Arthington Mill And The Norfolk Family From Around Eccup And Harewood

A Memory of Eccup.

My family's ancestors come from countryside around Harewood and one of the oldest I have identified was John Norfolk who lived in Eccup in the late 1600's. I have seen several of my Norfolk family graves from the 1800's in the beautiful churchyard at nearby Harewood. John Norfolk's first two children (William 1656 and Anne 1659,) were baptised in Otley Parish Church and the second two (James 1668 and Thomas 1672,) at Adel by which time he was living at Eccup - midway between Harewood and Adel. This suggests that he moved with his wife Ann from Otley to Eccup at some time between 1659 and 1668. It appears that John was quite well off as eventually, his three sons (James, William and Thomas) were each to have their own fulling mill, a circumstance unlikely to occur in those days unless there was some money in the family. The fact that all three sons became fulling millers would also seem to suggest that John was a fulling miller as well. His death was a dramatic one, as Adel parish records state that he died by drowning in 1688. Death by drowning was considered to be a common hazard for millers at the time. As John was living at Arthington at the time of his death, it seems reasonable to assume that he was living at Arthington Mill and that this is likely to be the place where the tragic event happened. Arthington Mill was subsequently operated in turn by two of his sons.

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