Daily Life
The 17th century was a time of change in England. In 1666, London was the largest city in the country. Its narrow streets were full of tall, wooden houses close together.
Most roofs were thatched, and people used open fires for cooking and heating. When a fire started in a baker’s shop on Pudding Lane, it spread quickly from house to house. The Great Fire of London lasted four days and destroyed thousands of homes, shops, and churches.
Life in Kirklees was very different. Villages were surrounded by hills, woods, and farmland. Houses were built from strong local stone with heavy slate roofs and were spaced apart, so fires could not spread easily. Families grew crops and looked after animals, especially sheep. Wool was washed, spun, and woven into cloth in cottages and small workshops. Many homes had a loom next to the fire, and children often helped with spinning or carding wool. This was essential work, not optional, because the family depended on everyone’s labour to survive. Cloth-making was one of the most important jobs in the area.
Life was still hard. Families faced long hours of physical work, poor harvests, harsh weather, and limited food. People had to repair and reuse what they could, making do with very little at times. Despite these pressures, communities were close, and neighbours often relied on each other for support.
Local families like the Ramsdens, based in Huddersfield, and the Batts, at Oakwell Hall, owned much of the land and controlled the production of wool and cloth. They were not as wealthy as the owners of the largest country estates in Yorkshire, but their land and resources allowed them to influence the town, villages, and farmland. Their wealth came from managing production and collecting rents, not just local investment, showing how land ownership and control shaped life in the area.
Maps from the period show how the area was developing. Senior’s 1634 map of the Ramsden Estate in Almondbury shows farms, fields, and woodland across the countryside. John Speed’s 1610 map of the West Riding of Yorkshire shows Kirklees as part of a rural landscape with small villages and market towns. These maps help us understand how villages, markets, and farmland were connected and how life was shaped by both land and people.
Maps can be interesting sources to learn about the past, as they were often commissioned by landowners or institutions, showing the landscape from those particular viewpoints. It can be valuable to reflect on how places are represented and why this might be.
Huddersfield
At the start of the 17th century, Huddersfield was a small village within the parish of Almondbury. It had its own church, but the main market, corn mill, and fulling mill were all in Almondbury. In 1599, William Ramsden bought the Manor of Huddersfield, starting a new chapter for the town. The Ramsdens became important landowners and were closely connected to the area for over 200 years.
By 1671, King Charles II granted Huddersfield a Market Charter. This allowed the Ramsdens to hold a weekly market every Tuesday. Farmers brought grain, wool, and livestock to sell, and local craftsmen sold tools, cloth, and household goods.
Compared to London, Huddersfield was very small. London had busy streets, hundreds of markets, and goods coming from all over the country and the world. Traders sold spices, fabrics, and foods and many industries operated, from shipbuilding and baking to printing. Huddersfield’s market was smaller but still an important place for trade in its area. The Ramsdens acted as local leaders, managing land, markets, and community affairs. This shows how smaller towns organised trade and governance in a similar way to a big city, but on a smaller scale.
Oakwell Hall
Oakwell Hall near Birstall is one of the best-preserved houses from this period. Built in 1583, it was home to the Batt family, who were local landowners and wool merchants. The hall was made of stone with large fireplaces, oak beams, and small windows set deep into the walls. Inside, rooms were warmed by great open fires. Unlike the narrow wooden houses of London, Oakwell Hall was built to last and keep the family safe and warm.
During the English Civil War from 1642 to 1651, John Batt II supported the King and served as an officer at the Battle of Adwalton Moor in 1643. After the Royalists were defeated at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, Oakwell Hall was seized by Parliament. In 1649, John Batt paid a fine to recover the estate. This shows how national events could affect even small local communities. Oakwell Hall remains an important record of 17th-century life, showing how people lived and worked.
