Known as BROCKS

John Mitchell’s School, Top of Brocks, was located through Boulderclough at the right turn leading to Blackwall and Luddenden Foot. At the gateway on the right-hand side at the top of the lane in the field, there is a stone, a little larger than a headstone it is thought to be a grave.It was a small privately-owned school, with one schoolmaster teaching a few children who would each pay a fee. This may have come about due to the 1844 Factory Act when children were required to spend half their day at school. Children working at John Murgatroyd and Sons attended the school from 1857 – 1860.

In 1851 John Mitchell was living at Laneside, described as Schoolmaster, born at Sowerby in 1798. In late 1854 at the age of 56 he married Priscilla Teal, some 27 years younger than him; she was a factory worker living at Milner Place. Laneside appears to have been a row of three cottages, with John Mitchell occupying numbers 1 and 2, presumably using one as living accommodation and the other as the school. By 1871 it appears that the school has become more successful as John occupies all three cottages, his wife describes herself as a schoolmistress and her daughter as an assistant teacher. It is likely that the school closed at the time of John’s death later that year, or shortly after. John Mitchell was buried at Sowerby St Peter’s Church, 30th December 1871, aged 74.

By the census of 1881, Priscilla is living with her daughter Ellen at Raw End, Ellen having married Wright Haigh in 1877. Laneside is now 2 cottages, one of which is empty and the other the home of John & Elizabeth Thorpe and family. Of John & Priscilla’s other children, Joe (born 1856) married Susy Haigh Speak in 1877 and has a job as Stationmaster, although at which station is not known. Albert (born 1857) married Tabitha Nicholl of Sowerby Green in 1877 and is living at Peel Lodge, Warley; though having started on the railway with his brother he is now a Cashier in a mill.

It seems likely that John Mitchell made two cottages at Laneside into one for the school, as after 1881 only two cottages are mentioned in the census. In 1881 John Thorp & family occupy one while the other is uninhabited. and by 1891 both cottages are recorded as being empty. In the 1901 and 1911 censuses, Laneside has disappeared.

The Sowerby poet and postman, Levi Haigh wrote about John Mitchell’s School, or Academy in his “Sowerby District: Reminiscences and Associations” Poems Booklet No 2, and has 43 verses. The school lay in ruins as Levi walked by on his postal round, the first and last few verses selected from his poem read:

Begins…		And Ends…
What means these stones in various heaps. And scattered fragments which I see? Does not their presence here, today, Remind me of what used to be? Though most uneven is the ground, And growing rank is every weed; ‘Tis not a quarry I behold, Supplying builders’ present need. Each stone, among these several piles, Hath served its time and purpose well, In that old building, low and long, The Mitchell family used to dwell. Three cottages it long had been. But used a while, as house and school, Where Mitchell taught, both boys and girls, With full authority to rule.		Men soon may these rough heaps remove, And add this portion to the field; Then stones and weeds would disappear That this plot also grass might yield. Then all reminders of the past, The past of this historic spot, Will be removed from every eye Of those who care or careth not. All outward evidence may go, Yet, mental vision will retain That long, old building, rude and low – John Mitchell’s School beside the lane. Levi Haigh

By Jean Illingworth & Malcolm Street

Census Data
Year	Address	Name	Relation	Condition	Age	Born	Occupation
1851	Laneside	MITCHELL, John	Head	Unmarried	53	Sowerby	School Master
1851	Laneside	BANCROFT, Thomas	Head	Married	35	Wadsworth	Weaver
1851	Laneside	BANCROFT, Ann	Wife	Married	33	Erringden
1851	Laneside	BANCROFT, John	Son		5	Sowerby	Scholar
1851	Laneside	BANCROFT, William	Son		2	Sowerby
1851	Laneside	BANCROFT, Joseph	Son		0 (4 Months)	Sowerby
1851	Laneside	SUTCLIFFE, Henry	Lodger	Unmarried	29	Warley	Weaver
1861	1-2 Laneside	MITCHELL, John	Head	Married	63	Sowerby	Schoolmaster
1861	1-2 Laneside	MITCHELL, Priscilla	Wife	Married	36	Sowerby	Schoolmasters Wife
1861	1-2 Laneside	MITCHELL, Joe	Son		5	Sowerby	Scholar
1861	1-2 Laneside	MITCHELL, Albert	Son		4	Sowerby	Scholar
1861	1-2 Laneside	MITCHELL, Ellen	Daughter		2	Sowerby
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Thomas	Head	Married	45	Wadsworth	Carpet Weaver
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Ann	Wife	Married	43		Weavers Wife
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, John	Son	Unmarried	14	Sowerby	Cotton Weaver
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, William	Son	Unmarried	12	Sowerby	Worsted Factory Hand
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Joseph	Son		10	Sowerby	Worsted Factory Hand
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Betty	Daughter		8	Sowerby	Worsted Factory Hand
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Sarah Jane	Daughter		6	Sowerby	Scholar
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Wright	Son		4	Sowerby	Scholar
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Mary H	Daughter		2	Sowerby
1861	3 Laneside	BANCROFT, Fred	Son		0 (5M)	Sowerby
1871	Laneside	MITCHELL, John	Head		73	Halifax	Schoolmaster
1871	Laneside	MITCHELL, Priscilla	Wife		46	Halifax	Schoolmistress
1871	Laneside	MITCHELL, Joe	Son		15	Halifax	Railway Office Clerk
1871	Laneside	MITCHELL, Albert	Son		14	Halifax	Railway Office Clerk
1871	Laneside	MITCHELL, Ellen	Daughter		12	Halifax	Assistant Teacher
1881	Laneside	1 Uninhabited
1881	Laneside	THORP, John	Head	Married	41	Sowerby	Carter
1881	Laneside	THORP, Elizabeth	Wife	Married	41	Charlestown
1881	Laneside	THORP, Mary Jane	Daughter	Single	18	Hoyle Bank	Woollen Weaver
1881	Laneside	THORP, Emma	Daughter	Single	17	Sowerby	Woollen Weaver
1881	Laneside	THORP, Hannah	Daughter	Single	16	Sowerby	Worsted Spinner
1881	Laneside	THORP, Sarah	Daughter	Single	12	Sowerby	Worsted Spinner
1881	Laneside	THORP, Druicella	Daughter	Single	8	Sowerby	Worsted Spinner
1881	Laneside	THORP, Matilda	Daughter	Single	2	Sowerby	Worsted Spinner
1881	Laneside	THORP, Ann E	Daughter	Single	0	Sowerby
1891	Laneside	2 Uninhabited