A story, and a mystery

[Jool]

Lisa, yes it bothers me too that nothing is centered  . 

I think, as DrDude45 mentioned in an earlier post, it may be the remains of a longer stone, originally having the "flower" design in the centre with another name to the left, and the "curly" end design matching at the other end.

I agree that writing to the present owners would be worth a shot, or maybe email the pub to ask if they would be kind enough to take a look for you.  Or, post on the relevant board here with a link to this thread, someone on Rootschat may live nearby and be willing to look for you.

I keep coming back to this thread and staring at it, but nothing is getting any clearer 

Or you could post here to see if someone could help.
https://www.facebook.com/MirfieldHistoryArchive/

Or here
http://www.mirfield-2ndlook.info/Seeking_Information_/seeking_information_.html

[Lisa in California]

The second letter of the 1st. word looks like "d" comparing it to legal documents I've seen.
Doesn't help does it.

Looking at jim1's touched up photo, is there any chance that the first two characters could be 18?  The first character looks like someone was trying to copy the style of the 1 in 1812. It could be my mind playing tricks but looking at the original photograph, the character after the first squiggly mark almost looks like an 8.

I cannot see the following in the second word (if in fact there are two words) but is there a chance that it could be Janvier?  Thinking along the line of why would something be carved in French, is there a chance that the word is in Latin, or another language?

Perhaps I should just keep my comments to myself as they are a bit strange. 

[Henry7]

Using French seems unlikely in 1812 - during the Napoleonic War! 

Wondered about Latin - as in a motto - Nem = no-one.  Or German, Nein = no, or Sein = his, but I can't find anything like the second word. 

I think it has to be a second word because of the initial capital - S, T, F, I, J - or maybe L. 

[chinakay]

Wow, you lot have been beavering away 

Well, the Flower Pot was advertised for sale or lease in 1838, along with its cottages which are described as all occupied. So the cottages were there. I'm thinking they must have been built in 1814.

William had two children, Charles and Martha. His father was John, and John was a shoemaker. Here's William's will. Can't find when Charles was born but Martha was born in 1810. On the other hand, his illegitimate son would appear to be from the woman he married.
http://jubb.one-name.net/members_data/0069ab/documents//JUBB%2C%20William%2C%20Hopton%2C%20Mirfield%2C%201814%2C%20will%2C%20transcription.pdf

Now I'm thinking maybe the word says something like Terrace or Cottage or something, but I can't make anything fit.

I'm not sure asking someone in Mirfield to go look would help, because the stone is a good 10 feet up the wall and this is as good a photo as I could get. However, there's a Mirfield Facebook page so I'll try that.

And yeah, it bugs me too. The inscription isn't centered and the doodle on the left isn't symmetric. I think it was added later.

Okay everybody, thank you for the thought you've put into this. Off to try the Mirfield page!

Cheers,
China

[Henry7]

Welcome back, China.  This inscription really is the most puzzling piece of writing!

The cottages mentioned in 1838 wouldn't have been the row along Granny Lane, right next to the pub.  The Ordnance 6-inch map is quite detailed and if they had been there in 1850 they'd certainly have been shown. 

This map shows other small blocks near the pub - just to the north where the present car park is, and I suspect these were the cottages that were up for lease in 1838.

Harry.

[chinakay]

Hmmm, they're not there, are they? So I wonder if the stone is a piece of the older cottages that was incorporated into the present building? No bridge either, so that kept Hopton pretty isolated from Mirfield.

I put the photo on the Mirfield FB page so we'll see if there's any interest there.

Really is a shame about the interior renovation of the pub, would have been nice to at least pretend my great-greats had seen the same walls.

There was this on one of the walls, though 

[Mike in Cumbria]

I've only just seen this thread from last year. I grew up in Mirfield and go back there quite often.  Where exactly is this stone? I'll go and have a look when I'm there next.

[chinakay]

Hi, Mike! If you have a look at the very first post in the thread it describes where the stone is. On the back of the cottages next to the Flower Pot, way up high on the right. I couldn't get high enough for a good photo. We never did figure out exactly what the stone says and it was driving me batty 

Cheers,
China

[Mike in Cumbria]

Hi, Mike! If you have a look at the very first post in the thread it describes where the stone is. On the back of the cottages next to the Flower Pot, way up high on the right. I couldn't get high enough for a good photo. We never did figure out exactly what the stone says and it was driving me batty 

Cheers,
China

Thanks China. So you have to go down between the pub and the row of cottages, and it's up there on the first cottage?
I've spent some happy times in the Flowerpot, but not for many years now.