Ossett Pictures - Ossett 1851 Map

On this old map from about 1851 showing part of Ossett, there are several old collieries marked such as Crownlands and Street Side as well as a fish pond off Paleside, which means "a place outside the palings of the deer park". The deer park was owned by the Lord of the Manor of Wakefield and in 1315 contained 220 fallow deer.

On the map it is east to see lots of tenters, which were used in the process of making woollen cloth. After the wool had been woven, the cloth still contained oil from the fleece, mixed with dirt. It was cleaned in a fulling mill, but then it had to be dried carefully or it would shrink and crease. So the lengths of wet cloth were stretched on wooden frames, and left out in the open for some time. This allowed them to dry and also straightened their weave. These frames were the tenters, and the tenter hooks were the metal hooks used to fix the cloth to the frame.

When someone says that they are "on tenterhooks" or being in a state of anxious suspense, it means stretched like the cloth on the tenter.