Gothic Cottage / Custodians Cottage
Bailey Hill Gothic Cottage
Thomas Swymmer Champney was known for his extravagance and eccentricities. He was forced to sell the Bailey Hill as he had amassed debts of £429,000, (equivalent to £49 million pounds today) and he eventually ended up spending time in a debtor’s prison.
The land was put up for aution in 1804 and described thus:
“Lot 54, Mold castle, ‘MONTE ALTO, with the Plantations, Cottages and Lands enclosed with a strong and high wall, adjoining to the town of Mold”.
However it did not sell at the time and was eventually purchased by Sir Thomas Mostyn in 1809.
In the 1960s the cottage underwent some improvements. A second storey was added and the rendered exterior walls were painted white. Whereas in the nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century the role of park-keeper was considered important in maintaining parks and in ensuring that they were safe and attractive places for people to visit, in the latter part of the twentieth century many local authorities decided to dispense with the park-keeper and instead employ a gardener who would visit on a regular basis to maintain the grounds but was not required to live onsite. The downside of this was that parks became much more prone to vandalism and the public felt less safe visiting them. In recent years the Bailey Hill Lodge has long been unoccupied and in 2012 copper piping was stolen and floors and ceilings were ripped up, resulting in an estimated £35,000 in damage. Following on from this, hundreds of concerned local residents signed a petition to protect the lodge and the hill.
As part of a general movement in Wales in the last decade to acknowledge that many parks, including Bailey Hill, were in decline and needed urgent action to reverse that trend, the Bailey Hill project was begun. Funding was secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund amongst other organisations and from the local community. The plan was to redevelop the park and the lodge. A two storey extension was added to the back of the lodge and a single storey extension was added to the side. The ground floor became the new Bailey Hill Centre, a multi-purpose community space, which includes two small meeting rooms, an office, a kitchen and toilet facilities. The first floor is now a two-bedroom flat which is being rented out, as the whole lodge had been in the past.
In past times the presence of a park-keeper living in the lodge and patrolling and maintaining the grounds gave visitors a sense of safety and security. (Although some might have felt that parks were less welcoming when an officious park-keeper was policing the grounds and warning people to keep off the grass!) In the 21st century the Bailey Hill Centre will hope to continue the good work that the Victorians began in valuing Bailey Hill as a historic asset and green space. The Bailey Hill Centre will promote the use of the hill as a source of enjoyment and learning, recognising its important role in building a healthier and greener Mold. The Centre will contribute to ensuring that the Bailey Hill is a welcoming, safe and vibrant space for visitors to enjoy.
Bailey Hill Park-keepers and tenants of Bailey Hill Lodge
Tenants of Bailey Hill Lodge (referred to in the past as a cottage/Gothic cottage) were usually employed as custodians of the hill. They were mentioned occasionally in local newspapers. In 1872 a newspaper referred to a Mr Williams who lived in the cottage:
“Damaging the Bailey Hill.— Patrick Cain, who did not appear, was charged by Mr J. Eaton, surveyor to the Local Board, with damaging the hill. Mr Williams, who lives in the cottage at the entrance, said that on Sunday, the 14th instant, about three o’clock he saw half a dozen lads, from 15 to 17 years of age with two pieces of staves, which had been broken off a rustic seat, getting up the newly made ground and throwing it at each other. He knew the defendant.— The Bench, being determined to put a stop on such doings, ordered a warrant to be issued for his apprehension.”
In June 1873, The Local Board agreed to engage Sargeant Lanagan to look after Bailey Hill for the following month at an allowance of one shilling (5p) a day. On 5th July, 1873, it was noted that applications had been received for the Keepership of the hill.
“THE KEEPERSHIP OF THE HILL The clerk said that in answer to the advertisement inserted in the Wrexham Advertiser he had received 12 applications for the above office.”
On the 9th August, 1873, Mr Edward Williams was mentioned in a newspaper article regarding a complaint to the Local Board that he had been treated unfairly:
THE BAILEY HILL COTTAGE
“Mr Edward Williams, tenant of the cottage on the hill, attended, and explained the nature of his tenancy. He said that he had been served with a month’s notice by Mr Vaughan but he believed he was a yearly tenant. Previous to the purchase of the hill by the town he had paid his rent annually, and when the hill came into the possession of the board, he saw Mr Joel Williams, who told him to pay his rent into the bank to the credit of the Bailey Hill bank account, and he did so. About two years ago a committee met on the hill, and he was told that in future he would not be allowed to have a shippon nor pigsty, nor to keep fowls; and he complied with the request. Mr Joel Williams saw him subsequently, and said that in consideration of the care that he was expected to take of the hill, his rent would be nominal - one shilling a month. Still, he believed himself to be a yearly tenant, and had gone to considerable expense on the flower garden & c., which he would not have incurred had he not believed himself to be a yearly tenant. He did not wish for anything that was unfair, yet he hoped that the board on its part would deal justly with him. Mr E. P. Jones suggested that the question should stand over. The agreement, if agreement there were, had been made between Mr Joel Williams and Mr Williams; and as Mr Joel Williams was not present, they could hardly decide the case. It was not the wish of the board to deal harshly with Mr Williams, nor to do him any wrong. Mr Jones’s suggestion was agreed to, and Mr Williams retired.
On the 4th May, 1878 a newspaper article cited Mr Josiah Simon as having been “unanimously appointed as keeper of the Bailey Hill”. On the 13th July, 1878, the Mold Local Board met and a local paper reported the following: “it was resolved that the hill keeper’s wages be increased to 10s”. A few months later the death of a former Bailey Hill caretaker, Richard Jones, was announced in the local papers. He was referred to in one paper as “until recently custodian of the swings on Bailey Hill”, and in another as “the caretaker formerly of the Bailey Hill. Mr Jones, during a lifetime of 85 years, had followed various callings in life; and many years ago, when trade was brisk, had worked some lime works at the Waen. He was a most respectable man and well thought of by all.”
A meeting of Mold Urban District Council is reported in The Chester Courant of Wednesday October 10th 1900. It refers to a Mr Isaac Jones who had resided in the cottage on the Bailey Hill free of charge since his retirement and was now moving to Manchester:
“A letter was read from a nephew of Mr Isaac Jones, formerly surveyor to the Council, relinquishing possession of the house on the Bailey Hill, which by the courtesy of the Council he had since his retirement occupied free of charge. Mr. Jones, who was leaving Mold to reside at Manchester, desired to thank the Council for their unvarying kindness and courtesy.”
John Griffiths, Park-keeper on the Bailey Hill, known to his family as ‘Dadi’, is seen in the above photograph wearing his park-keeper’s uniform. Robert Lomas, his great great grandson, very kindly supplied this photograph. He also supplied the following information:
“The photograph was taken by my great great grandfather Dadi’s granddaughter, Jennie Blackwell, sometime around the turn of the twentieth century. He is seen standing on The Bailey and I was told that his uniform was dark blue with a red braid. Although the photograph is monochrome, the braid is clear to see. He also wore a smart peaked cap.
I know that he was born in 1841. He lived in the Keeper’s Cottage at the entrance to Bailey Hill with his wife, Ann, and would have been in his early sixties when the photograph was taken. I was told by Jennie that Dadi could be very stern with badly behaved children but was always nice to his grandchildren.”
John Griffiths, as part of his job, was probably very stern with children such as the two boys who ended up in the children’s court for stealing branches on Bailey Hill. The following newspaper article in the Flintshire Observer of 4th February, 1915, gives an account of what happened and John’s involvement.
“Thos. Alfred Howells 11, and William Keidel 9, both of Wesley Place, Maesydre, were summoned for stealing branches from the Bailey Hill, the property of the Mold Urban District Council. Mr. John Hughes and Mr. H. J. Roberts did not adjudicate in this case. Sgt. J. Whitehead stated that at 11a.m. on the 23rd ult in consequence of complaints received that boys were stealing branches from the Bailey Hill and damaging walls, he proceeded there. He followed tracks where two branches had been drawn across a field to some gardens. The boy Howells was cutting up the branch of a beech tree with an axe. Both boys were standing together. He asked them where they got the branch from. Keidel pointed to a branch in his father’s garden and said “I got it from the Bailey Hill.” David Thomas, surveyor to the Mold Urban District Council, said the council did not wish to press the charge of theft. Their object was to try to prevent damage in the future.
Mrs. Howells. mother of one of the defendants, said her son stated that the caretaker of the Bailey Hill had given him permission to take the branch away. John Griffiths, caretaker of the Bailey Hill, denied having given the boy Howells permission to take the branch away. The chairman said that Howells, who had been warned before and had not spoken the truth, would be given 6 strokes with a birch rod. The other boy, who spoke the truth, would be allowed to go.”
The Bailey Hill research volunteers would be very grateful for any further information you might be able to share regarding the occupants of the Bailey Hill Lodge or past park-keepers on Bailey Hill. Please get in touch with the Bailey Hill Project Officer if you would like to share information. (Photographs/ documents or other memorabilia would also be very welcome).
