Cropper Memorial - Liversedge, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 42.647 W 001° 41.894
30U E 585918 N 5952130
This statue of a cropper and his daughter commemorates the occupation of a Cropper, but also his fight to keep his job in the early days of automation.
Waymark Code: WMQ1BG
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/28/2015
Views: 1
Croppers were employed in the weaving trade and used hand held shears to trim the nap from cloth.
The statue is situated near to the site of a riot in 1812 by a group of men called Luddites who tried to destroy automated machinery which could do the work of four men.
Standing with him his is young daughter, who will be forced to go to work herself rather than school if he loses his job.
The statue is made from stainless steel and both characters are wearing period dress from 1812, including the clogs they would have worn on their feet. In real life these shoes would have been made of wood and were popular in the Industrial Revolution, when industrial workers needed strong, cheap footwear.
Standing near to the statue is a large pair of shears with an information plaque.
THE LUDDITE UPRISING 1812
AT A TIME WHEN TO BE OUT OF WORK
MEANT STARVATION WORKERS MET
IN SECRET AT
THE SHEARS INN HIGHTOWN
AND MADE THEIR PLANS
FOR SMASHING MACHINERY
CROPPERS WERE CENTRAL TO THIS
THEY USED HANDHELD SHEARS TO
TRIM THE NAP FROM THE CLOTH BUT A
MACHINE COULD DO THE WORK OF
FOUR MEN
THIS STATUE DEPICTS A DEFIANT
CROPPER IN JACKSON'S CROPPING
'SHOP' AT THE CORNER OF AQUILA
LANE [HARE PARK LANE].
A FAMILY MAN, HE HAS JUST HEARD
THAT WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT HAS
ORDERED MORE OF THE INFERNAL
SHEARING FRAMES FOR HIS
RAWFORDS MILL
AROUND MIDNIGHT 12TH APRIL 1812
ALL HELL BROKE LOOSES WHEN
150 LUDDITES ATTACKED THE MILL
WITH HAMMERS AND AXES. TWO
MEN WERE SHOT AND THE ATTACK
WAS REPULSED
MEN CARRYING THEIR WOUNDED
MAY HAVE FLED VIA KNOWLER HILL
SEVENTEEN LUDDITES WERE
LATER HANGED AT YORK
The statue stands on the corner of Knowler Hill and Halifax Road next to the old town hall and was erected in 2012. It is the centre piece of the very small Sparrow Park, created by the Spen Valley Civic Trust on an area of derelict ground to commemorate this piece of local history.
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