The photo shows all that can be seen of Haggs Farm from the public road, a glimpse of red brick buildings, though there is a better view from High Park Wood opposite.
But the farm was the emotional centre of Lawrence's world for a number of years: 'Only to be there was an exhilaration and a joy to him'. At that time the Chambers family were the tenant farmers, and Lawrence became close friends with several of them, especially Jessica, the 'Miriam' of Sons and Lovers. But the farm and its surroundings also features in a number of short stories, including his first, 'A Prelude', while it can be argued that the description of Mellor's hut in his last work, Lady Chatterley's Lover, has its origins in a similar place in the adjoining Willey Spring Woods.
According to Ann Howard, Jessie's niece, writing in 1985, the farm belonged to the Barber family, who loathed Lawrence on account of his portrait of them as the Criches in Women in Love. Consequently they have denied all access to the farm to Lawrence lovers, and resisted appeals for its preservation. It's remarkable that a quarrel nearly a century old can still be festering today.
Unlike the great Ms Ennis, Jessie Chambers was not Jessica but simply Jessie [ confirmed by birth registration in 1887 & baptism [ at Underwood] in 1901
ReplyDeleteI am researching my "Leivers" family tree and one ancestor Joseph Leivers born 1792 lived and farmed 11 acres at Haggs, according to the census of 1851.I note your name, and wonder whether we may be related, and whether you have any further information about the Leivers at Haggs.
DeleteI would be very pleased to hear from you. Regards, Jenny