The following notes are taken from talks given by Ron Weston and a fuller account can be found within his book published by and available from the New Mills History Society . Making use of early maps, documents, published historical sources and field observations during 2004-2005, the landscape of Mellor is described in terms of what has influenced the picture of settlement within the area and how have these developments themselves influenced the way the area looks today.

The Hamlet lies on a moderately steep sided west facing slope, approximately 10km to SE of centre of Stockport, comprising the valley side of River Goyt. The Goyt itself meanders low across an appreciable flood plain. Short tributary streams feeding Goyt follow steep courses through deeply eroded narrow V shaped valleys known as Cloughs. It was part of the County of Derbyshire until 1936 and shares more of the physical characteristics of its neighbour the Dark Peak, rather than the County of Cheshire, in which it now lies.

Two sandstones known as Rough Rock and Woodhead Hill Rock form the summits occupied by the upper slope of Cobden Edge and the Mellor Hilltop. There are also Lower Coal Measures throughout the Parish but most are deeply buried beneath the layer of glacial boulder clay, sand and gravel left behind after the last Ice Age. The fact that all of these have been used as a resource by the inhabitants of the area is evident from the disused quarries, abandoned coal mines and associated spoilheaps, which are minor but distinguishable feature of the upland landscape of Mellor.

Our first description comes from the Domesday Book 1086 which says that All Longendale is waste woodland, unpastured, fit for hunting which still fits the bleak inhospitable upland characteristic of much of Dark Peak even today. Marshy hollows and waterlogged areas with mosses and rushes would have been extensive. Hill summits and steeper slopes, particularly with sandstone outcrops such as the Mellor Hilltop, would support gorse and heather. Flatter badly drained hilltops accumulated peat formed under the sphagnum moss. Tough moorland grasses of little grazing value would dominate the lower slopes and trees would be confined to more sheltered cloughs on sides too steep for grazing

The Mellor Hilltop site still has many advantages. The spine of upland running east to west across the hamlet between Mill Brow Valley and Mellor Brook Valley is one of the few areas where the solid rocks are not hidden by the cover of boulder clay. At centre of this spine is a roughly oval hill mass with gently curving summit and a readily available source of water from several springs issuing from base of sandstone. Despite the elevation of 700-900 feet, the hilltop offered good agricultural land, of light free draining soils on the sandstone outcrop, together with some reasonably flat land and gentle slopes. In addition, the steep scarp around the junction of the Woodhead Hill Rock with the Lower Coal Measures provided a defensive feature.

Most of the farms in the area are still small, with areas of cultivated land and hay meadows which have been hard won over centuries from land only marginally better than the Domesday Book described. The location of the better farms was chosen to take advantage of the hard coarse grained sandstones which offered light well drained soils in an area generally characterised by heavy clays. They also required a water supply and a line of Springlines occur at the junction of the permeable sandstones with impermeable clay rocks. The sandstones provided a valuable source of building stone and the Rough Rock measures, comprised of thin beds, provided flagging for roofing and paving, which give the farms their characteristic appearance.

The unpastured woodland fit for hunting recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 became the Forest of the Peak and was held by the Duchy of Lancaster. It was the gradual clearance and enclosure of this land for farming which has influenced the appearance of the landscape, with its pattern of fields and dry stone walls, which we see today. Lords of Manors were the chief instigators of Land improvement and during the 13th century in particular there was a period of economic growth and expansion which resulted in a phase of woodland clearance, house building and land taking by assarting throughout forest of Peak. When the Lord of the Manor needed to create new farm for relative or valued retainer he would allow a ring fence to be laid out around a suitable piece of land on the common, which would be surrounded by a ditch and bank with a hedge. The curving boundary of Birchenough probably dates from this 13th century process of Assarting, in this case carried out in a process of possibly four phases.

Within this boundary small closes would be made for holding livestock and growing crops but much of the land would remain as wood pasture with scattered pollarded trees. People and animals moving across commons would have to skirt the edges of any new boundaries which is why present day lanes and paths sometimes define perimeters of these ancient settlements. Sometimes the Assarts were created legally and at others they were done illegally and fined.

The Dark Peak soils, being heavier and wetter are more suited to pastoral farming than arable. Even so, it would have been difficult to make a living from a scattered farmstead without the availability of Common Land. Maintenance of productivity depended on moving livestock off farmland and onto commons during the growing season. Farmhouses were situated near the edges of their enclosed land not in the centres, reflecting the crucial importance of intercommoning to the farming economy in early times. Then only after the corn and hay were harvested was the livestock gathered off the moors and returned to the fields. The arable fields benefitted over winter from the animal manure. Hardy flocks of sheep were bred which could survive on the coarse vegetation. Intercommoning flocks were not confined by boundaries but moved around through the summer season. The wool from these flocks was the raw material of domestic textile industry. Some of the higher, steeper and wetter parts of the commons defied improvement until present day in areas on Cobden edge and Ludworth Moor, leaving a good idea of their former composition and appearance.

There were no fields or boundaries except for those along the moorland edges and these were more likely to be hedgerows rather than walls. The principal ways onto the Commons were long strips of common land projecting called Horns, which were frequently gated, making it easier to gather the livestock off the commons. The horn leading into Moorend had a Pinfold where animals found to be in the wrong flock could be left to be collected by the rightful owner. Some farms with land adjoining the commons had their own gates onto the moors.

These horns gave access to travelers crossing the moors, tracks worn by generations of people walking or riding to market, to worship or to visit their neighbours and packhorse trains crossing the Pennines. Several other footpaths and bridleways skirted the boundaries of enclosed land on the unenclosed side. Shepherds and travelers would be helped by landmarks as the routes would only have been defined by walls and hedges when the land on either side became enclosed. Holloways which are deep channels made by generations of wear, are good indications of longstanding existence

Woods were preserved and managed even on those farms created by clearance of woodland as it was a valuable source of timber and fuel. Woodland clothed the deeper cloughs and even small streams were lined with thinly scattered trees. We know that farmers were often skilled woodworkers, turners and carvers as Treen Ware features prominently in 16th and 17th century probate inventories as items of value.