This is a list of the silk, cotton and other textile mills in Cheshire, England. The first mills were built in the 1760s, in Styal by Samuel Greg using the Arkwright system and were powered by the water of the River Bollin. There were significant early cotton mills; Cheshire was an important centre of the silk industry. Parts of Cheshire have been subsumed into Stockport and Tameside.
Notes: This is one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution and is now a museum of the cotton industry. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] The mill was founded by Samuel Greg in 1784[2] in the village of Styal on the River Bollin. Its original iron water wheel was designed by Thomas Hewes and built between 1816 and 1820. The over head shafts above the machines were attached to the water wheel by a belt. When the water wheel turned, the motion moved the belt and powered the machine.
Notes: Built around 1860. The mill was operated by Cartwright and Sheldon silk weavers from 1912 until 1981. It is now a museum displaying mill life in the 1930s, and 26 Jacquard Looms.[4]
Notes: Four storey pedimented Mill, aka Regency Mill. It was a steam-powered integrated mill including dyeing. The original occupiers were Hapgood and Parker. The steam engine produced 12hp. The main block is 37.5 x 8.00m., the floor separation being 3.00 m.
Notes: 1744
Charles Roe built this mill in 1744 specifically to house Italian throwing machines which could produce organzine. Lombes patent on this device had expired in 1732, Logwood Mill in Stockport (then Cheshire) was built that year and Royal Button Mill was the second constructed in Cheshire.
Notes: Victoria Mills, Cross Street, Windmill Street. Built for Winkworth and Proctor. The central block was from 1823, the big mill was 1837, and to the left of the chimney is the 1870 mill.
The Swindells family dominated cotton spinning in Bollington. They operated or owned Ingersley Vale Mill from 1821, Rainow Mill from 1822 both until 1841. They built the Clarence Mill with their partners the Brooke family in 1834, and extended it in 1841, 1854 and 1877. Thomas Oliver & Sons were at the Higher and Lower Mill from 1832 until 1859 and at the Waterhouse Mill from 1841. The Greg family from Quarry Bank Mill and later Reddish leased the Lower House Mill in 1832. The Swindells went on to build the Adelphi Mill in 1856.[11][12]
1242941Notes: Adelphi Mill was constructed c. 1868 by Martin Swindells, a local cotton spinner who also owned Clarence Mill in Bollington, he built The Adelphi Mill for his two sons, hence the name 'Adelphi', which is Greek for brothers. It is now converted to offices.Adelphi Mill
1138987Notes: Built in 1818 for George Antrobus and leased in 1832 to Samuel Greg, who added the steam engine house c.1835. The mill is still in industrial use manufacturing coated papers.
Notes: The Firm of "Thomas Oliver & Sons" began, in what was known as "The Bollington Mills" i.e. the "Higher Mill" formerly a Brewery, and the "Lower Mill" afterwards a paper mill. These were leased from Mr Harrop of Stockport, and Mr Creswick of Sheffield, both solicitors. Waterhouse Mill was built in 1790 by Peter Lomas, and acquired by the Olivers through marriage to Mary Lomas. It took water by a leat from the River Dean weir to a mill pond which drove a 23 ft waterwheel, the water passed through a sough (culvert) back into river at the Garden Street bridge.. The first mill burnt down in 1799 and was rebuilt in 1800 and enlarged in 1838. The mills started with jennies, then by 1799 were ordering mules with 216 spindles. The firm produced the finest cotton counts by 1860, they were spinning 220s, and by 1886 420s. In this year ring doubling was introduced. Power was initially by water but a supplementary beam engine was added- and these were replaced in 1906 by a Musgraves horizontal. In 1898 Thomas Oliver & Sons became a part of The Fine Spinners & Doublers Association which was set up to enable cotton mills to trade collectively and benefit from the increased scale. They owned the trademark Happy Valley, and during the First World War made fabric for aeroplane wings and before the second war the thread used for the sports clothes of the England Cricket Team during an Ashes tour to Australia.
1136715Notes: Water-powered mill built in 1794 probably to house spinning jennies. It was financed in 1807 with a loan from the Macclesfield silk manufacturer, John Brocklehurst. And expanded again in 1820.[17]
Notes: A cotton spinning mill in 1792 was water powered. The lodge was enlarged, creating Clough Pool in 1803 by Edward Collier. This powered two waterwheels placed above each other. An 18hp steam engine was also present. The mill changed ownership in 1811 and was damaged by fire in 1819. The buildings on the site at this time included a spinning block, owner's house, a warehouse, a smithy and a apprentices house for paupers. The mill was rebuilt by August 1821 by Thomas Gaskell of Ingersley Hall who became a partner with Martin Swindells. By 1826, there were 330 power looms. The Swindells took full control of the site in 1830. In 1842 when James Leigh took over and cotton spinning ceased. The buildings were converted to printing calico, the wheelhouse was rebuilt and a single 56 feet (17 m) diameter wheel was installed, the second largest in Britain. By 1874, the mill had converted to a dyeworks. A J King ran a bleachworks between 1878 and 1929. The first floor of the spinning mill was removed and in 1895, the water wheel was converted to drive a dynamo and all the processes were powered by electric motors. In the later 20th century, the site was sold to Slater, Harrison & Co. and used as letterpress and litho printworks. A fire in November 1999 destroyed the roof and floors of the original mill building and it is currently under restoration.[19]
Congleton had England's third oldest silk-throwing mill and spun both cotton and silk. Its prosperity depended on tariffs imposed on imported silk. When the tariffs were removed in the 1860s, the empty mills moved over to fustian cutting. A limited silk ribbon weaving industry survived into the 20th century, and woven labels were still being produced to the 1990s. Many mills survive, as industrial or units.[20]
Notes: aka Solly's Mill, Bossons' Mill, Reade and Company Silk Spinners. Brook Mills and the Stonehouse Green Mill formed a group on the Howty Brook as it approached the River Dane. They came into joint ownership in 1852. Brook Mills started as a cotton spinning and silk throwing and weaving site in the late 18th Century. The five storey building, constructed in 1835, was used for Jacquard weaving. Stonehouse Green Mill was used for short-silk and cotton spinning, but by 1853 the buildings were used for long-silk spinning.
The Reade family was established as cotton manufacturers in Congleton by the end of the 18th century. George Reade d 1837 moved into silk spinning early in the 19th century; George Reade and Son, silk men and silk throwsters, are recorded in Pigot's Directory of 1822. By 1833, the Company's business was described as silk spinners, at Stonehouse Green. In 1834, 3 of his sons established the business of Reade Brothers and Co, silk throwsters and manufacturers of silk goods, also at Stonehouse Green. By 1846 the business was described as silk spinning and working of waste silks. Folkspeare used the mill for tie manufacture from 1941.
By 1850 the Reade family ceased to be involved in the business and the name of the firm was changed to Reade and Co in 1852. National Archives.
WH Bossons Ltd occupied and then owned all of the Brook Mills buildings from 1949 to 1997 to manufacture plaster cast figures which were exported all over the world. The smaller and earlier of the two mill buildings lost its historic importance when converted into apartments. The larger 1835 mill was badly neglected for many years, and was eventually demolished leaving only the unique 'drop-shute' toilet to stand as a reminder of this historic building.
Notes: Now demolished. The first mill was described in 1831:
All that excellent silk mill the property of James Pattison Esq., called New Mill situate on South side of the Bridge over the River Dane in Congleton aforesaid with the engine house adjoining thereto and a capital steam engine of 8 horse power. A part of this mill 48' 9¨ long by 27'4" wide is five storeys in height and other parts of the respective lengths of 31'3¨ by 23' 3¨ and 23' 2¨ by 21' wide are three storeys in height. There is also a building adjoining and connecting with the mill of 3 storeys in height and measuring 26' 6" long by 17' 9" wide.
The second mill had a larger footprint but was only 3 storeys. It was owned by Dennis Bradwell from c1850-1875.[24] The mill was from 1890, a fustian cutting mill, and remained so up to 1934. The mill, however, was also occupied by Condura, a subsidiary company of Conlowe Ltd a limited liability company in 1930 (Congleton Chronicle 1932). The company known for 'Judy Frocks' occupied part of the mill, and initially employed around thirty people which grew to 100 people. By 1958, Conlowe companies were subsidiaries of the English Sewing Cotton Company,[25]
Notes: aka Martin's Mill. Symmetrical eighteen bay four storey mill, with pediment over centre two bays, internal waterwheel, clock face in pediment. Mill lodge in front. Built to spin cotton after Arkwright's water frame patent lapsed.
Notes: Used for Fustian in the 1890s, and then for cardboard box manufacture- now a Medical practice. This two-storey building was typical of a fustian mill 8m wide by 49m with a clear uncluttered floor. The boards were 100mm thick. The roof was supported by a king post. The windows are wide with segmented brick arches.
Notes: The central part, called the Flint Mill was built as a corn mill, then used as a silk mill (c 1828) before working commercially as a flint mill from c1864 until 1958. Dating from the late 18th century, and extended in early and mid nineteenth century, it contains with late 19th and earlier twentieth machinery that was driven by a breast shot cast-iron bucket waterwheel of 18 feet (5.5 m) diameter. Listed Building NGR: SJ8652563642
The power from the wheel was taken by shafts to the upper floors and to two adjacent textile mills.
Notes: Built in 1864 for silk-throwing, Shephard's then used it for fustian cutting, then was used by Edgar Hallet & Co for making uniform braid. It is now residential.
Notes: Old Mill was an early silk mill established in the 1753. It used an internal water wheel to power Italian silk throwing machines. It was notable for its size, and for the involvement of James Brindley in its construction. The mill was extended and a beam engine added c.1830, but it was partially demolished in 1939. When, in 2003 the remaining structures were demolished a full archaeological survey was done.
The first silk mill which is the largest and most conspicuous structure in Congleton, is built of brick, with a pediment containing the dialplate of a clock in the centre. It is 240 feet long, 24 feet wide and 48 feet high, consisting of five storeys, and is lighted by 390 windows
1822. Eleven circular throwing machines were housed on the ground floor with winding machines above.In 1771 it employed 600. This was extended by another 17 bays in 1830. The Pearsons bought the mill from the Patinsons in 1830. In 1935 it suffered from subsidence, and Roldane Mill was built for some of the equipment. In 1939, the top three storeys were removed. It continued in use until 1996. It was demolished in 2003.
Notes: Fustian cutting mill built in 1913, named because it had 13 steps and 13 windows but it would have tempted providence to change it. It was used later to manufacture children's clothing. It was used to print Bingo cards, became derelict in 2003 and has been converted to housing.
Notes: Built in 1890 for James Collinge, fustian cutter. In 1906 Ansiamio used it to manufacture cigars. Later from the 1950s, it was used for garment manufacture.
Notes: 3 storey mill built by Thomas Vaudrey, used for silk and faustian. It was steam powered from 1826, and later reduced to two storeys and used as a snooker hall.
Notes: aka Perseverance Mill. This was built as a fustian mill and was used for shirt manufacture between 1906 and 1959, and for pyjamas from 1960 to 1998.
Notes: Brook Mill and the Stone House Green Mill formed a group on the Howty Brook approached the River Dane. They came into joint ownership in 1852 Brook Mill started as silk throwing and weaving site, Stone House Green Mill was built to spin cotton after Arkwright's water frame patent lapsed and was used for both short-silk and cotton spinning, but by 1853 they were used for long-silk spinning. See: Brook Mills
Notes: Built by John Hall, a silk-throwster in 1822.Berisford started here in 1872. Run by Berisfords, along with the neighbouring Century Mill weaving sheds, Elizabeth Mill.In 1987 it was turned over to retail.[21]
Notes: The mill was built in 1797 and heightened in 1815 then destroyed by fire in 1822 and rebuilt. It was powered by a cast-iron suspension 7.6m diameter by 1.7m water wheel working in conjunction with a beam engine. The current combination dates from c 1835, though a 10 hp engine was in place in 1816, when Lumbhole mill was being used for silk manufacture by George Brocklehurst. Later it converted to cotton and was known for the production of candlewick by the Sheldon family. The mill was four-storey, 30 yards (27 m) by 11 yards (10 m), it was built from Millstone Grit and had a Queen Post Truss roof
Notes: Cockhedge Mill was a large combined mill (spinning, calico weaving and dying) owned by Armitage and Rigby Ltd (1888). The buildings were commenced in late 1831,[32] but a large fire on 18 June 1872 caused a rebuild. The article about the fire in the Illustrated London News.[33] It was then a five-storey building employing 900 persons. The report said there were 14,000 throstle spindles and 21,000 mule spindles. The steam engine and 6,000 spindles were saved, and 420 people lost their jobs.
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