The Old Millstone Inn, which used to stand on Dolphin Brow in Whittle-le-Woods, was a coaching inn that dates back to the early 19th century. Today, the building has been transformed into a residential property.
This page concentrates on my Pass family relatives who occupied the inn from 1905 – 1921.
The Family
Mary Taylor & Henry Pass
Mary was the daughter of a farmer and grew up with her family at Brinscall Mill Farm in Heapey. In May 1875, she married Henry Pass, whose family lived nearby at Northgate Farm.
At the time of their marriage, Mary was 21 years old and worked as a cotton weaver, while Henry, who was 27, helped run his father’s farm.
Henry and Mary began their journey as a married couple at No. 8 Northgate in Whittle le Woods. By 1890, they had moved to Northgate Farm, which was Henry’s childhood home. Henry’s father Ralph Pass, a widower, had relocated to another farm nearby on Halliwell Lane, known as ‘Wiggins.’
Mary and Henry went on to have twelve children.
Ellen, Ralph, Edward, Henry, Elizabeth, Richard, George, Amelia, John, James, Annie and Mary Dinah.
George died aged two in 1887.
The family remained at Northgate Farm for approximately fourteen years before moving into the Old Millstone in 1905.
Whittle contains several extensive millstone quarries, a few cotton factories, and a calico printing establishment. It is intersected by the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and the branch of the Lancaster canal which connects the tramway from Preston with the more important water communications. – 1889
A Ride to Whittle Springs
1895
“Some two and half miles away from Chorley we came to a lane on the right with a sign post signifying that that was the way to Whittle Springs. Glad to leave the highway, we skimmed along the cindered lane and after crossing the canal arrived at Whittle Springs. The village consists of a number of straggling cottages and farm-houses hidden away in bosky dells or climbing gentle hills, and to townsman the place is entrancing. One of the villagers took us after tea through some fields, down into shady valley and then up among the hills which are mostly composed of millstone grit. Before mounting the hill we were shown the Leeds and Liverpool Canal tunnel. Formerly this tunnel was over a hundred yards long, but a great portion fell in some years ago, and now one can stand on a portion of the ancient tunnel and look down upon a perfectly straight length of water walled in by the precipitous hill-ride. At the further end is a relic of the old tunnel that forms an archway through which the rays of the setting sun came grandly. Five minutes’ walk took us to the top of the hill where the view was as extensive as it was charming. We were on the edge of a ridge, and between us and the sea some ten miles distant was a dead level plain dotted with winding streams and woodlands and villages with here and there a windmill or church spire rising above everything else. The mouth of the Ribble was clearly visible and though the atmosphere was not now so clear as it was two hours before we could see the white glittering expanse of the sea a little to the north of Southport. The hazy outline of the Eiffel Tower Blackpool could just be discerned, and more to the right through a gap in the hills we could see the proud town of Preston with its hundreds of chimneys. Looking inland we could see the wild moorlands stretching away towards Darwen with Rivington Pike towering high above everything else.”
Tradegy
DROWNED WHILST DRUNK.
CHORLEY MAN’S UNFORTUNATE END.
About four p.m., on Tuesday, the body of Henry Pass, labourer, 22, Northgate, Botany, Chorley, was recovered from the canal. About 6.20 p.m. on Monday deceased left his work at the Whittle Springs Brewery, where he was employed, and about 10.30 p.m. he was seen in a drunken condition outside the brewery. Pass went into the brewery, and a man named Brady, gave him a sandwich to eat. Deceased got half a gill of beer, and commenced eating the sandwich. He remained in the brewery until 10.45 p.m., and then left going in the direction of his home. Brady advised him not to go home by the canal bank, but to keep on the Blackburn road. Deceased, however, replied “I can take care of myself.” Being missed, dragging operations were commenced, and the body was recovered as stated. – Lancashire Evening Post – Wednesday 10 July 1901
The Old Millstone
The Old Millstone inn got its name from the renowned millstone that used to be quarried in the area. Today, you can find a collection of millstones displayed on Chorley Old Road, serving as a reminder of this once-thriving industry.
Discovery of Roman Coins
The stone quarries in Whittle-le-Woods have a fascinating history linked to the Romans, who are believed to have mined here. In 1837, locals stumbled upon a buried hoard of third-century Roman coins.
On Thursday last, some workmen were engaged in making an excavation near the banks of the canal, in Whittle-le-woods, about three miles from Chorley, found a considerable number of small Reman brass coins. A dozen of them were left at the offices of this paper, which bear the names of the following Roman Emperors, (whose reigns included the period of the first three centuries in the Christian era) vix: Claudius, Gallienus, Probus, Tetricus, and Postumus. – Preston Chronicle – Saturday 11 March 1837
Tom C Gillett in his book, Tales of Old Chorley, writes about another later discovery –
Coins have also been found at Whittle Springs, one of which, a medal of Philip the Elder (244-249 AD) would suggest that some Romans had settled there, attracted perhaps by the natural beauty of the place, or by the discovery of the medicinal properties of the waters. About 1870 a hoard of coins, said to have been about a thousand in number was found on the removal of some rock above the tunnel on the old Lancaster Canal at Whittle.
The Old Millstone was part of the Whittle Springs Brewery portfolio. Dating from the early 19th century, the inn served as a gathering place for both locals and travellers along the old coaching road.
The photograph of Mary and Henry standing at the front door of the inn is fantastic for adding extra details about the inn and the family that was living there. This is the only photograph of a Taylor relative from this time, so I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered it in Kenneth Hodkinson’s book.
The bricked-up window on the right side of the photograph confirms that the inn dates back to before the window tax was lifted in 1851.
Henry Pass looks smart in his role as a publican, sporting a signature working man’s cap. In the photo, Mary is smiling, with her hair styled in a lovely Victorian bun and dressed in a dark gown and clogs. It’s hard to tell if it’s a mourning dress, but if it is, that could help to date the photo a bit more accurately. Mary’s father, my 3x great-grandfather Henry Taylor, passed away in 1895, and her brother John followed in 1912.
In the windows on both sides are decorative curtains and the front of the inn appears tidy and welcoming. Kenneth Hodgkinson identifies the man stood to the right as a ‘regular’. The sign above the door is hard to read, but it can be identified as a classic licensee sign from this time period. You can make out “Henry Pass,” and there’s a phrase about being a Licensed Seller of ??; which probably read “Beers and Spirits” as the house was fully licensed. If you squint just right, you can make out “Whittle Springs,” (the brewery) and a date likely followed.
Annual Dinner
An article in the Wigan Examiner features a Mr. Pass and his ‘dog hound, Grasper’ who took a First Place at the Annual Puppy Walk in connection with the Aspull Hunt. After the puppy show wrapped up and all the awards were handed out, the members, led by the Master of the hunt, Mr. A. L. Ormrod, gathered for their Annual Dinner at the Old Millstone Inn.
Speaking at the Annual Dinner held in the Millstone Inn, Whittle le Woods, Mr A.L Ormrod, who is retiring from the Mastership, said the pack was now in no way inferior to that which he took over and purchased from Mr. Carlton Cross. – Thursday 07 April 1910
The 1911 census shows Henry, as well as Mary and their eldest daughter, Ellen, who are hard at work managing the inn. Meanwhile, the younger girls are busy earning their wages at a nearby cotton mill. Eldest son Richard, has taken on a job as a carter at the Whittle Springs Brewery and James Pass is working as a labourer at the local Calico Printworks.
After nine years as the landlord and forty-two years of marriage, Henry passed away in 1914, leaving the ‘Old Millstone’ in the care of his wife Mary.
Records suggest that Mary’s two daughters, Annie and Mary Dinah, were still living at home, as they hadn’t married yet.
Mary took on the role of landlady at the inn until 1917, when she also passed away.
A New Chapter Begins
The Old Millstone was taken over by Elizabeth Hargreaves (nee Pass).
Living with Elizabeth was her husband Ernest (Ernie), a building labourer who was out of work when the census was taken. They had two children – William and Bessie. Also living at the Old Millstone in 1921 was James Pass, who was still working at the printworks nearby and Annie and Mary Pass, both cotton weavers at Swansey Mill, Whittle le Woods.
Ernest served with the Army Service Corps in WWI. Before the war, he and Elizabeth lived at Fern Villas on Preston Road and Ernie was busy working with his brother Bill, running a local ‘motor service’ that transported passengers along specific routes in and around the Whittle le Woods area.
Fogging Little Beerhouse
Elizabeth’s time as landlady was short lived however. Just three years later in 1924, the inns license was objected too on the grounds that the inn was inessential for the needs of the surrounding population and was therefore redundant. The increasing redundancy of smaller beer houses appears to have been common at this time with larger more prominent public houses overshadowing the old inns situated outside of town.
When discussions arose about The Old Millstone becoming redundant and transferring its license to another establishment, the nearby Oddfellows was in a similar predicament, with objectors noting that there was four other public houses within 440 yards and the inn was only selling 1 – 2 1/2 barrels’ a week.
If we apply this information along with the following newspaper quote we can get a clear picture of the situation experienced by Elizabeth and other landlords of smaller village inns at the time.
In regard to police objection to the renewal of the licence of the Millstone Inn, Whittle-le-Woods, Sir. T. H. Kevill, for the owners Whittle Springs Brewery, said this old established fully licensed house, was objected to on the usual grounds of redundancy. He had observed, during the last year or two, a disposition on the part of licensing benches to consider any reasonable suggestion which would involve the cessation of one license in exchange for the transfer of the spirit licence to some other place. He was authorised to abandon this licence on the consideration that the Bench would allow the transfer of the spirit licence to the Globe Hotel (beerhouse), Standish.
The Globe Hotel was not a petty fogging little beerhouse, and did not look like a beerhouse, and was not in such a position as one would expect to find beerhouse. It was a large house, in a central, dominant position, at the junction of Church street and High street. Previously, two licensed houses had been here, but they had been made into one, one of the licences being extinguished. Superintendent Marshall said he thought the proposition was a very reasonable one indeed. – Lancashire Evening Post – Wednesday 05 March 1924
Dolphin Brow
Fast forward in time to 1939 and Amelia can be found living next door to the old inn, which by this time had been renovated into a residential property named ‘Dolphin Farm’.
Amelia was the eighth child of Mary and Henry Pass. She married Charles Herbert Cadden in 1909 at St. John The Evangelist in Whittle-le-Woods.
What happened next?
Please click on to page 2