At the foot of the chimney there is a milestone from the original Wakefield - Austerlands Turnpike Road. The Lees Civic Trust and the Saddleworth Historical Society had previously rescued the milestone when they heard that it was in danger by the clearance of near-by property. It was returned to the village in 1983 following a request from the Austerlands Village Improvement Association. The milestone is also listed as being of historical importance and for its group value.

Austerlands Mill was built on land at Wells Green, in the later half of the 18th century. An early reference to this land is contained in a lease dated April 1752, whereby John Leese rented land at Lower Wells Green, Austerlands, for an annual rent of 2s/6d. By 1779 a further piece of land was rented for 5/- annually, which included three cottages known as Houghton’s View.

The cotton mill must have been erected sometime before 1794 when Daniel Lees, a fustian weaver, became the first landlord of the Three Crowns Inn. The pub had been converted from weavers cottages built alongside the re-routed turnpike road. Which, as we know, isolated the mill chimney.

By the late 1800s Austerlands was a thriving community with its own cobbler, its own tailor and its own public mangle. In October 1888, an article appeared in The Architect journal announcing the opening of the village’s new Co-operative store. The building (now Mallon’s Restaurant, with guest accommodation) held a grocer’s shop, a flour room, a butcher’s shop and a newsroom. Constructed from the designs of Alexander Banks, of Oldham, the building was faced with local hammer-dressed stone and had a Welsh slate roof - capped with Ruabon ridge tiles.

"Austerlands has a share of the War Memorial on Pots and Pans, but also has a memorial of its own reared entirely by the efforts of working people. Where is there another in Saddleworth?" Wrote Ammon Wrigley (a one time resident). Today’s residents, conscious that the monument, erected in 1920, was funded through public subscription, hold their own ‘unofficial’ service at the memorial each Remembrance Sunday.

Of course, it was AmmonWrigley who first described Austerlands has being at the gates of Yorkshire, and by implication Saddleworth. He referred to the Royal Tiger and the Red Lion inns as the guardian gateposts holding back the fierce Lancastrians of Lees. He held great affection for the Royal Tiger and its little taproom, which was where the Ammon Wrigley Fellowship was formed on 27th August 1931. Whilst the Red Lion is still with us, the Royal Tiger closed its doors for the last time in January 1937.

Go to part one