THE KINDER FAMILY

Earliest records show that the family Kinder were seated at Upper House since at least 1378 and their fate and fortunes, both illustrious and modest, spanned around 350 years there. The core of the house as it stands today is said to be built in the 16th century, on the foundations of its predecessor which had been erected around a courtyard. A John Kinder held it in 1700 and it was disposed of to a branch of the Dakeyne family c. 1718. By 1754 it was recorded that the house was held by a family called Bennet. The Bennets once again rebuilt around the courtyard, leaving date stones at the original front door, now the internal doorway into Upper House kitchen. The fabric of this building can be discerned to the right of the tower on the front span of the house.

THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLER

From the first census return of the 1800’s, until James Watt’s appropriation at the end of the century, the house was occupied by the Marriotts. In his book, ‘Curiosities of Kinder Scout’, historian Steve Lewis records that the Marriott family were previously tenants of The Knights Hospitallers, a branch of the Knights Templar, at Ughill, near Sheffield, before coming to reside on Kinder. Their honourable code was that of hospitality to be granted to travellers on the road, whether rich or poor. They would be assured of a warm welcome, nourishment, entertainment and a good nights rest. Places such as these were the forerunners of Hotels, Inns and wayside Public Houses, and Upper House’s position at the crossroads of three pack horse routes would certainly lend itself to such a purpose. The arrival of the Marriotts is also linked to the re-erection of Edale Cross and its ‘reinscribed’ date of 1810, which stands at the foot of Swine’s Back ridge at Kinder Low End, south west of Upper House. Markers such as this cross were associated with the boundaries of Knights Templar and Hospitallers communities, and their preceptory and commandaries.