Flint tools dating back to 6,000 BC form the earliest evidence of habitation in the Marsden area , a bronze arrowhead dating from 2,000 BC has also been found in the peat. At this time men lived on the hill tops, which were heavily forested. Later, the Romans built the first road in Marsden on their way to link two local forts, the remains of one of which can still be seen today. It is believed that this road passed right through the centre of the current village
The beginnings of the village proper can be traced to the building of a chapel-of-ease in about 1433 to save local cowherds and labourers working in what was then a Royal hunting ground from having to travel many miles on poor roads to worship at the local parish church at Almondbury. The population began to increase and by 1557 had reached 400. It is thought that the village stocks, which can now be seen outside Wessenden Court in the village centre, date from this time. They were last used in 1821.
By 1666 the population had reached 550 and a number of the houses that can still be seen today (including the Manor House) had been built or were about to be built. In 1680, an Elizabethan silver chalice and cover was returned to the church in a will, and is still in use today.
About this time the clothing industry was beginning to be important in the local area, and was of course later to become an engine of prosperity for the country as a whole, and in particular Lancashire and Yorkshire. Cloth manufacture at first took place in the family home, and the evidence can still be seen from the distinctive design of local houses from that period, with their unbroken rows of upstairs windows for maximum light penetration. As the trade developed however, specialised "mills" were constructed, the first in Marsden being at Hey Green in 1710. Only the mill dam and stables now remain of this fine building
In 1758 a larger church was built to accomodate the increasing population. It had a bare earth floor so that burials could take place inside the chapel. This was so popular that eventually every available space was filled with bodies only a few inches below the surface. In 1798 Black Fever hit Marsden and killed around 300 people (out of a total population of under 2,000). The graveyard was too small to take all the bodies, and the level was raised 3 feet by bringing in soil from elsewhere in the village
The first coach road between Huddersfield to the East and Manchester to the West was made in 1760. It was constructed by Blind Jack of Knaresborough, who had been a musician, common carrier and guide, as well as a projector and constructor of highways despite his blindness. The road was laid on heather bundles over the boggy terrain. Much of this road is still in use today
To avoid the steepest gradient on the old road, a new section was constructed in 1791 and is also still in use. At the height of coach traffic six coaches each way between Huddersfield and Manchester would change horses at the Old New Inn in Marsden, and passengers were asked to dismount in consideration for the horses during the long pull up out of the village.
In 1774 construction work commenced on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Initially this was in two parts either side of the Pennine hills. Goods were unloaded at the Marsden canal warehouse (still standing and planned to be converted to an interactive visitor centre) and transported on horseback over the hills to be reloaded onto barges at Diggle. The two halves were linked in 1811 by what is still the longest and highest canal tunnel in Britain. As the tunnel, which is over 3 miles long, has no tow path the boats had to be pushed through by the bargees lying on their backs and pushing with their legs against the tunnel roof and sides, a process which took around 4 hours. The horses continued to be walked over the hills to meet the boat at the other side.
The canal started to fall into decline after the construction of the railway tunnels between 1845 and 1894, and was eventually bought by the railway company who diverted all traffic onto rail. The canal tunnel closed in the 1950's and the canal became derelict, being filled in and built over several places. An ambitious restoration programme however, led to the full reopening of the canal to navigation in May 2001. Together with the also newly restored Rochdale canal, the Huddersfield Narrow forms part of an increasingly popular leisure cruising route the South Pennine ring
By the beginning of the 19th Century Marsden was entering into a period of prosperity not seen before or since. Textile Mills sprang up all around the village (the archaeological survey suggests that there were at least xxx) and the demand for labour was so great that orphan children were brought up from London to work for 13 hours a day at the machinery. Eventually the many smaller mills were superseded by five major enterprises, of which two are still in operation. During the first world war, the massive Bank Bottom Mills (see photo on home page) had 1000 looms in operation producing blankets for the troops, and in recognition received a visit from King George V and Queen Mary.
Enoch Taylor and his brother James set up an iron works in the village which was to produce the machinery that sparked the Luddite revolt in West Yorkshire and led to the murder of a local mill owner in 1812. Enoch Taylor's grave can still be seen in the old churchyard. The business later developed into steam engine and boiler making. The completed boilers were transported to their final destination by train, and getting them up the steep road to the railway station took every employee and available horse and was completed one heave at a time, the whole job taking days to complete due to the painfully slow rate of progress
The wealth that the expansion of the textile industry brought to the mill owners not only led to the building of several fine houses, but also filtered down to the benefit of ordinary Marsdeners. Donations of land and money from the mills helped to give Marsden a fire engine and ambulance, a park, sportsfields, its fine church, and town improvements. When the depression in the 1930's caused a slump in demand for the products of the mills, and led to short time working and hardship for the employees one of the most philanthropic of the mill owners, Mr JE Crowther, shot himself. On the day of his funeral, the whole village mourned.
This landmark building in the centre of the village grew from the desire for self improvement expressed by manual workers in the mills. Educational meetings began in a village cottage in 1841 moving to a larger room over a smithy, reached by an outside staircase, in 1845. The teachers were often the local business owners. The existing building was paid for entirely by public subscription and opened in 1861. The clock tower was added a few years later by a legacy from a mill owner; it was made from wood as the original design did not include sufficient support for a stone tower. The building had decayed so badly that demolition was planned, but there was sufficient local protest that the building was saved and the subject of an extensive restoration, re-opening in 1991
The re-opening of the canal, the increasing use of the countryside for leisure and the featuring of Marsden in the recent TV series, "Wokenwell" and "Where the Heart is" all point to a new future for Marsden based on tourism. The streets which once were thronged with mill workers may once again be busy. Whether this is a good thing or not is still a point of debate in the village
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