An Extract from History of Congleton

There is little trace of medieval industrial development in the manorial accounts but one important source of income was a quarry called 'Milstonbergh' situated in Congleton Wood. It provided supplies for local use but it was also a source for the surrounding areas. In 1370-1 John Burgh, the bailiff of Whitley, spend £1 16s on the purchase and transport of two millstones from Congleton for the water will at Whitley; it was ordered that two of the best grindstones were to be carried to the castle of Halton in 1378-9, and a further two millstones were to be sent to Whitley, Halton and Runcorn in 1397-8. The lord of the manor did not work the quarry himself. It was leased to Richard Brodok for three years in 1356-7 for an annual payment of 13s 4d. It was worth £1 2s 4d in 1365-6, £1 in 1369-70, and £1 4s 4d in 1372-3, when it was leased to William Bacoun, Richard Bacoun and Thomas Stonehewer for six years. The same three men obtained a ten-year lease of the quarry in 1377-8 for a rent of £2 a year which was increased to £2 2s by the end of the fourteenth century. It was still being leased at the same rent in 1423-4 when Roger Stonehewer, Richeard Kelyng and Thomas Grant obtained a six-year grant, and it was worth £2 1s in 1428-9. But its value also declined towards the end of the fifteenth century and it was said to be worth nothing in 1475-6 and only 3s 4d in 1477-8.