whittaker is shopkeeper at Garmelow
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In 1861, Martha Key is a tea dealer at Copmere End. James Broadbent is a shopkeeper at Offley Marsh
In 1871 Martha Key is still the shopkeeper at Copmere End, next door to the Star Inn and Ann Broadbent, a widow is shopkeeper at Offley hay, but this surely must be the Offley Marsh shop where her husband James Broadbent was listed in 1861. John Warren is the shopkeeper at Garmelow
Jane Dumbell is also listed there as a provisions dealer, along with Eliza Talbot and her sister Hannah who deals in butter.
The Goodalls, Thomas, a butcher and Emma his wife move to the village before the 1871 census and are living somewhere in the cluster of houses around, or opposite Offley Hay farm. Emma is not listed as a Grocer and bread baker until 1901, after the death of her husband in 1896.
In 1881 census, no-one is listed as a shopkeeper but in the 1888 Trade Directory, Frances Hilton is listed as shopkeeper at Walk Mill
By the 1891 census, Sarah Arkinstall has moved away to Stoke on Trent where she is running a shop with a live-in grocery manager and daughter Sarah is the confectioner. The likelihood is that she was involved with her shop the whole time she lived in Offley Hay.
In 1891 again no-one is listed in the census, but in 1892 Elizabeth Johnson is listed as Walk Mill shopkeeper
In the 1896 Directory, both Thomas Alcock and Mrs Elizabeth Williams are listed as Shopkeepers at Offley Hay and William Walker is the grocer and provisions dealer at Walk Mill.
Elizabeth Johnson and Elizabeth Williams are the same person. She was married to Herbert Johnson, the stepson of James Warrilow, and then remarried Thomas Williams when Herbert died in 1891.
By 1900 three shopkeepers are listed, Thomas Alcock and Elizabeth Williams are placed in Offley Hay, while William Walker is at Walk Mill.
In the 1901 census, Emma Goodall is listed as bread-baker, and her son joseph as Grocer’s Assistant, Offley Hay. I wonder if she opened a shop once Sarah Arkinstall had moved away in the 1880’s, but I think she was almost certainly a shopkeeper after her husband Thomas Goodall died in 1896. I know she didn’t live at Stores House, because the house deeds tell us that the tenant of Stores House at that time was George Green and in fact the 1910 Farm Valuation Survey identifies her house over the road.
Henry Marsden is listed as a greengrocer at Offley Rock. Elizabeth Williams is listed as a Huckster Hawk, a type of street trader. She and her son Herbert Johnson are listed next door to George Green who was the tenant of Stores House. In fact, I think that they were the tenants of Plot 27/28, owned by John and Martha Hitchen.
However, the 1904 directory lists Elizabeth Williams as shopkeeper at Offley Hay and John Ashwood
at Garmelow.
In 1911 she is again listed as a shopkeeper and her son Herbert William Johnson as a Market Gardener.
However, in the 1911 census, two other people are mentioned as shopkeepers: Emma Goodall, living in a house with four rooms. And Henry Plant, who is living in a house with six rooms
In the 1911 Summary book the mystery is solved. Thomas Henry Woolfe is living in Offley Hay Farm with the blacksmith next door. Then Henry Plant at a shop, a few doors away towards Walk Mill, Emma Goodall also listed at a shop and another shop is listed with Lyth in residence.
So, it looks as if both Henry Plant and Emma Goodall ran shops with Henry Plant living at Stores House.
Elizabeth Williams is listed at the shop at Copmere End and also in the 1912 Trade directory
This is confirmed by the 1910 Farm Valuation Survey
1916 directory lists Jane Johnson as shopkeeper at Offley Hay And again in 1921
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However, the Trade Directories do not list everyone reliably. In the early days, many small businesses were omitted because they charged a fee for inclusion. Even later on when most were included free of charge, small rural shops run from a room in a house were often missed.
In 1924 the only shopkeeper listed is Mrs Jane Williams at Copmere End.
In 1928, Thomas Jenkins is the shopkeeper at Walk Mill, Herbert William Johnson, the son of Elizabeth Johnson/Williams is at Copmere End and John Deakin Leese is at Stores House.
This is the first time that I can definitively place a shopkeeper at Stores House itself, because John Deakin Leese is identified as tenant in the deeds for Stores House.
Walk Mill Lane in the 1930’s
In 1936, the same people are running the three shops
In 1939 John Deakin Leese and his wife Evelyn are living at Stores House and running the shop. Next door at Offley Hay farm are the Young family with widowed retired farmer William Hill, her father. This is the same William Hill who ran the shop in Bishops Offley with his mother Elizabeth in 1896.
Ellen Jackson was running the shop at Copmere End with the assistance of George Sylvester, the son of the publican Ellen Sylvester at the Star Inn next door.
The Leeses are still listed in the shop in 1940
In the house deeds, when the Rochelles buy the shop from Henry George Plant’s daughter Matilda in 1963, it states that the Rochelles are resident in the house, so they were obviously running the shop as tenants at this point. The plot outlined on the deeds map covers both plot 27/28 and 29/30. After this I cannot find any further information, although village memory says that the shop shut sometime between the 1950’s and 1970’s.
It is very difficult to identify who was actually running the shop at Stores House for much of its history. In the early days, many people ran a small business from their home to supplement their income: provisions dealer, butter dealer, purveyor of tea and sugar.
Gradually three main shop sites emerge: at Copmere End next door to the pub, which also became a sub-post office; the shop at Garmelow and in Offley Hay, the bakery and shop at Stores House, the shop perhaps at Plot 25 and a shop near Walk Mill.
Sarah Arkinstall and Emma Goodall are certainly strong contenders. Both lived in the vicinity, but evidence seems to suggest that the Arkinstalls ran the shop at plot 25 and this was taken over by Emma Goodall after she was widowed, probably from her own home. The shop at this stage would be run from a room in the house but neither of them lived at Stores House.
Elizabeth Johnson/Williams seems to be more uncertain as she is listed at most of the shops and even in the 1901 census as a Huckster Hawk. Maybe she was an assistant at shops both in Offley Hay and Copmere End, where her son Herbert Johnson ran the shop. Certainly in 1901 she is listed next to George Green the tenant of Stores House, and I think that she was in fact living in Plot 27/28
Henry Plant is described as a baker and grocer in the 1911 census and I am fairly sure that he was living at Stores House. The 1911 census summary lists both Henry Plant and Emma Goodall as running separate shops. Emma Goodall died shortly after the 1911 census and I can find no further trace of Joseph.
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In 1916 Mrs Jane Johnson is listed as shopkeeper at Offley Hay and again in 1921. Whether or not that means Stores House I am not sure, but the shop extension was definitely built by that date.
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By 1928 the store was run by the Leeses, then sometime after 1940 was taken over by the Rochelles.
I think that the shop closed sometime in the mid-sixties, possibly when the Hill’s bought the house.
Whatever the case it is amazing that such a small population could support up to five shops within the greater Offley Hay area.