Like JeffB, I seem to have come into this rather late. I'd certainly be interested in swapping notes with Jeff if we are the only two with current interests here.
Hodge Hall was a farm at the southern limit of the township of Mottram (within what is now Broadbottom). As far as I am aware it is only referred to as 'Hodge Hole' in the Land Tax. The farmhouse still survives, divided into cottages called 'Hodgefold.' It is a late 17th century building with a 1676 datestone. It is on the statutory list and you will find a picture and a brief description on English Heritage's Images of England website
(
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/default.aspx?pid=2&id=212514).
Most material associated with Hodge Hall - there is very little- is in the Tollemache (Wilbraham of Woodhey) collection (DTW) at the Cheshire county record office. For most of the eighteenth century it was held by the Bowers family
The identification of Hodge Hall with Hodgefold is quite clear. There is a sketch plan connected to a proposed lease to Binns and Shaw of parcels of land for the construction of a cotton mill amongst the expired and counterpart leases in the DTW series in Cheshire County Record office which shows the position of Hodge Hall obviously where Hodge Fold. (within DTW/2477/F/12) Mollie Sayer at Broadbottom CA took this information from me. There is also among the DTW collection at the Cheshire County Record Office a plan of 1830 of land leased by Admiral Tollemache to Edward Moss (to whom Jeff refers) which clearly marks what is now called Hodge Fold as Hodge Hall ( DTW/48)
There are, however, no maps at a suitable scale from before 1800 at John Rylands, or as far as I am aware anywhere else. There was an estate plan produced in 1771 which would have shown Hodge Hall and the associated parcels of land, but this does not survive. I have been attempting to reconstruct this plan. The extent of the land parcels associated with Hodge Hall is, however clear.
The discussion of Matley, I'm afraid is a red herring. Matley was another township within Mottram parish, but has nothing to do with Hodge Hall. The Matley family, however, are connected with Hodge (see below). Samuel Matley moved his printworks from Red Bank in Manchester to Hodge (Mottram) in 1804/5
My understanding is that the Edward Moss that JeffB refers to is Edward son of Arthur and Martha Moss of Mossley. He seems to have married in Cartmel in what is now Cumbria where I suspect he worked at the Cark Cotton Mill and was working at Hodge from 1789. From about 1789 to 1796 in was in partnership with John Swindells and Strettel Seddon at 'Hodge Mill' a converted fulling mill on the foundations of which Hodge Cottage now stands. His partnership with Swindells and Seddon broke up in 1796. Seddon started a new mill at Prestolee near Bolton, Swindells carried on running Hodge Mill, and Edward Moss built his new mill (also referred to as Hodge Mill- but also Wharf Mill and Moss Mill) close by. in 1796. This was built with the benefit of a 99 year building lease from Wilbraham Tollemache to himself Robert Moss and Anthony Hardy. John Swindells subsequently went into partnership with his son in law John Dale operating their Hodge Mill until 1804 when they went bankrupt. The site was then taken over by Samuel Matley and Company who ran it as the Hodge Printworks. Edward Moss continued running his Hodge Mill (Wharf Mill) as Jeff states. I think (until he let it to the Becketts as I'm sure Jeff will have discovered) he occupied the whole of that 'Hodge Mill' which he had built in 1796. The spatial relation between the two mills is evident from a sale plan from 1840. The best description of Moss's Hodge Mill that I have come across is in auction details from the Manchester Times and Gazette for 27th July 1833.
