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The following report was written by Mr. Burgin formerly a teacher of South Craven School. It is believed to have been written in the 1970's.

A chronological survey of important dates - Population increases through history - Industry that established the village.
The Danes invaded the area in 560 AD, and a family named COLL settled the area. This family, which would be predominantly male, adopted a feudal regime based on military might with the fees and duties payable to the dominant chief. Two areas were appropriated by the family COLL-LINGE or COLL-INGE meaning home, and COLL-INGE by the River Worth. The two settlements being respectively COWLING and CULLINGWORTH. Very little evidence has remained of how Cowling developed in the intervening period between the arrival of the Danes, and the Norman influence after the conquest. This in itself is indicative of the relative lack of importance of the area at this time, probably due to the remote position, a considerable distance from any settlement of importance at the time.
When the Norman regime influenced the area, a period much later than the invasion, as interest was centered very much in the South in the immediate years following the conquest, a large area of land was given to the brothers EMMOTT in return or as reward for military support to William l.
One brother was given the land from Laneshawbridge to Haworth, and the younger brother, the land extending from Black Lane Ends to Cowling Hill. This total ownership gave the Emmotts the rights to the duties and fees of these two areas, e.g. HERIOTS where on the death of the eldest male, payment of the 'second best' beast was payable, on such a death the strips of land reverted back to the Lord and a son had to repurchase. The younger Emmott was the Lord of the Manor, which included the area of Cowling.
In 1385 this Manor had eighteen couples and had expanded by 1534 to thirty five couples. These two figures of the population of the 'manor' must be placed firmly in perspective. These figures include only parents and give no indication of the number of children these parents produced.
Secondly, these figures are thought to be an inventory of the men in the manor who were eligible for military service for the Emmotts if required, and therefore do not include the Emmott family themselves or their servants, as these persons fulfilled a mandatory military role. A third factor involved is that those couples indicated in the count were freemen, and any serfs or villains owned by the Lord were not included.
The first glance appraisal of the figures is therefore misleading, it being quite possible that the actual population of the Manor was appreciably larger. The evidence to support this is readily available when one considers that Skipton itself had only twenty two couples recorded in 1385.
Williams suggests that it is in this period that the area increased its importance status and affluence. The first factor which helps support this point of view is that a bridge was constructed at Kildwick at a cost of twenty one pounds, £21 being quite a considerable sum at that time. Also the Manor which included Cowling leased Glusburn for an annual rent to a Landlord, which raised the affluence of the Lord. Payments being made part cash, part produce, the produce being selected by the bailiff appointed by the Lord.
The Manor passed to the Earls of Cumberland who held the
land for over a century, but in the sixteenth century three hamlets, Cowling, Ickornshaw and Stotthill which met at Ridge Mill Bridge were sold separately. Ridge Mill had been the corn mill for two centuries and the site of the mill for nearly five hundred years.
This mill was destroyed by fire in 1622 but was not replaced as it had been the centre of the manor occupying a convenient site, but with the redistributed village, emphasis was no longer in a convenient position. It seems likely that the new corn mill was built on the site of Lumb Mill, as this was a more convenient site with ease of access.
The three settlements of Ickornshaw, Cowling, Stotthill,
developed at a slow sedate pace into the eighteenth century to evolve their own identity. Beyond this, one may not comment as there is a singular lack of document evidence to show otherwise.
Minerals were worked in this manor area during the seventeenth century. Williams pinpoints the areas as being, the North West of the Manor where tin and coal were the minerals concerned, and the South East where lead was mined. He suggests that this area is the area now contained in Sutton, indicating that the manor's boundaries exceeded the Parish boundaries as they exist today. The 'bell pits' were worked by families on sequestration from the freemen owners.
The event of the eighteenth century most worthy of note was the emergence of the Non Conformist Chapel in 1724, this being the first institution of this kind in the entire Craven area. A dam was also constructed at Surgill to trap the beck waters into a pool, and the pool was used at the recognised Holy Days for the baptism of converts.
It was during the late eighteenth century that the first
forms of centralised places of work began to appear. Ickornshaw Mill was built, and this was the first mill in the area to be run by machinery. Initially this mill was built for the making of wicks, and by the very nature the enterprise must have been relatively small scale. A dam was constructed to drive the machines and in 1783 the dam burst, flooding the settlement. The pattern of factory systems
developed with the employment of loom weavers in the textile
industry. The notorious Ghyill Mill functioned almost entirely with child labour, in the most terrible conditions.
The Mills took advantage of the skills developed during the
period when such work was conducted by individuals in their own homes, to supplement their wage from agricultural labour. This tradition of cottage work continued well into the nineteenth century as these early mills were small scale and by no means established and secure. An example of this is Lumb Mill which originally functioned as a corn mill, became a weaving mill in 1787, and in
1849 was sold as a saw mill, with a drying kiln and joiners shop attached. It would be fallacious to deduce that this period, the late eighteenth century, was the time in which large scale industry with large scale employment became established in Cowling.
What we can say is that this was the period of transition from the purely agriculture based nature of the area, with individuals supplementing their incomes by producing fibre and cloth, to a mottled pattern of fully and part time employment in mills, with employment in agriculture and service crafts still supreme.
 

Cowling in the Nineteenth Century
The Introduction of Large Scale Industry - Consequent changes in Population - New Communication Systems.
At the commencement of the century the predominant number of textile workers were working on an individual basis in their own homes to supplement their income from agricultural work. This work was with wool, but the impetus for organised industrialisation came with the cotton 'boom'. In 1808 existing mills were converted to deal with cotton textiles in response to the growing demand for cotton garments, particularly cotton hose for the more affluent. With this development came an influx of workers from Lancashire to provide part of the work force, the remainder being supplied by those former 'cottage' wool weavers who were persuaded by the element of security to become full time employees working for a weekly wage. Cotton was therefore the motivating force behind the establishment of large scale production in Cowling, and the emergence of Ickornshaw as a settlement based on a small industry basis.
The period of the 1840s saw the development of a slump in cotton goods due to the shortage of raw materials with the blockade of the United States.
This was due to an increased tariff imposed by the Northern States on the cotton produced by the Southern States, the tariffs also increased the price of raw cotton. It was at this time that skilled workers were lured away from Cowling by mill owners in Sutton and Saltaire especially, offering higher wages and improved living conditions because they were short of skilled workers to man their new mills. These new mills were concerned with wool products for which there was a plentiful supply of raw materials.
This depression in the cotton industry in the 1840s, reaching a peak in 1848, encouraged the existing mills in Cowling to concern themselves with woollen products. This change paid handsome rewards when, in 1852, orders were received for uniform and clothing material to be supplied to the Government to equip British Troops. These orders increased in the immediate period due to the impetus of the Crimean War.
A new mill was built in 1852 by John Binns who had for many years conducted a successful haulage business. The major part of this business was the carting of the wool pieces produced by individual workers in their own cottages to the Piece Hall in Halifax where these Cowling produced pieces were sold. The rising prices paid for wool cloth, and the lucrative government contracts available were the impetus necessary to persuade Binns to invest in this new venture of mill ownership. He also had first hand knowledge of prices paid to his customers through his haulage business, and so was fully aware of the profit margin available to a large scale producer.
The erection of the mill and the securing of finance for the project was only the first step, the major problem was to find a supply of skilled fully trained workers. One part of the problem was solved by the German immigrants who had come to this country to escape religious persecution and political upheaval created by the unification process in their own country.
These refugees were skilled educated workers who were employed to erect and install the machinery in the mills. These were also the people used to train the native workers the basic skills involved in operating the machinery installed.
This would not have been satisfactory if this had been the only alternative available, but fortunately for Binns he had an untapped reserve source of
skilled and competent workers, namely his former customers. He actively canvassed the individual households, who previously had worked wool in their own homes to supplement their income from day work labour, to persuade them to come and work for a consistent weekly wage. This regular means of payment was the key factor involved, as previously their pattern of income had been one of 'peaks' and 'valleys' depending on whether a piece of material had been sold in Halifax. If a piece had been sold, the family experienced affluence for a short period, which changed to one of poverty prior to the sale of the next piece produced. A further factor that influenced these cottage workers to move to full time mill employment was the change in Parish Rates made in 1847, which created unemployment amongst agricultural workers, and subsequent reliance upon
Parish Relief for income and food. Thus regular payment for work and the threat of being on 'the Parish', persuaded cottage workers to join the mill work force.
Any shortage of labour that still remained was obtained from the Lancashire cotton industry which in the 1850s, and especially the 1860s, was in serious decline. This slump was brought about by the troubles prior to, and during the Civil War in the United States, which at best reduced and eventually cut off Lancashire's supply of raw cotton. The woollen industry continued to flourish despite the fact that during 1884 trade agreements were made with Russia and Canada to control wool exports. The outlet for exports was
restricted but prices remained stable, and a growing home market developed for specialised wool products.
These many changes in the fortunes of' the textile industry in Cowling had a great effect upon one particular aspect, namely the population. In 1801 Cowling had a total population of 1140 persons, as indicated by the Census
of that year, however, one must allow for inaccuracy as this was the first full Census taken an a nationwide basis in a structured and regulated manner. A more accurate figure to take as our base is the Census figure of 1811 which,
as can be seen from the following table, not only gives a total figure of 1449, but also divided the population into sex groups, so indicating a higher degree of accuracy.
POPULATI0N OF COWLING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY:
DATE MALE FEMALE TOTAL CHILDREN TOTAL POPULATION
1801 No Male or Female figures 1,140
1811 506 678 1,184 265 1,449
1821 783 898 1,681 189 1,870
1841 997 1,187 2,184 274 2,458
1851 935 1,125 2,060 243 2,303
1881 709 889 1,598 403 2,001
1901 689 863 1,552 383 1,935

Even if one discounts the 1801 figure as being inaccurate, perhaps estimating a low figure, the increases in the population during each successive decade up to 1851 are spectacular. In each decade, the population rose by a
minimum of twenty per cent, with the most dramatic rise being experienced in the period 1811-1821 of some thirty two per cent. These increases in population were so large in respect of the initial population size that the
only plausible explanation is that of immigration. The evidence to substantiate the hypothesis is presented by the parish records which indicate the village or town of origin of the Cowling population in 1838, The following list indicates the number of adults who were resident in Cowling in 1838 but who originated from many other areas.

Carleton 5 Salterforth 9
Colne 81 Nelson 34
Chatburn 4 Lothersdale 18
Cullingworth 1 Skipton 21
Barnoldswick 17 Laycock 1
Elslack 7 Farnhill 6
Oxenhope 4 Haworth 16
Otley 7 Luddenfoot 11
Foulridge 11 Steeton 19
Burnley 11 Hebden 4
Keighley 16

As these figures are for the year 1838, one cannot accurately deduce when these 'immigrants' moved into Cowling. However, it seems reasonable to assume that there is a strong correlation between the immigration and the
development of 'factory systems' in Cowling. It is thought that the first wave of immigrants were the cotton workers from Lancashire towns, in response to the foundation of cotton processing in Cowling in 1808.+ It is fortunate that the Census figures of 1801 are subject to doubt, as these when compared to the 1811 figures would give a direct indication of the number of immigrants involved in
the move from Lancashire.
As can be seen from the table of figures, the population
continued to rise to a peak in the 1840s, and it seems reasonable to assume that such increases could not be the result of natural increase alone.
Undoubtedly some of the increase can be attributed to natural increase, as those people who moved into Cowling were more likely to be younger married
couples, or single persons, who ultimately had families. The depression in the mid forties did have some effect as skilled workers were lured away to work at
Bairstows in Sutton and for Titus Salt in Saltaire. The effect of this cotton slump was counterbalanced to a certain extent by the creation of work by the foundation of Binns Mill, and the immigration of skilled European workers,
particularly Germans. However, the population continued to dwindle to the end of the century, as production stabilised and machinery improved, lessening the need for such an extensive work force. The prime factor in discussion of
population changes in this period is, of course, the number of children per family, particularly when the average number of children per family was over eight. The fall in population from 1851 to 1901 could be explained by the movement of only twenty families from Cowling, if each of the families had eight children. Therefore
a loss of only twenty workers greatly exaggerates the situation when first impressions are taken of the total population figures.

A most revealing source of information is the table of figures compiled in 1848 indicating the size of the work force in Cowling. These figures indicate that there were a large number of children who were either not of school
age or were non school attenders, due to being workers.
MALE FEMALE
Full time employment 724 401
Children at School 49 76
Children not at School 201 319
Non employed women 489
Paupers 14 11

Also there are approximately 111 persons not accounted for
when one compares the total figures of the Commissioners to the Census figure of 1851. It seems reasonable to assume that these, or the majority of these 111 persons, would be adult males who were casual workers, or small scale farmers, some of whom supplemented their family income with casual work. There is also reasonable evidence that many of the non school attending children would be concerned with family work, where the motivating force would have been family
self sufficiency.
This report also indicated the numbers of' persons employed
in the various forms of work, but gave no indication of employment by sex. The
most immediate feature is that the one industry provided the main source of
employment, but the surprising aspect of this feature is that the percentage
of employees in the textile trade is so high.

Shopkeepers Craftsmen Services
Footware 6 Woodworkers 15 Hauliers 2
Corn 3 Builders 21 Carriers 3
Clothing 11 Metal 11 Laundress 1
Food 10 Others 1 Servants 31
Others 4

Professional
Clergy 2 Clothworkers 811
Teacher 2 Agricultural workers 101
Businessmen 6 Innkeepers 3

This further reinforces the close relationship between large scale industry and Cowling`s development to the degree of almost total dependence.
A further revelation is the comparative low figure for
agricultural workers, as one would have thought that at this time in a predominantly rural area, many more workers would be engaged in agriculture. The improved methods of farming and the introduction of agricultural machinery are the
immediate causes that spring to mind, as in many areas of the country these were the very reasons why many agricultural workers became redundant and were dependent
upon Parish Relief to maintain them. Undoubtedly this may well have been a contributory factor; however, further investigation revealed that it was the dispute between the landowning farmers and the Church Clergy that possibly had the greater effect. This dispute originated over the amount of rate payable to the Cleric at Kildwick as part of his annual salary, this rate being payable in monies or in kind by the landowners. Over the years this Customary payment had declined and in some cases, ceased completely. The first step was taken by the Cleric in 1791 when one Reverend Marsden decided to raise £105 from Kildwick Parish to compensate for payment in kind, as he saw his rightful ' living' being eroded with the accompanying loss of status. Cowling's rate was determined as being £17.16.2. which the Cowling Landowners refused to pay, whilst all others agreed to their assessment. A meeting was held at the Old White Bear, at which the Cowling party argued that they preferred to pay in kind. This plea was ignored and outvoted, the assessments being payable to Marsden.
This dispute continued and was finally solved in 1839 by
the drawing up of Parish Tithe maps and the fixing of rates by the Commissioners according to the use of land and the crops raised. Prior to this date, a significant area of land in Cowling had been used as arable land, but at this
judication this land was no longer cultivated in this manner as there was a high levy placed upon cereals. This undoubtedly had the effect of reducing the agricultural work force, as from this point, most efforts were concerned with pastural agriculture which necessitated fewer workers. Therefore the dispute between the Clergy and the landowner farmers possibly had a greater effect upon agricultural workers in Cowling than had improved methods and mechanisation.
The textile and agricultural workers occupy a massive
percentage of the total work force, but two further groups are also worthy of comment. The first of these are the building craftsmen who appear to be over proportionately represented, when one considers the size of the total
population. This high figure was probably due to the influx of workers over the years who, of course, all needed to be housed. A further factor could have been the re-emphasis of the settlement orientation to the immediate area alongside
the 'new' road, not to mention the creation of new work places and the alteration of older premises. The second group are the servants who are conspicuous, not
for their numerical proportions, but for their social origins. This group were mainly immigrants from the older industrial areas with few outlets for female labour. This importation was necessary as the Cowling inhabitants had been absorbed into the textile industry and therefore the comparatively low wages in service had little appeal for the locals.

In this period of transformation, a major contribution was
made to the process of change by the construction of the 'new' road, opened in 1812. Prior to this all previous roads had crossed the valley rather than follow the low level route down the valley, with the major road being the York
to Lancaster road which passed through Cowling Hill via Lumb Mill, Carr Head and then Black Lane Ends. Cowling Hill, Middleton and Ickornshaw were the three separately located housing developments and were important in their own right,
possessing Churches, Inns and in the case of Middleton, a Post Office. The 'new' road with its down the valley cross Pennine route, reorientated the entire settlement emphasis in the course of the century, to establish the primary
village along its route. The majority of new building initiated by the construction of the mill was immediately adjacent to the route, and the new houses provided workers with a residence close to the source of employment.

The 'new' road was, of course, a Toll road, the new charges
being in 1856 as follows:-
Every horse drawn carriage 8 pence
Every horse drawn wagon 6 pence
Every horse 2 pence
Empty carts 2 pence
A drove of oxen 8 pence
Every drove of calves 4 pence
Carriages driven by steam or machinery 1 shilling per wheel.
These new charges wore introduced at this lower rate in order to attract traffic using the road, as the Toll Company were in financial difficulties. Paupers of Cowling were lured by the Poor Relief administrators to the Company to offset the strain on the rates paid by the ratepayers, as part of the rate was used to maintain the paupers. The Company paid each pauper labourer tenpence per day plus an allowance of one shilling and seven pence for the daily gang refreshments. Eventually the Company's interests were taken over by the East Staincliffe Highways Board, and evidently road maintenance was an expensive exercise as the ratepayers complained in 1884 to the Highways Board saying it was 'inoperative and very expensive'. Even so, the road's contribution to Cowling's development and establishment as the village we know today was considerable.
Thus the nineteenth century was a period of continual
social change which saw Cowling develop from a three nucleated rural settlement to a large centralised industrialised village in a rural landscape.

Style of Life in Cowling during the Nineteenth Century.
Standard of Living - Recreation - Worship.

To determine how, in fact, the people of Cowling enjoyed a particular style of life, if enjoyed is the correct term to use, is extremely difficult due to the singular lack of documented evidence on the subject. The only means available
to us in the circumstances, was to approach individuals who were resident in the village during the 1880s to relate details of their childhood, with the bonus of descriptions told to them by the parents of their childhood and adult
experiences earlier in the century. The group realised that these recollections may not be valid on all counts, but it was decided to take advantage of these descriptions as even this source of information will ultimately be 'lost'.
Mrs. Rushworth related to us the recalled memories of her childhood in Cowling, all the while comparing these to her situation today. She recalled that her mother made a crude porridge from 'blue' milk which her father, as a boy, collected from farms. This was the staple diet along with bread, but if bread was eaten it was with butter or jam, but not both. This meager diet was not simply a remote case, as the majority of our respondents indicated that this was the normal diet for the major part of the population at this
time in the mid-nineteenth century.
Perhaps a more accurate 'picture' can be determined from the relating of childhood experiences in Cowling during the 1880s. Once again the principal comparison made was the difference in standard of food. As a child the family
ate meat regularly, particularly pork which was provided by her grandfather.
A secondary source was the brawn mother made from boiled sheep's head, all scraps of meat being used and pressed into shape. Tongue was also eaten but far less frequently, brawn being the major form of meat consumed. Fruit was very
expensive and very rarely eaten, in sharp contrast to today where Mrs. Rushworth eats a number of oranges, these being her favourite fruit. As a child, bread and black treacle was a normal meal most frequently consumed, and Mrs. Rushworth
complained that black treacle was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain and she still 'loves' this form of treacle.

The diet of the 'average' person would seem to have been extremely repetitive, and particularly deficient in vitamins which are regarded as being essential today. Many persons will have suffered, to varying degrees, elements of malnutrition and the diet deficiency diseases, beri beri, scurvy and rickets.
From a medical health point of view there were two main areas of concern; firstly, the problem of teeth which very quickly decayed when the central form of diet was the 'blue' milk porridge. A Doctor Knowles in Keighley commented on the appalling condition of the working poor, and the high incidence of 'mouth and throat' disorder stemming from advanced decay and the lack of any treatment. The second cause of problem centred on the pregnant women who, due
to a lack of vitamin 'A' in their diet suffered from anemia, a condition which was exacerbated during terms of pregnancy. Diet deficiency was also responsible for the poor health of young children; the degree of ill health is indicated by many school records which have logged the number of children who were ill, the frequency of doctor visits to the school, and the reasons for unscheduled school closures on the recommendation of the school doctors.
'School closed, thirty four confirmed cases of ringworm' 1891
'Sixteen children sent home by doctor, contact proved with
children with scarlet fever'.
'Doctor appalled with general health in the school'. 1882.

Normal diets of individuals indicate the degree of poverty that existed in the village at this time, but an even more distressing factor was the 'inconsistency' of products that could be purchased, especially in the markets at the time. Sweets, such as they were, were a particular hazard. An indication of the problem was the two cases reported, one in Bradford, the other in Keighley. Of the two the Bradford case was the more serious, here a confectioner was selling sweets on the market and had purchased ingredients from a chemist. Fifteen people who ate the sweets died and in the ensuing investigation it was found that the confectioner had purchased powdered arsenic from the chemist by mistake and this had been mixed into the sweets. Again in Keighley in 1883 a confectioner purchased essence to make a form of cake and this made many people seriously ill, This completes a very dismal picture, not only were individuals severely handicapped by their normal diet, but also ran tremendous risks when purchasing 'luxury' foods with any surplus money on visits to the towns and their markets. The standard of living experienced by these villages during the nineteenth century would appear to have been appallingly low, especially in the time prior to 1850 and did not improve to
any significant degree toward the end of the century.

With this dismal picture in mind of diet deficiency, repetitive meals using the same material as a base, namely oats and 'blue' milk, or oats and water, was the social life of these people any more pleasant or less repetitive?
Mrs. Rishworth said she had never been on holiday until she was well into her forties when her husband received a wage increase. As a child she went for day trips to a relative in Addingham, and these were looked forward to as very special events. She also remembered going on trips to Hebden Bridge and to the fair at Harrogate. The fair at Harrogate was her highlight memory of childhood as it was the first time she had ever seen a coloured person and a magician who was performing, attracting crowds with a monkey and a parrot. The fair itself was a mixture of goods for sale on open displays on the ground or no benches and sideshows, acrobats, the magician, strongmen, medicines and herbal
remedies, a boxing booth, musicians bands. These one day outings were very special and were events that were talked about for many months after.
Perhaps this is indicated by the very lucid description Mrs. Rishworth gives, even though one must allow for exaggeration.

As a child home pastimes were hopscotch, skipping and checks, and as she became older, leisure was centred around knitting, drawing, listening to the piano, and the church. The church especially played a very important part in
social life of families, and it seems the village itself. Sunday school was a regular feature and was very well attended by the village children. At Christmas, apart from breakfast and dinner, the time was spent mainly at the
chapel. The chapel provided the major part of the village communal life with a variety of activities provided even on weekday evenings, though the weekend was more relevant. These activities varied from services, bible classes,
prayer meetings, to talks and lectures from visiting speakers. School was attended until the age of 11 when she went to work as a half timer, going to school in the morning and work in the afternoon and early evening.
Bertha Hutchinson related similar experiences, attending school from the age of four, became a half timer at twelve, leaving school at thirteen. This pattern of life left very little time for leisure, especially when one considers that even when the major form of employment was in agriculture,
spare time was used to supplement wages by hand loom weaving in the home.
Children, themselves, had little spare time as in early days of the mill system they were employed full time in the mills e.g, Ghyll Mill in Cowling and it was not until the 1870s that education was compulsory. The conditions of work experienced is best indicated by the rules laid down by a Burnley Mill Owner in 1852.

RULES AND CONDITIONS OF W0RK FOR OFFICE EMPLOYEES.

The new improved working hours are from 7.a.m. to 6.p.m., work commencing with daily prayers.
Lunch may be taken from 11.30 to 12 noon but there will be no cessation of work.
There will be no taking during working hours.
There will be no smoking or taking of alcohol.
There will be no leaving the office without the permission granted by the Head Clerk. If it is necessary for toilet purposes you may go down the grounds to below the second gate. The said grounds to be kept tidy.
There is a stove in the office for heating, and it is recommended that each member of staff bring 4 lbs of fuel each day.

Each member must be somberly dressed. No garish colours may be worn.
No overcoats may be worn in the office but neck scarves and head coverings may be worn in very inclement weather.
Wages. Up to ll years of age ls.4d. a week
Up to 14 years of age 2s.7d. a week
14 years old 2s.ld.
Juniors 4s.8d.
Junior Clerks. 8s.10d.
Clerks. l0s.9d.
After 15 years service,
Clerks 21s. a week.
'It is hoped output will be increased in these near Utopian situations.'

As can easily be seen, the conditions of work and the rules that regulated these conditions were harsh, and these of course only applied to the office workers. As Bridstow states ' the mill workers were segregated by status and
pay', indicating that the office staff were given a higher status, more privileges and enjoyed higher rates of pay than did the manual work force.

The combination of harsh working conditions, comparative low rates of pay a deficient and repetitive diet, and long hours of work in employment and in the home, highlight the rather mundane existence of the villagers during the nineteenth century, and more especially during the first half of the century.

The needs of the inhabitants had to some extent been catered for by the establishment of the Non-Conformist Chapel in 1724 and the erection of a dam at Surgill for the purposes of baptisms. This further supplemented the services
provided by the established church sited at Kildwick. Cowling, as a village, was within the Kildwick Parish and until Cowling had its own Church built in 1844, all baptisms, Burials and Church of England services were conducted at Kildwick.
This necessity to travel established a well used track from Cowling to Glusburn and on to Kildwick, which became known as the 'Burial Way'. Parts of this route still exist today running from Ickornshaw down the side of the church to meet
the Lothersdale, Cononley footpath which then follows the original route. The religious organisations provided the only formal activities available in the village, originally these were the only activities organised for the community
outside the home.

The Church was not simply concerned with the primary religious functions, but was also very much concerned with the social welfare within the community and its administration. The Vicar and Church Wardens of Kildwick were responsible for the administration of a will trust left by John Rycroft in 1532. This trust consisted of £239 of which £159 was to be used to purchase five plots of land, the rents forthcoming from which to be payable to the poor of the parish. The further £80 was to be used to purchase 120 cattle, these then to be let to the poor at a rent of 8d per cow per year. All monies received from these rents were.
distributed by the Overseers of the poor to each village within the Parish of Kildwick, according to the proportion each collected as its contribution to the Poor Rate. The total amount distributed each year was £14.5.11, of which
£2.-.10. was paid to the village of Cowling. This trust was administered until 1893, though it ceased to be poor relief in 1859 when the rate system was introduced for each village.

Poverty was also the motivating factor in the establishment of the Kildwick Parish Friendly Society. Individuals were constantly aware of the problems that they would face if their income was reduced or endangered completely by sickness or injury. The Friendly Society was created as a means of self help or protection if some unforeseen ill fortune were to strike. The essence to the group was for each member to pay into the Society 2/- per quarter, and if the member was unable to work he would receive 7/- per week.

KILDWICK PARISH FRIENDLY SOCIETY RULES JANUARY 1st 1799.
1. Each member to pay 2/- quarterly into the box, besides the allowance for ale.
2. Any member sick or lame or otherwise indisposed so as to render him unfit to work shall receive 7/- weekly.
3. When any member shall depart this life there shall be paid the sum of 5gns out of the box to defray the expenses of the funeral.
4. After payment for twelve months to any member, his pay will then be only 5/- per week.
5. Any member refusing to conform to the rules shall forfeit 6d to the box.
6. Any member joining the procession in a state of intoxication or behaving disorderly or absent from Divine Service shall forfeit 1/- to the box.
7. The Master and Stewards to lead the procession, the rest of the members to follow two abreast, each furnished with a sprig of Green Oak.

The Society continued to function until 1844, when dwindling membership increased the pressure on withdrawals and created debt. Though not directly administered by the Church there were very strong links between it and the Society throughout
its existence.

The religious bodies created a common bond in a community and in making themselves a focal point for community activities united the community in a way that had never been experienced previously. However, within the system of social
welfare, the provision of community activities and the protection of individual interests, one function of the Church remained supreme. This of course being the promotion of their individual doctrines of religion, and it was the necessity to achieve these goals that led to a certain amount of dissent and division in the community. All was well until the establishment of the Non-Conformist religions in the district from 1672 onward. Both the Baptists and Methodists became established in Cowling in the early eighteenth century and this had a very significant effect upon the Church of England. From the Visitation Return of 1743, only sixteen persons attended to celebrate Holy Communion in Kildwick Church on the Sunday before Whitsuntide. What proportion of this congregation came from Cowling is impossible to establish, however it would seem reasonable to assume that Cowling's representation would be very low, if any at all were present, when one considers the distance of travel involved. To add to the problem of falling attendances, the Vicar of Kildwick was also under pressure to collect the tithe payments. There was a natural reluctance to pay these levies on the part of the villagers, and this came to a confrontation in 1791. The Rev. Marsden, who was the Vicar of Kildwick at the time was disturbed that the payment in kind of the tithe had dwindled to such an extent that a money tithe should be substituted. The
figure of £105 was to be raised from the Parish of which £17.16.2 was to be Cowling's contribution. Cowling objected to this amount and refused payment.
Subsequently a meeting was held of all the villages, in the Old White Bear Inn Cross Hills, where the representatives from Cowling submitted that they preferred the old system of payment. The meeting found that the sum of £105 was reasonable and that each village had to pay the original stated amount. This still did not satisfy the Cowling people and two men walked to Oxford to register their 'petition' of protest. They went to Oxford, as part of the Kildwick tithe was paid to one of the Oxford Colleges, and their petition can still be seen today in the Bodlein library in Oxford University. The principle that motivated these men to take this tremendous journey was not the amount of money the village paid but that the village had to pay this tithe at all. There was, undoubtedly, a significant opinion that the village did not receive an adequate 'service' from the Church of England, no doubt being due to the large percentage of the population being non-conformists, as well as the disgruntled Anglicans.

It seems reasonable to assume that Cowling was a deeply divided village in terms of denominational worship during the nineteenth century, and also that there would be a strict affiliation in village activities according to a
particular religious allegiance. From amongst these wranglings emerged a particular form of welcome innovation which was a tremendous benefit to the community, namely the Sunday Schools. It must be stated that these were exclusively the province of the Non-Conformist organisations, who realised that one of the Community's real needs was education. Originally the Sunday Schools had no
religious content at all, they were provided by the Chapel to help the illiterate in the village to read, even though the motive was perhaps to enable everyone to read the Bible. The Chapel premises were used and the reading was taught by those adult members who could read and write. Further advances were made by teaching those who could read to write. These original objectives were eventually broadened to include classes for young men and women, the sexes being taught apart, and these advanced to bible classes. Whittaker** stated that " the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Ickornshaw had a Sunday School of 270 scholars and 57 teachers with a library of 450 volumes. The Primitive Methodist Chapel at Middleton had a Sunday School of 26 scholars and 6 teachers. The Baptists at Cowling Hill had a Sunday School of 110 scholars and 15 teachers, The United
Methodist Free Church built in 1882 at a cost of £5000 and a new organ built by J. Laycock at a cost of £400, has a Sunday School connected with 320 scholars and 68 teachers".

**Whittakers History of Craven Appendix 2.

Village Development to the Twentieth Century.

Village expansion - Village Amenities - Development -of the Parish Council - Extending Influence of the Council.

In the previous chapter we discussed how the Church played a principle role in the development of Cowling as a community and the provider of a stability and consensus. It is the purpose of this chapter to extend this examination to determine the physical factors that also provided the stimulus for village development.

The three factors which must first be considered are those of industrialisation, the re-location and siting of the village and communication systems. Perhaps the most significant impact was made by the 'new road' built by trustees from Colne to Addingham following a lower route from Colne over Reedshaw Moss running through Cowling, Glusburn and Cross Hills and completed in 1809. This road replaced the old road which had followed a line from near Colne through Black Lane End, over the hill past Cowling Hill, Carr Head and Malsis to Glusburn**, permission for which had been granted by an act obtained in 1755. This new road was the first major piece of construction that had followed a rough west to east line, all previous major routes had followed a more north to south line apart from the road through Cowling Hill. In consequence, Cowling as a settlement was widely dispersed, there being three centres of housing, namely Ickornshaw, Middleton and Cowling Hill. The effect of the road was to draw both industry and housing to it and so re-locate the focal point of the settlement to a position it principally enjoys today.

Industry was, of course, quick to see the advantage of the roadside position and any new development took place along the road, most notably Croft Mill opened in 1853. The road enabled the swift movement of raw materials and finished products even though tolls had to be paid. In fact this Blackburn, Addingham Cocking End Turnpike road was a supplement branch to the Keighley - Kendal turnpike completed in 1798 and as such gave Cowling a major road access to a much wider network of transport systems. It gave a superior line of communication to the Wharfe of the Leeds Liverpool canal at Kildwick. This Wharfe handled coal, lime stone, iron, corn, wool and cotton making the raw materials, so desperately needed as the village expanded, more readily accessible. The canal and the turnpike roads removed Cowling from its isolation and was given the access of trade with North Yorkshire, Leeds and South Yorkshire, Manchester and Liverpool and South Lancashire. Local manufacturers no longer had to depend on the slow packhorse and could now use wagons or barges to distant market outlets. Perhaps an even more significant factor in transport was the ability to move the basic raw material, coal, to the site of production, and this undoubtedly benefited Cowling a great deal with the introduction of steam driven machinery later in the century. Cowling also enjoyed cheap transport due to the ability of haulers to avoid payment of tolls especially at the Cross Hills junction where no toll post existed, so hauliers could pay a toll at Steeton Bar as if they were travelling to Snaygill and then proceed up the new turnpike to Cowling. To prevent this weakness in human nature, a toll post was erected at Cross Hills Junction in 1848 where the following tolls were in force.

For every horse drawn carriage 8d.
For every horse drawn waggon 6d.
For every horse 2d.
For empty carts 2d.
For every drove of oxen 8d.
For every drove of calves 4d.
For every carriage driven by steam
or machinery or any other power other than animal 1/- per wheel.

A further impetus was gained with the opening of the railway in 1847, and the station at Kildwick. The rail services developed to such an extent that by 1871 there were seventeen trains a day calling at Kildwick, the first at 5.20a.m. the last at 9.40p.m. Cowling was the last of the local villages to have a regular service link between the village and the station and this was introduced by Ezra Laycock in 1898. This was the first regular service, but previous to this it had been possible to pay for a lift down to and back from the station on an individual basis. The railway, not only was a boost to industry, but provided a cheaper form of transport for passengers with special cheap fare trips to the coast, countryside and towns designed for the working class, though how many could afford these trips is left open to doubt.

The development of transport systems and industrialisation had a tremendous effect upon Cowling, it established a new site for the village and introduced a new period of prosperity and development. A true indication of the prosperity of Cowling can best be gained by examining the factor of population increase. The population rose from 1,449 in 1811 to 1,935 in 1901. The peak of population was achieved in 1851 when the population reached 2,458. The attraction of employment in the developing industries and the security of working for a firm that were under contract to the government was undeniable. It was first the expansion of cotton textiles in a period 1808 to 1820 and later the establishment of a factory organised wool textile industry in the 1840s and 1850s that created this new source of employment.

If one considers the incidence of marriage in this period, and the percentage of the Cowling population that were married, this also gives us an impression of the boom effect experienced in the village. The average national figure in 1851 for married men of marriageable age was 52%, whilst in Cowling this was almost 80%. In 1853, 506 men over sixteen had been, or were married, whilst for the female population, the corresponding figure was 489. These relatively high proportions were an indication of the effect of the influx of workers to Cowling. Even if the workers were married, their children married in the village as second generation Cowlingers, but a more reasonable explanation is that a number of the 'immigrant workers' would have been single men who, due to the lack of family ties, had the ability to be mobile and seek employment. These single immigrants subsequently married in the village and brought their families.

The occupations listed in the 1848 Census also gives an indication of how the village had developed. (See table in Chapter 2).

The high proportion of craft workers for the size of the population is also an indication in itself of the pressure and need for new buildings. The influx of workers and their families placed great pressure on the existing housing, even though severe overcrowding was prevalent. The scattered settlement of Cowling prevailed for many years, but eventually housing became established along the 'new road' side. Building development in the village was initially concerned with industrial premises, and the housing developments took place at a much later date. From the Tithe Map of 1839 it was easily seen that there was a total lack of building where the bulk of the village exists today.

The increasing population not only had the effect of housing development, but also created the need for services in the village. No accurate records of retail outlets exist which indicate what numbers and types of shops and business premises existed in the pre 1840s. Some indication of the extent of shop premises can be gained from the Craven Directory of 1884. The members of the group believed that this record did not give a true indication of the commercial enterprise in the village, and compiled a list of premises that existed in the early twentieth century.

**Kings Highway in Craven John J Brigg
1 Craven Directory Appendix 3.

These were listed as follows:

Middleton:
Barber, butcher, grocer, Co-operative, baker, ice cream and
chip shop.
Ickornshaw:
Grocer, iron works.
Winkholme:
Shuttleworth and Stirk, 2 cloggers, herbalist and spices,
oatcake sales.
Keighley Road (facing down to Cross Hills, left hand side):
Sweets general, herbalists, butcher, cycles, drapery and shoes, cloggers, post office, grocer/butchers, corn merchant, dividend store, barber, baker, baker/grocer, co-op, baker, clogger, milliner/tailor, hairdresser, paint shop, baker, sweets/baker, grocer, hairdresser.
Keighley Road (facing up to Colne, commencing at Lane Ends):
Grocer, tailor, sweets, laundry, greengrocer, gents outfitter, Solicitor, grocery, butcher, blacksmith, milliner, chip shop, pie and peas, baker, greengrocer, grocer corn miller, druggist and barber, chip shop, photographer, hairdresser, sweets, paint shop, Queen street bakers.
Carr Mill Lane:
3 joiners shops.
Lane Ends:
Wheelwright, Doctor, 2 Stables.

As can be seen there was a great proliferation of the small family concern, the majority of which being established to meet the needs of the growing population. One wonders, in the light of fierce competition, how in fact these businesses, grocers and bakers especially, managed to make a living for their owners. However, a baker at the time is recorded as saying that if your trade had a focus of 'a dozen families', then this was sufficient to provide a living.
As can be seen, the trade and business must have been there for these number of shops to exist, and is perhaps the most accurate means available to gauge the development that took place in the village especially in the second half of the
century.

The dramatic increase in the village population that had taken place since 1811 to a peak in 1861, was followed by an equally swift decline, there being some 535 fewer persons resident in the village in 1901 than 1861. However,
this in no way was reflected in the extent to which the size, physically, of the village had developed and expanded during this time. By 1901 'massive' housing development had taken place, and was still in progress, with families living in less crowded conditions in houses with more amenities.

To match the expansion and development of the village was the growing need for village administration of the affairs of the village and as a result emerged the Cowling Parish Council. Cowling had always contributed to the administration of the area, there being nineteen Cowling resident representatives in the 1379 *Wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewrcross. The Wapentake was a 'local court' which decided all issues, but whose main influence was the settlement of all civil issues, especially water rights, land tenure, debts etc. The Wapentake was an extremely influential body and was in a way the early form of council
administration.

* Poll Tax returns of the Wapentakes of Staincliffe and Ewcross
Richard 11 (AD 1379)

These were Pers Tyllotson A Bow, Able, Horse & C.
Xrofer Lakok A Bow
Nicolas Starburg
Henry Waller of Ceollyng (Cowling)

These men would have been called upon because they held land from Lord Clifford in return for such military service. These two historical references show that Cowling had played a part in the administration and affairs of the area in the years of development of the nation.

Cowling's administration and the extent of governing powers over settlements during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is extremely vague and remains a matter of conjecture. Taxes (tithes) were payable to the Vicar of Kildwick to provide his 'living' and these were usually paid in kind. Tenants paid rents for their land to the landowner, again usually a mixture of payment in kind and money. These general statements are all one can give due to the obscure nature of the evidence available, and the total lack
of documented evidence on the subject. The only available reliable evidence that can be quoted concerned the collection and administration of Parish Relief.
This area was particularly fortunate to be endowed by the Rycroft Trust. On his death John Rycroft, by a Bill of Petition in 1552, left £8 to be administered in the Parish of Kildwick by the Vicar and two Church Wardens. This sum was to be used to buy cattle and land and these were then to be rented. The profit was then to be used to buy 'bread, drink and cheese', and 'they to be let to the poor people of the parish on the said day obyt'.* Portions of land were
purchased in Cowling for £40 with a yearly rent payable of £2.7.-. by William and John Laycock of West field in Cowling. The important feature of this trust was the aid given to the poor who were unable to support themselves,
there being little or no provision of this nature in the majority of rural areas at the time.

However with agricultural advance and innovation there was a decline on a nationwide basis for the service of agricultural labourers. Cowling was no exception, and to help provide for the poor a rate was levied from landowners
and tenants. To help reduce the levy in 1555 every able bodied man had to do four days labour per year on the road, and this later rose to six days. The fund for Poor Relief was administered by the Parish Wardens who had this power
granted by Acts of Parliament. The records of this formal body have proved impossible to trace, but at the passing of the Relief Act in 1835 there is a record that the administrators paid pauper labourers at the rate of 10d. per day plus the refreshment cost of 1/7d per day for the gang. The Township Book records that work was on the roads, drainage and repairs. The most significant advances
in agriculture and consequently labourer redundancy took place in the 19th century, and. the situation was certainly not improved from Cowling's point of view by the Tithe Commutation Act of 1838. The Tithe Commissioners were
empowered by the Tithe Act 1837, in default of agreement between the landowners and tithe owners, to grant a compulsory award to the tithe owner.
The tithe owners in Cowling's case were Christs Church Oxford who were the patrons of the 'living' of Kildwick. As we have noted previously there was, and still existed, an element of disagreement concerning the levy of Cowling's
rate decided by the Rev. Marsden. The Tithe Commissioners drew up Tithe maps which documented the tithe district, state of cultivation of the land, land exempt and land subject to tithes.^ Statistics were compiled to indicate the
respective numbers of bushels of wheat, barley and oats which could have, theoretically been purchased by one third of the total rate levied at the date price.

* Rycroft Charity Appendix 4
^ Tithe Commissioners Appendix 5.

and a rent charge was fixed to land against each unit of charge. The key to the determining of the rent was the actual use to which the land was put, there being a low value placed on rough pasture through all uses to arable land of which the cultivation of wheat was regarded highest. The practical effect was that cultivated land was given a higher rate than pasture. From the Commissioners Map and their written observations, it was interesting to note
that a certain area of land in Cowling was at the time under cultivation producing barley and oats. This land was on the north west slope as one faces up the valley. The vast majority of the land was pasture as one would perhaps expect. Higher rates were also charged on buildings, especially corn mills, and all kinds dealing with the produce of agriculture.

The Tithe Acts had the undoubted effect in many areas of restructuring the form of agriculture so that a more favourable rate was payable. This is especially true in the case of Cowling where all arable land rapidly disappeared so to avoid a high rate levy or a not too profitable crop. The
effect of this was to reduce the numbers of' agricultural employees as the effective need of manpower was reduced, and if it had not been possible to absorb these redundant workers into the developing industry in Cowling, then the village's history would undoubtedly have been radically different.

The Tithe was important as it established a precedent in that there now existed a system of rate levy that was directly based on the ownership and tenancy of land, and the occupation and use of buildings. It was a small step therefore to utilise this system when the local government operations first came into being.

The necessity for local administration came basically from the pressing need for the provision of amenities for local communities. The nineteenth century saw the upsurgance of urban communities, and this presented many problems socially. The first major innovation which initiated the form local administration was to take was the founding of the Local Board in 1858. This was a body of nine elected individuals from a total of thirty candidates who were nominated for election. The powers of the Board and their sphere of administration seem to have been unspecified. The
area they administrated is also unclear, but Cowling was included in this area.
The East Staincliffe Highways Board was established in 1864 with the imminent collapse of the Turnpike Trusts. This was a body that was directly responsible to the Local Board, with responsibility for the repair and revenue from the
highways. The Rural Sanitary Authority was introduced in 1872 which was responsible for all sanitary provisions and policy making but had no responsibility or authority over water supplies.

These three bodies were established in response to central
government legislation but the provisions of the legislation were directly related to urban areas in an attempt to overcome the problems experienced by towns and cities at the time. It was therefore extremely difficult to apply these powers to rural areas, as these had previously been administrated by a multiplicity of bodies, and the powers given to the 'Boards' only clearly defined authority in existing urban situations.
This state of confusion existed for many years, and this is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that Cowling was, at one time, administrated for by Keighley and then later by Skipton.

The Village Today

Our final chapter is an attempt to determine the nature of life in Cowling today. This in itself, presents many problems, the major factor involved being how to construct and conduct an investigation of social life that would achieve valid results. It is also difficult to determine which aspects to include and which to omit, it being impossible in the time available to take into account every single feature involved in this most complex problem. The group finally decided that a survey was the most convenient means of achieving our goal, but this presented the problem of determining a size of sample that would reflect an acceptable reliable indication of the present position. It was decided that the survey would be conducted purely at random, with each member of the group taking responsibility for conducting the survey with part of the sample.

The construction of the questionnaire was equally difficult, it being finally decided to construct questions to try and determine the answers to questions the group thought most relevant. The first question to be asked was how long people had been resident in the village in an attempt to verify the belief that there had been a recent trend of incoming population. A sequence of questions then continued this theme hoping to reveal how long the family had been Cowling residents, and if so, how many generations of the family had lived in Cowling. If the respondents had no previous family affiliation with the village they were then asked where they had lived previously, and the reasons why they had decided to come and live in Cowling.
A number of relevant responses were made available for this section. To find if there was any link between residence and occupation, a section of questions was included to determine where people worked, the nature of their occupation and how far people had to travel to work from the village. It was thought by the group that there was a correlation between work situation outside the village and the participation in leisure activities within the village. To determine the extent individuals participated in village based activities, a series of questions were formulated to discover what proportion of leisure time was spent in the village, what organised activities were patronised, and what activities not listed were also regarded as leisure pursuits.

This questionnaire was then duplicated, and conducted in a random way by the group with due consideration being given to the age structure of the sample, where possible, individual members collecting a wide spread of respondents. Even though the questionnaire appeared to be extremely simple in construction, the 'weight' of information it provided was in fact formidable.

We were fortunate that very few prospective interviewees refused point blank to entertain our work, and only a minor proportion expressed any reservations. One question did seem to raise objections in a number of respondent's minds who did not think it was necessary to respond to the question 'What is the nature of your occupation'. These reservations were accepted and all other questions seemed to be acceptable, and the responses to these, in many cases, were not just confined to a 'straight' answer. Much significant peripheral information was collected in the form of explanations why people took leisure time outside the village, why they had come to the village and what the village lacked in social amenity. It was the volume of information, directly asked for or freely given, that posed the major problem.
It took a number of weeks to collate and assimilate the information to a 'master' from which it was possible to draw conclusions.

In our RESIDENCE section quite an interesting pattern emerged. The response to our length of residence was as follows:
<1Yr, 1-5Yrs, 6-10Yrs, 10-15Yrs, 20-30Yrs, All your life.
10, 21, 5, 2, 7, 23

This indicates that a significant portion of our sample were relatively recent residents in Cowling, this proportion being almost identical to those resident in the village for all their life. This was further supported by the generational family representation in the village.
GENERATIONS:
TWO,THREE,FOUR,FIVE,MORE THAN FIVE
17,5,3,9,13.

This second table of figures acts as a control as they indicate that there is a much stronger family tie with village residence than our first table of figures would have us believe. There is almost a traditional residence pattern with successive generations maintaining their ties with the village.
Even so, the cumulative evidence of these figures indicate that a significant proportion, some 28% have no family ties with the village, and of these 16% had taken up residence in the preceding five years. The group believe that this is a most important feature with respect to the village as a community. This would seem to be the case especially when one considers that the population of the village has not increased noticeably during the last twenty years. Also when the age structure figures are taken into account, one can accurately surmise that the effect of young married couples, possibly with young children moving into the village, is counteracted by the emigration of young, possibly single persons, and older married couples.
What can be stated accurately is that the numbers of young children, young married couples and people over 45 are increasing whilst the number of young people between 18-23 and 35-45 is decreasing. One has only to see the situation at the Primary School to appreciate the effect this influx of young couples with younger children has had. Teaching space is now at a premium, the problem being that the volume of pupils is not decreasing and these have to all move through the school in their year groups.

Those residents who had moved into the village were of particular interest to us, and it had been previously decided to ask any person who was in this group where they had formerly resided, and what reasons or factors had induced them to choose Cowling rather than another village in the area.
The response to the origin of residence gave us a wide and varied pattern, there being families from CROSS HILLS, GLUSBURN, LOTHERSDALE, SUTTON, BRADFORD, BINGLEY, CHESTER, ILKLEY, LEEDS, ROCHDALE, NEWCASTLE and two families from COLNE, CONONLEY, LONDON. The majority were young couples of under 30 who had moved into the area, but significantly there were also four couples who had retired from their principal occupation and now had part time work. It was not just the numbers of new residents or their place of origin that was particularly significant, it was their reasons for moving into Cowling that were most revealing. We gave six categories for response and the responses were as follows:
AVAILABILITY of HOUSING - 9
CONVENIENCE - 0
CHEAPNESS - 5
FAMILY - 0
OCCUPATION TIES - 5
PLEASANT - 0

The feature of these responses was that those who had come from the furthest original settlements were those who indicated multiple reasons e.g.

NEWCASTLE cheapness, availability, rural position
LONDON cheapness, convenience, rural position
LONDON cheapness, convenience, rural position
CHESTER convenience, occupation, cheapness.

The single most significant reason was the availability of housing, but perhaps a more important factor for those who were purchasing their own home was the element of price. It appeared that the new residents were very surprised that the cost of a dwelling in this area generally was far less expensive than the areas from which they had moved, and the choice of type of housing they were able to afford was much wider. Some indicated that an added factor to their choice was the pleasant rural position of the village, which was not so isolated as to make the general pattern of their lives inconvenient.
A persuasive factor for the couple who were both in full time employment, or the wife working part time, was the geographic location of Cowling. Four of the couples had specifically chosen Cowling simply because it was a place of residence equidistant from the work places of the husband and wife, each being able to conveniently travel to work from Cowling.

There was, therefore, a rather complex network of reasons which brought these new residents to Cowling. It being a combination of relevant factors rather than one specific reason that had created the initial interest, though it does seem that the availability of housing was the final vital factor. It does seem that a village of Cowling's size, position and location, and the price of its housing, possesses those features which attract residents.
If the factors of price and availability of housing remain constant then it would seem that the village is on the upsurge, and that its population will continue to rise.

It seemed a logical progression, with the information already determined, to enquire as to the nature of the respondents employment and the distances they travelled to work.

NATURE OF ENPLOYMENT:
7 skilled engineering workers a bricklayer
6 retired betting office clerk
3 school teachers cleaner
2 clerical workers corn mill foreman
2 cloth inspectors design engineer
2 joiners driver
2 hospital workers labourer
2 overlookers librarian
2 shopkeepers non-teaching assistant
telephone receptionist
weaver.

Surprisingly we had a number of respondents who were not willing to indicate their occupation though, of these, several did indicate where they worked and what distance they travelled to work. There were thirteen out of our sample who did not respond to any of these questions and we were at a loss to classify these persons. It may well have been that a number of these were unemployed at the time, but it would be impracticable simply to assume that this was true in every case. Those who did indicate where they worked provided us with a useful picture of the general pattern of the relationship between residence and occupation. As can be seen from the following table, very few persons actually work in Cowling itself, and there was no one town that could be said to employ the majority of people. There was a balance of employment between small villages and towns, and between Lancashire and Yorkshire, there being no one predominant direction in which people travelled to work.

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