Country Images Magazine May 2015 - North Edition | Page 45

Cressbrook Mill in all its glory

The Apprentice House

century, children as young as eight who were unlucky enough to be living
in a workhouse, were persuaded to become indentured apprentices to the
cotton trade. Not only were the workhouse authorities paid a premium by
the employers for each child, but literally by the stroke of a pen, the problem
of feeding and housing part of the indigent population was cleared.
No doubt children were gleaned from workhouses closer to Derbyshire,
but the bulk of the so-called apprentices came from the London area.
Persuaded by the workhouse master that they were being apprenticed to a
useful trade, most of them willingly signed their indenture papers; not that
many of them could read or write and only signed the paper with either a
cross or their thumbprint. Even in the depths of winter and wearing the
scantiest of clothing they had to endure the discomfort of the long journey
north, huddled on the outside of the mail coach. As they were only given a
pittance to see them through the two or three-day ride, unless more affluent

travellers bought them food, the children literally starved. This was to be a
harbinger of their life to come as slave apprentices.
Dumped from the Manchester Mail at Buxton the children were met by
their future employers and driven the rest of the way to Monsal Dale in
covered wagons. To us the road into the dale is one of joy, for each season
brings out the ever changing beauty of the place, but try to see it
through the eyes of a poor orphaned child who only knew the smoke and
clamour of the east end of London. Brothers and sisters and friends were
split arbitrarily, some destined for Litton and the others to Cressbrook.
Even though the mills are little over a mile apart is unlikely they saw each
other ever again.
The first Litton Mill was built in 1782 by the notoriously mean Ellis

CountryImagesMagazine.co.uk | 43