Great Brooks
Great Brooks – formerly known as LE BROKE from where it gets its name – was a house and garden. In a Deed of 1496 it was described as bounded to the North by Churchyard, to the West by Chyrchelane (Church Hill) and to the south by “a common called Le Grene”. Its boundary to the East was ‘the land of Thomas Dorkynghole’ (origin of the name Durtnell) i.e. the area of Forge Square and beyond to the east. Although by 1815 the name of LE BROKE had fallen out of use, Great Brooks had originally formed part of the Hall Place Estate and so until at least 1861 and its occupants held the property by copyhold to the Hall Place Estate, ownership passing by copyhold via the manorial court system. However, at some point, by 1870, when Samuel Morley purchased Hall Place, Great Brooks no longer formed part of it. It was, therefore, probably sold to the resident Humphrey family sometime between 1861 and 1870.
In the 19th century, Great Brooks still had land attached to it up Church Hill and consisted of the shop, what is now Bell Cottage and two cottages on the east side of church hill (where the Croft is now). It was bounded by the Forge and Forge Square to the east. The Humphrey family (in Leigh since 1700s) ran the shop at Great Brooks and in due course the village post office. The 1872 Drainage report refers to Great Brooks as the ‘Post Office’ owned and occupied by Humphries (sic). The two cottages on the east side of Church Hill which are owned by Humphries are at that point occupied by a Mr Gilbert and a Mr England. The Report states that the drainage of the whole was found to be in good order and is now connected with the new system. The business was taken over by the Andersons in the late 19th/early 20th century. It continued as a shop until about 1993 when the then owner, Angela Western, had to give up the business due to personal circumstances and converted it back into a house.
Joyce Field (May 2021)