Wear Mill, Stockport

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Wear Mill
Stockport, Wear Mill 3467.JPG
Wear Mill
Greater Manchester UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Greater Manchester
Cotton
Spinning (Mule mill)
Location Cheadle Heath, Greater Manchester
OwnerJohn Collier
Further ownership
  • Thomas Fernley (1824)
  • Fine Cotton Spinners & Doublers Ltd ()
Coordinates 53°24′30″N2°09′55″W / 53.4084°N 2.1654°W / 53.4084; -2.1654
Construction
Built1790
Renovated
  • 1:1884
Equipment
No. of looms900 (1892)
Mule Frames60,000 spindles (1892)
Listed Building – Grade II
References
[1]

Wear Mill (also known as Weir Mill) was an integrated cotton works on the Cheadle Heath bank of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. It was started around 1790 and added to, particularly in 1831 and 1884. In 1840 the Stockport Viaduct was built over the river and over Wear Mill.

Contents

Location

The original water-powered Wear Mill was built on the southern bank of the River Mersey, 500 m (1,600 ft) from its source at the confluence on the River Tame and the River Goyt. The turnpike to Manchester was 200 m (660 ft) to the east.

History

The first record of a mill on this site was when John Collier, a cotton manufacturer built a mill on this site in 1790. It was water powered. The mill probably consisted of two multi-storey spinning mills and attached weaving sheds, one destroyed by fire in 1831 and the other rebuilt in 1884. Thomas Fernley bought the mill in 1824, and in 1831 needed to replace one mill with a new one that was of fireproof construction. This mill was eleven bays long and six storeys tall. The floors were sprung on transverse brick arches supported on cast iron columns. It was driven by a beam engine in an internal engine house to the east of the mill. It was over this engine house that the Manchester and Birmingham Railway built the Stockport Viaduct in 1840, and again when it widened in 1880. The second mill was replaced in 1884, but not the original wheelhouse. It is a five-storey, 15-bay mill [2] of fireproof construction with narrow longitudinal vaults springing from iron joints. [1] The original weaving sheds have been replaced with two-storey structures, creating a complex site.

Owners

Employees at Wear Mill, c. 1907 Employees at Wear Mill, c.1907.jpg
Employees at Wear Mill, c. 1907

See also

References

Bibliography

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