Astley Bridge Mill

Last updated

Astley Bridge Mill Astley Bridge Mill-geograph-3075200.jpg
Astley Bridge Mill

Astley Bridge Mill or Holden Mill is a former cotton mill in the district of Astley Bridge in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which has since been converted into an apartment building. Constructed in 1926 for Sir John Holden & Sons Ltd, it was the last cotton mill to be built in Bolton and is a Grade II listed building. [1]

Contents

Architecture

Designed by the local architectural company of Bradshaw, Gass and Hope, the building has five storeys and a basement, with a typical rectangular floor plan of 14 by 6 bays and a flat concrete roof. The internal structure is made of steel and concrete, faced in brick with red terracotta detailing in a restrained Art Deco style. At one corner is a stair tower with a domed copper roof; projections at other corners carry services between floors. It was designed from the outset to use electricity from the local power station, one of the earliest mills to do so, and thus had no large boiler house and stack, although conventional heating boilers and chimneys were required for heating purposes.

Equipment

Line shafts at ceiling height on each floor which operated the spinning machines were driven by individual electric motors. The end bays in upper floors were lower than the rest of the floor to allow the mounting of the motors at the appropriate height. The mill housed 125,000 mule spindles and 31,000 ring spindles.

History

The building and fitting of the mill was completed in 1927, by which time its owner, Sir John Holden, 1st Baronet, had recently died. Sir John was a self-made man who was born in Bolton but lived in Leigh where he was twice Mayor of the town.

Cotton spinning at the mill came to an end in 1965, after which time it was occupied by Littlewoods Mail Order as a warehouse. [2]

In 2006 planning application for conversion to apartments. The exterior window frames visible today are actually unglazed and provide open balcony screens designed to preserve the mill's original appearance.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton mill</span> Building producing yarn or cloth from cotton

A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.

The Stotts were a family of architects from Oldham, North West England, of Scottish descent who specialised in the design of cotton mills. James Stott was the father, Joseph and his elder brother Abraham Stott had rival practices, and in later years did not communicate. Their children continue their practices.

Sir Philip Sidney Stott, 1st Baronet, usually known by his full name or as Sidney Stott, was an English architect, civil engineer and surveyor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmshore Mills Textile Museum</span> Wool and cotton mills in Lancashire, England

Helmshore Mills are two mills built on the River Ogden in Helmshore, Lancashire. Higher Mill was built in 1796 for William Turner, and Whitaker's Mill was built in the 1820s by the Turner family. In their early life they alternated between working wool and cotton. By 1920 they were working shoddy as condensor mule mills; and equipment has been preserved and is still used. The mills closed in 1967 and they were taken over by the Higher Mills Trust, whose trustees included historian and author Chris Aspin and politician Dr Rhodes Boyson, who maintained it as a museum. The mills are said to the most original and best-preserved examples of both cotton spinning and woollen fulling left in the country that are still operational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murrays' Mills</span> Complex of cotton mills in Manchester, UK

Murrays' Mills is a complex of former cotton mills on land between Jersey Street and the Rochdale Canal in the district of Ancoats, Manchester, England. The mills were built for brothers Adam and George Murray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne</span> Cotton mill in Greater Manchester, England

Cavendish Mill is a Grade II* listed former cotton spinning mill in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, in the United Kingdom. It was built between 1884 and 1885 for the Cavendish Spinning Company by Potts, Pickup & Dixon of Oldham. Cavendish Mill was next to the Ashton Canal Warehouse at Portland Basin. It ceased spinning cotton in 1934 and was then used for a variety of purposes before it was converted into housing in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stott and Sons</span>

Stott and Sons was an architectural practice in Lancashire between 1847 and 1931. It specialised in cotton mills, designing 191 buildings of which 130 were mills or buildings related to the cotton industry. Abraham Henthorn Stott was born on 25 April 1822 in the parish of Crompton. He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of Parliament and Manchester Art Gallery. Abraham returned to Oldham in 1847 and founded the architectural practice of A H Stott. It was known for his innovative structural engineering. His brother Joseph Stott in 1866 started his career here before leaving to start his own practice. Three of his nine children worked in the practice. Jesse Ainsworth Stott became the senior partner. Philip Sydney Stott spent three years in the practice before starting his own. After Abraham's retirement his practice was renamed Stott and Sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McConnel & Kennedy Mills</span> Historic textile mills in Manchester

McConnel & Kennedy Mills are a group of cotton mills on Redhill Street in Ancoats, Manchester, England. With the adjoining Murrays' Mills, they form a nationally important group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellenroad Mill</span> Cotton mill in Newhey, Milnrow, Rochdale, England

Ellenroad Mill was a cotton spinning mill in Newhey, a village in the Milnrow area of Rochdale, England. It was built as a mule spinning mill in 1890 by Stott and Sons and extended in 1899. It was destroyed by fire on 19 January 1916. When it was rebuilt, it was designed and equipped as a ring spinning mill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pear New Mill</span>

Pear New Mill is a former Edwardian cotton spinning mill on the northern bank of the River Goyt in Bredbury, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Combined Egyptian Mills Ltd was a British textile joint-stock company established in 1929 with headquarters at Howe Bridge Mills in Atherton, then in Lancashire, to buy and return to profitability, 34 financially failing cotton mills owned by 16 companies. It was at that time the world's second largest cotton spinning company with 3.2 million spindles. In 1953 the company name changed to Combined English Mills. Viyella took over company in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Mill</span> Cotton spinning mill in Bollington, Cheshire, England

Clarence Mill is a five-storey former cotton spinning mill in Bollington, Cheshire, in England. It was built between 1834 and 1877 for the Swindells family of Bollington. It was built alongside the Macclesfield Canal, which opened in 1831.

Barnfield Mills was a complex of cotton mills that operated in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, England from the middle of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kearsley Mill</span>

Kearsley Mill is a 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2), late period cotton mill located in the small village of Prestolee in Kearsley, Greater Manchester, part of the historic county of Lancashire. A near complete example of Edwardian mill architecture, the building now functions as headquarters for a number of businesses and is still used in the continued manufacturing and distribution of textiles by Richard Haworth Ltd Est (1876), part of the Ruia Group. The mill is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Spinners</span>

Leigh Spinners or Leigh Mill is an Art's and Heritage Centre consisting of over 60 independent businesses within the complex. https://www.leighspinnersmill.co.uk/

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan Lane Mills</span>

Swan Lane Mills is a former cotton mill complex in Bolton, Greater Manchester. All three mills are Grade II* listed buildings. The mills were designed by Stott and Sons of Oldham. When completed, the double mill was the largest spinning mill in the world. It was granted Grade II* listed status on 26 April 1974. Number 3 Mill was separately listed as Grade II* on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Museumfabriek</span> Museum in Enschede, Netherlands

De Museumfabriek is a museum in Enschede, Netherlands. The new museum is located partly in a renovated Jannink textile factory, in reference to Enschede's textile history, and partly in an adjourning new building designed by the Amsterdam-based firm SeARCH. The project architect was Bjarne Mastenbroek. It is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mather Lane Mill</span>

Mather Lane Mills was a complex of cotton mills built by the Bridgewater Canal in Bedford, Leigh in Lancashire, England. The No 2 mill and its former warehouse are grade II listed buildings.

Eagley Mills is a complex of former cotton mills in Eagley, Bolton, England. The complex is adjacent to a model village originally built for the millworkers. The surviving mill buildings have since been converted to residential use.

References

  1. Historic England. "ASTLEY BRIDGE MILL (1387926)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. "John Holden's Mill". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2016.

53°36′19″N2°25′53″W / 53.6052°N 2.4313°W / 53.6052; -2.4313