WATERMILLS AND MANUFACTURERS
ROGGERHAM, BRIERCLIFFE.
1610. A case in the Manorial Court records a dispute between The Parkers who owned Extwistle corn mill and the Townleleys of Burnley over Parkers new corn mill at Roggerham. Resolved by allowing Parker’s tenants only to use the new mill. Roggerham survived until the power loom days as a twist mill.
BRADLEY MILL. NELSON
In 1454 a licence was granted to Sir Richard Towneley of Towneley Hall Burnley to erect and run a corn mill. 17 June 1533 Inquisition refers to the mill at Bradley and rights of way for tenants from Roughlee and Pendle Forest to get to the Manorial Mill at Bradley. The route passed through Lomeshaye and therefore this suggests there was no mill at either Roughlee or Lomeshaye at this date. Evidence in the form of an invoice dated June 27th 1690 that the miller of Bradley had been paid 12/6 for ten pecks of dried oats purchased in December 1689 that Bradley had a kiln and was drying grain.
ACCOUNTS FOR BRADLEY MILL. MARCH 24TH 1714
March 24th Bradley Milne CR 7114
By moulture malt sold at sundry times 3-01-07
By moulture wheat sold 2-03-02
By corns dried 3d per load 13-09-09
By sieve and fan 3-07-07
By durt sold 60 packs at 2d per pack 10-00
By groats grinding, 13 loads 22-16-05
By moulture groats supposed to be in the milne
30 loads 5 packs per load and valued to be worth
18/- a load 24-00-00
Total 46-16-05
Groats supposed to be in the milne 24th day of March 1714 viz. 30 loads5 packs per load.
March 24th Bradley Milne Dr. 1714
Paid 12 poor boys? This year 18d per boy 00-18-00
Paid the land tax for this year 00-19-06
Paid for 3 loads of lime 00-01-06
Paid for 39 yards of hair cloth 01-19-00
Paid for polls? To skill? the moulture 00-01-06
Paid for straw for coding? The kilne 00-07-03
Paid for 4 lbs of candles 00-01-09
Paid the smith’s bill for ironwork 00-10-00
Paid the drysters wagon 1d per load 04-09-11
Paid the miller’s wagon for a year ending now 07-10-00
Total 16-19-11
To balance for so much 29-16-06
46-16-05
A LEGAL DOCUMENT ON VELLUM. DATED 23RD APRIL 29 ELIZABETH. [1587]
This appears at first sight to assign Bradley Mill to John Townley. Very obscure hand.
To all ? people to whom these present writings shall come or ? be read or heard John Woodhouse of Burnley in the county of Lancaster yeoman sendeth greetings ? lord godde everlasting in heaven our sovereign lady Elizabeth ? ? so hast by her deed indented having date the seventh day of February in the four and twentieth year of her most gracious reign [1582] given sealed and signed ? ? ? and to ? ? unto me the said John Woodhouse certain lands and tenements ……… and yearly paid the sovereign lady the rent …….. town and hamlett of Cliviger Burnley and Marsden and hereafter ? ? ? is to pay and ? land called ? in Cliviger aforesaid containing by estimation …….
………[appears to be reciting the former owners of the property to which this document refers]……………………. Called Bradley Mill with the whole of the soke and suit to the same belonging and rights appertaining now or late in the ? or occupation of Henry Baldwin[?] his heirs and assignes and one parcel of land ? ? in Burnley aforesaid containing by estimation ? and a close called Burnley Game now or late in the ? or occupation of ……………………………..
To have and to hold and ? the aforesaid lands, barns, closes ……….. to me the aforesaid John Woodhouse and my assignes from the first? Day of March…………
[appears to be detailing the yearly rent payable].And whereas, the said sovereign lady hath …………….. chappell of Burnley aforesaid called Townley Chantrey.
This hand deteriorates and I’m not sure how accurate my transcription is so I’m leaving it.
Called ‘Beanland Mill’ on a 1777 estate map connected with the sale of the mill by Mr G Halstead, Colonel Clayton and the heirs of Dr Kippax. On 14th October 1791 there is evidence of the dissolution of the partnership of Abraham Hargreaves of Heirs House Colne and Abraham Beanland of Bradley Mill, cotton twist spinner. Baines 1824 cites Richard Holt as cotton spinner and manufacturer of Bradley Mill. Slater Dir. For 1871 records Robinson and Smith, corn dealers and millers at Bradley Mill. BBPP 1837/38 xviii/iii records that Bradley Mill had a 16hp engine by 1838. [Bradley looks as though it converted to cotton in the twist mill boom of 1795 onwards and then as bigger units were built it became uneconomical but found a role as a corn grinding mill again. Almost certainly for stock feed.]
In June 1984 I inspected the site and found that it is now the site of the Municipal Baths in Bankhouse Road. There is still the line of the Walverden Water running down the side of Goitside from what is now a car park. The remnants of the old weir remain but there is no clear indication of what the arrangement of the watercourses for the mill were. There is still some old masonry in the west bank of Walverden Water downstream of the culvert under Bankhouse Road. This may be all that is left of Bradley Mill. The entrance of Bradley Syke is visible under the foundations of the bus garage downstream from the site.
MARTON MILL. EAST MARTON
1785. Thomas Dewhurst of Marton was a farmer and also carried on a trade as a wool manufacturer. He bought his twist from Darlington and put it out to local HLW. In 1789 he bought Elslack Watermill and converted it to water powered cotton spinning. By 1790 it was working and selling twist to Manchester and Blackburn. In 1813 Thomas bought two mills at Millholme, Embsay, near Skipton for spinning. In1819 John Dewhurst and his brothers bought the lease old Scalegill Mill at Malham and in 1822 bought the lease of the Old Soke Mill at Airton which was already a cotton twist mill. In 1828 they built the original Belle View mill at Skipton which burned down in 1831. It was rebuilt and continued to be worked and extended from that time as a woollen mill until the completion of the Leeds and Liverpool canal in 1826 when they converted to cotton. In 1897 they joined the English Sewing Cotton Company Limited.
HOWGILL MILL, RIMINGTON.
1790. Howgill Mill, Rimington. Established around 1790 by Thomas Hague Newcombe and Samuel Westerman. The partnership was dissolved in 1795 and Westerman insured the mill for £200, Mill work £100, Machinery £200, Stock £300. In 1803 over 20 people were employed. In 1822 Westerman is still running the mill for cotton spinning and continues until at least 1835. In James Nutter’s obituary in the Craven Herald of Feb 20th 1914 it was reported that James was born in Howgill and at the age of eight, (1852) he was put to work in the local ‘shoddy mill’. This was the only mill in the village and so it is almost certainly the mill James Nutter worked in.
FEAZOR MILL, WADDINGTON
c.1790. Feazor mill at Waddington. Thomas Taylor buys a disused fulling mill at Feazor and by 1792 had built a 3 storey cotton mill on the site. Mill leased to John Shepherd and later to the partnership of Shepherd and Hartley. Mill was water power and in 1817 is recorded as spinning cotton on water frames. Shepherd was bankrupt by 1825. Mill bought by Joseph Fenton of Bamford Hall in 1824, he was a Rochdale banker. When Shepherd left the mill was taken over by Corbridge and Brown. Insured by these two in 1828, stock £100, Fenton insured building for £160, mill work £40, machinery £200. By 1831 Corbridge and Brown were also running Grindleton Mill which they extended and installed mules. Feazor was later run by a number of firms processing cotton waste and suffered two serious fires [devils?] and it was finally abandoned in the 1880s.
GILLIANS MILL, BARNOLDSWICK.
GILLIANS TWIST MILL
1808. Extract by Helen Spencer from Colne Parish Church Registers. John Smith, cotton spinner of Barnoldswick married Maria Emmott 19/02/1808. George Smith and Henry Heaton, witnesses. Doreen Crowther notes that at 1851 census John Bracewell (70) and Mary (67) were both living at Bancrofts, Barnoldswick. White's dir. 1837 notes that a John Bracewell was cotton spinner at the water twist mill at Gillians which is only 200 yards from Bancrofts. My source for the 1851 census doesn't give Bancrofts as residence but Lane Bottom. The reason for this confusion is that Lane Bottom could be regarded as in the district of Gillians and a farm name was often used to designate the immediate area if there were no other obvious markers. Baines for 1822 and 1823 gives a John Bracewell as Millwright of Barnoldswick. The only reason I attach this reference to John (1782) is that there is good evidence he was associated with mills as a spinner. This is very early for a millwright in Barlick. Pigot for 1834 records a John Bracewell as being a grocer and draper in Barnoldswick. Pigot 1834 also notes a John Bracewell as being a cotton spinner in Barnoldswick. This combination of trades was not unusual as in the growing economy grocers were amassing capital
Gillians, Barlick probably started in mid 1780s when the Arkwright patents were overthrown. The water supply for the mill was from the beck behind Bancrofts [dam still visible] I think this was because Mitchell had secured the water rights on Gillians Beck before that time. Gillians was owned by Henry Lambert in 1808. William and Henry Lambert were running the mill in 1790 when they insured it, Mill £50. Going gear and machinery £20. Utensils and goods £50. House and warehouse £20. Utensils and goods £60. By 1795 there had been some expansion and a ‘spinning factory’ was added. Henry Lambert was bankrupt in 1813 and Gillians was for sale. Water powered mill was three storeys and measured 12yds by 6yards. Gillians House was also for sale and next door to it was a ‘spinning factory which was four storeys, 11yds by 8 ½ yds. By 1831 the mill was being run by John Smith who insured the machinery for £100 and stock for £50. Gillians has to be considered in conjunction with Parrock Mill.
PARROCK MILL
This was a tiny mill on Calf Hall Beck and is now ‘Parrock’ or Paddock Laithe adjacent to the bridge over Calf Hall Beck opposite Calf Hall Shed and next to Butts Mill. In 1808 the mill was owned by Henry Lambert, cotton spinner and manufacturer. He rented the mill to William Hall for cotton spinning and insured the mill for £250 and the machinery for £50. [A surprising sum considering the size] William Hall insured his machinery for £230 and stock for £120. By 1810 Lambert was running the mill himself and in 1813, as noted above, he went bankrupt. In 1813 the mill was offered for sale and by 1831 was owned by William Mitchell [of Mitchell’s Mill] The tenant was John Smith. [See Gillians]
LOTHERDALE MILL
1792. Lothersdale Mill. Built on the site of a corn mill in 1792 by Chippendale Parker and Co. Partners were Thomas Chippendale of Skipton, Dr Wigglesworth of Cononley. Edmund Spencer of Cononley. Richard Croasdill of Marton Scar. Insured for: mill and waterwheel, £700. Machinery £500. Stock £300. Insured value reduced to £1000 in 1795.Partnership dissolved in 1798. Thomas Parker bought some of the partners shares, married Dr Wigglesworth’s niece Ann Balme, on 1st April 1822 their daughter married John Wilson [1797-1868] from Scotland who took control and in 1835 went over to worsted spinning. John Wilson went over the hill to Kelbrook and persuaded John Riddihough, a warp dresser at Smallpages and persuaded him to come to Lothersdale. 1842 was a bad drought year and the mill was stopped for many days while water built up in the dams. This decided them to install an engine by Roberts of Nelson with an underground flue up the hillside and a detached chimney 15ft high. In the early 1850s the mill was extended, a larger waterwheel was built by Ellison of Eastburn foundry and a larger engine installed made by J Dixon of Keighley and a 90ft chimney built to serve a new boiler and economiser. In 1861, the returns for the Factory Inspector reveal: 9 Girls under 13 years 7 Boys under 13 years 18 Males between 13 and 18, 34 Males over 18, 84 Females over 13, 190 Power Looms, 113 Power Loom Weavers. Also 1700 spindles, not recorded. The Franco-Prussian War created a boom in the textile trade in 1870-1, but the inevitable slump which followed hit Wilson, Hall & Co. most severely, and without the guiding hand of the 'old man', the three younger men quarrelled and dissolved the partnership in 1873. John Hall struggled on but Fred Wilson took over in 1879 when John ran out of money. 1895-1903: The principal foremen at the mill were the Riddioughs, the Hills, and James Hartley Procter. I don’t know the later history but in 1983 June Barrow owned the mill which was non-textile. I believe the waterwheel is the largest indoor waterwheel in the world. In 2003 it is still intact.
GRINDLETON MILL, CLITHEROE
1792. Grindleton Mill, Clitheroe. Originally a corn mill, but in 1792 it was leased to Robinson Shuttleworth, a banker and cotton spinner from Preston. Shuttleworth added a carding mill which was run in conjunction with Twiston Mill and a jenny workshop at Chatburn. Shuttleworth went bankrupt in 1796 and work stopped. Mill was in use again in 1831 when Corbridge and William Brown from Feazor Mill insured the mill and contents. Water cotton mill £270, mill work, £20. Machinery £100. Stock £10. By 1837 Grindleton Mill was a corn mill again, 1822 Baines gives Henry Bank as miller and Slater 1871 names William Bank ditto.
HOLDEN MILL. BOLTON BY BOWLAND
1796/97. Holden water mill at Bolton by Bowland was built by Miss Jane Dixon of Lancaster for her nephew Robert Tipping of London. John Parker of Chancery Lane, former partner in Low Moor Mill at Clitheroe had an interest. It was a three storey mill with two wings of two storeys at the back. Main rooms were 57ft by 30 ft, wings 22ft by 15ft. Used for mule spinning from early date. Mill for sale in 1799, buildings adapted for calico printing by Robert Tipping and George Fleming. Tipping went bankrupt in 1813, this caused the aunt’s bankruptcy and the mill was sold. Used later as Holden Workhouse. George Ingle [Yorkshire Cotton] says that the mill [he calls it Holden Bottom Mill] was probably used for carding and jenny mill in the 1790s. By 1840s the buildings were being used by hand loom weavers until it went out of use.
CLOUGH SITE IN WAPPING, BARLICK.
1753 and 1756. Josias Parkinson pays land tax for Clough, Barnoldswick. 1760 John Dean pays land tax for Clough. 1800. Hartley, Bracewell and Co occupied the water mill on the site [Note that this is almost certainly neither the Coates or Newfield edge branch. The root for all the Bracewells in Barlick was the Bracewells of Salterforth, all the family members we are interested in stem from there. This Bracewell would have direct lineage to Salterforth but no connection with Coates or Newfield Edge.]. This might have been the original build. 1807. William Mitchell mentioned on electoral roll as spinner of Barnoldswick. [this is Mitchell of Mitchell’s Mill Barlick and not County Brook Mitchells who hadn’t come to the area. Ken Wilson says that Newfield Edge House was built by William Mitchell in 1770. He’s usually accurate but I don’t know what his evidence was.] Insurance for the Hartley, Bracewell and Co occupation was Mill £200. Mill work £10, Machinery £150. stock £40. This was not a big mill judging from these values. This could be the ‘old cotton mill’ insured by William Mitchell in 1812. Mill £500. Machinery £500. Drying house for warps £50. [This indicates dyeing] Stock £250. [These are significantly higher values] Mitchell extended the mill and installed an engine in 1827. In 1831 the insurance values were: Mill, engine house and sizing house, £700. Millwork £100. Machinery £1500. Stock £100. In 1838 John Wigglesworth was a tenant in the mill. 1846. Clough Mill is built next to Mitchell’s Mill by William Mitchell to hold 300 looms. The first tenants were William, Thomas and Christopher Bracewell [of Coates] who also had Old Coates Mill as well as looms in Mitchell’s Mill. Clough was built by Barlick masons but the chimney was by David Carr from Gargrave. [There is solid insurance evidence for an engine by 1827 so was this a new chimney?] The first looms in the new shed were wooden framed and came from Pilling’s at Trawden. This firm removed to Primet Bridge Colne at about this time. In 1860 the Bracewell Brothers cease trading when their partnership fails and Mr Bennett the Baptist minister takes space in Clough. [See below]
SLATERS AT CLOUGH
In 1860 John Slater and Sons are first mentioned as tenants in Clough. John Slater buys the mill in 1867 for £3,000. [£1000 in May 1867, £1000 in November 1867 and £1000 by May 1868.] The full price was paid by November 1867. John Slater also had an interest in the silk mill at Galgate near Lancaster.
1881census gives Joseph Slater as 19 and living on Mitchell Terrace in Barlick. In 1891 Census he is living at Newfield Edge and married Ada Whitaker Bracewell. Almost looks as though Billycock death was the trigger for the marriage. LTP transcript 82/JM/01. John Metcalfe talks about Slaters and says they were all related. All stem back to John Slater who bought Mitchell’s Mill in 1867 (later called Clough) [Actually there are earlier references to the Slaters but as regards cotton manufacturing we are safe in starting with John.]. James Slater at Salterforth Mill was Old John’s son. Henry Slater was another son of Old John and he fathered Fred Harry and Joseph which made them cousins to Clough Mill Slaters. John Slater (Clough) was another son of Old John. Old John ran a silk mill at Galgate before he came to Barlick. One of the reasons he survived cotton famine and was in a position to buy Clough was that he was in silk at Galgate and experimented with worsted and linen at Barlick. 1851 census notes the following at 28 Barnoldswick Lane. [Now Manchester Road] John Slater, head,45, grocer [also known to have a loomshop on Barlick Lane and a carting business.] Mary, wife, 43. Joseph, 22, HLW cotton check. Henry, 20, shop man. Thomas, 17, coal carrier. Clayton, 12, scholar. Susannah, 9, scholar. James, 6, scholar. John Slater died in 1867, Atkinson has him as 69 years but 1851 census says 61.
There is a report in 1860 of Thomas Bennett’s bankruptcy, he was a small manufacturer in Clough Mill. This seemingly minor event in the life of Clough Mill deserves close scrutiny. When the Act of Uniformity was passed in 1662 Barlick already had an illegal Baptist church in the barn backing onto the Parrock in Wapping. This is on the opposite side of the road from the Mitchell/Clough Mill site. It was one of the first places in England to be registered under the Toleration Act of 1689. In 1687 David Crossley and his cousin William Mitchell were both preachers in the district and in 1694 David Crossley was named as the first minister. In 1797 a chapel was built adjoining the barn and still exists, but as a secondhand furniture shop. The crucial fact here is that a William Mitchell was active in the Wapping area as early as the late 17th C. There are land tax assessments for the same time for James and William Mitchell but no indication of the properties. The assumption must be that it was in the same area. The History of the Baptists in Barnoldswick by Winnard (p.39) states that on January 7th 1695 David Crossley, the pastor of the Baptist Chapel purchased the Parrock (or part thereof) from William Mitchell for £25 as it adjoined their place of worship. [Note that this piece of land also contains Parrock Laithe and water mill] The Mitchell family maintained their association with the chapel in Wapping.
The Slaters who followed in the mill were Baptists as well. In 1861 there is an entry in the census for Thomas Bennett, 39, unmarried, Baptist minister of Bethesda Chapel and cotton manufacturer employing 43 persons. By this time the Bethesda Chapel at the bottom of Manchester Road, opposite the police station and now demolished and replaced by David Crosley House, had been built. This was the time of the cotton famine and the story is that Bennett was encouraged by John Slater to start manufacturing in Clough to make work for his parishioners. Bennett goes out of business about 1868, bankrupt, because after John’s death in c.1868 the Slater Brothers foreclosed on him. According to Dennis Cairns, at the same time Clayton Slater led an attack on Bennett to depose him as pastor of Bethesda. [Clayton seems to have been a bit fiery, at about the same time he and a brother were fined £5 for assaulting Levi Widdup who had allowed his donkey to graze on their father’s grave.] In 1870 Thomas Bennett was found to have been not legally dismissed as pastor but by this time the rebel members of the congregation, being trustees of Bethesda, refused to allow him to take over the chapel. For a while, both sides of the schism worshipped in various barns and rooms but eventually resolved the dispute by allowing Bennett to have use of Bethesda but the rebels building a rival chapel in North Street behind Clough Mill. This situation continued until 1971 when the two churches united in a new building next to the police station. This saga demonstrates the close links between the church and the mill and the passions that could be aroused.
After John’s death, c.1868, the firm of John Slater and Sons take over the whole of Clough. The partners were the sons, Joseph, Henry, Thomas, Clayton and James. William Atkinson says that in 1868 Clough was extended again to take more looms and the floor above was used for preparing woollen weft. [We have a tendency to assume that all the firms we look at were processing cotton. What we have to bear in mind from 1860 onwards is that a lot of manufacturers were experimenting with different staple because of the shortage of cotton due to the American Civil War.] This was discontinued after a few years and Stephen Pickles moved in with looms. Robinson Brooks started in Clough about this time. James Nutter was a tenant in partnership with Slater Edmondson. [They had amassed their capital by selling Bibles and Stephen Pickles grandson of original Stephen said that they used to threaten farmers with cattle maiming to get them to buy the family bibles at a guinea a time but this could be apocryphal] The Pickles family including brother Harry moved out to US during the Cotton Famine but came back in 1868. The family started up in Clough with four looms each (16 looms?) and Stephen Pickles (b.1856) was the Manchester man. This was the start of S Pickles and Son Ltd who eventually had the whole of Long Ing and Barnsey Shed.
In 1879 a new shed was built at Clough and it was then that the Furneval engine was installed to replace the 1827 beam engine [which was left in situ and later used again when loom numbers fell]. In 1880 Clayton Slater, 41 years old, one of the partners, left for Canada taking part of the machinery with him. There was space to spare as they had just extended so tenants were the answer. Atkinson describes Clough at this time as being the starting point for many of the firms which were later to dominate textiles in Barlick. He describes Clough as four storeys with weaving on all floors, 144 looms on each floor. Robinson Brooks was on the top floor [evidence of Billy Brooks who learned to weave there and hated going up in the hoist] Billy said the loft was used for warp preparation. Atkinson said the tenants at that time were James Nutter and Slater Edmondson in partnership with 96 looms. Windles, [see article in CH 30/12/1932. William Windle was born in Earby on January 3 1825. The 1881 census shows him aged 56 and living on Newtown with wife Margaret, 52, Owen 22, James T. 15, Edna 24, Sarah T 19. In 1891 William senior is missing but the rest of the family are living at 24 Rainhall Road with the addition of William, 44 years old. His father was Thomas Windle. In his early years William was a HLW and was one of the first PLW to work at Chris. Bracewell’s New Shed. In 1859 he married Margaret Broughton and became a taper at Butts and worked there for many years. In his later years he had 16 looms in Clough and was doing commission weaving. Francis Watson had 16 looms on the same terms and William tackled for both of them. There is a suggestion that Joseph Windle, commonly called ‘Pummers’ was in Clough but this might be a confusion.] Robinson Brooks, 80 looms. [Moved to Long Ing shortly after it opened.], John Brown (moved to Long Ing in 1888 with 98 looms. (Noted in Barrett 1887 as cotton manufacturer and engineer, house Albion Terrace.) and Bowker (All I have for Thomas Bowker is CFT 1890 moving his looms out of Coates Mill and Barrett 1896 noting him as manufacturer in Long Ing Shed. Not sure if this is Bowker mentioned in Clough). Slaters had looms as well. [Not all the brothers working in the partnership, see James. Clayton had already voted with his feet.] John Metcalfe, the former manager said Ormerod’s had looms in Clough as well. He said that ‘Nutters’ had 96 looms in what they called ‘top o’ the hill’. [This was Nutter and Edmondson actually]
In 1888 Craven Herald reported that tenants in Clough were Robinson Brooks, Stephen Pickles, and Messrs H&J Slater. Edmondson and Nutter moved out of Clough in 1888 and went to the new mill at Long Ing with 400 looms. Partnership dissolved in 1890 when James Nutter moved into Calf Hall with 414 looms. Slater Edmondson stayed at Long Ing with 400 looms. In 1905 James Nutter moved from Calf Hall to Bankfield with 900 looms. Eventually took over Bancroft from Nutter Brothers.
Joseph Slater (married Billycock’s daughter Ada Whitaker) Henry and Fred Harry Slater seem to have been the main men in John Slater and Sons at this time. BUDC rate books for 26 March 1894 show Henry, trading as Clough Mill Company as owner of Clough Mill. Half year rates £176. Fred Harry died in 1930 aged 60. [He was also a founding director of Westfield Shed and a past director of the Long Ing Shed Co] Joseph died at Newfield Edge on 22/02/1926. They and their descendants ran Clough until they wove out in 1956. John Metcalfe, the manager said that when they finished they had 280 looms on the ground floor and upstairs they had 20 Universal winders and 20 warp dressing frames as they were doing a lot of coloured work then.
With the rise of the shed companies from 1888 onwards tenancy at Clough seems to have died out. This is entirely understandable as Clough was a very old-fashioned and inconvenient mill. Newton Pickles says there was a fire at Clough about 1938, (1937 actually, see report in Barlick and Earby Times November 12th 1937) B&P replaced a lot of damaged cast iron pipes with steel. John Metcalfe said he went to work for Slaters in Wellhouse Mill in 1915, he said these Slaters were cousins of the ones at Clough [Edwin and John Slater, sons of Hartley later traded as Slater Brothers (Barnoldswick) Ltd.] John also said that in 1900 there was a fire in the four storey section of the mill and it was allowed to go to ‘rack and ruin’. “Joe Slater, Dick Carr Slater, Fred Harry and them” wouldn’t do anything about it but when Fred Harry and Joe died Henry got the mill. Henry had been running Slater Brothers at Wellhouse Mill. The four storey section was started up again and 128 looms brought from Wellhouse and put in the second floor. While the four storey section was disused they were weaving in the new shed in the bottom with 368 looms.
Silentnight bought Clough Mill off the Slaters and used it for bedding manufacture. There was a disastrous fire that gutted the mill and the remains were demolished about 1972 and Tom Clarke gave the site to the Council for a recreation ground.
NARROWGATES MILL, BARLEY
Narrowgates Mill in Barley was built in 1799. in a will of 1808 William Hartley refers to ‘my new water mill’. The date for the 1799 build derives from a lease of land at Stang Laithe, Barley where he built the reservoir for the mill. This was for 999 years and started in 1799. William was dead in 1808 and had five sons, John, James, Richard, Peter and William. In 1810 the Hartley Brothers leased more land from Thomas Clayton for the reservoir. 1812. It looks as though the Hartley Brothers were liquidated by their creditors and by 1813 John Shaw had taken over the mill because he paid £27 for ‘inundating land’ when the dam was filled. The assumption is that he took over the mill from the Hartley creditors. In 1813 the mill was described as ‘That new built cotton mill called Narrowgates or New Mill being 25 yards long by 11 ¾ yards wide and four storeys high and two newly erected cottages near the said mill.’ In 1815 John Shaw sells the mill to John Moore of Burnley for £1500. John Moore later described as cotton dealer and corn merchant. In 1819 a water wheel was mentioned in a document but it is not clear whether this relates to Narrowgates or Barley Green. Mill occupied by John Moore. The property was surrendered to Richard Hartley and Ann Robinson. In 1829 by the will of Richard Hartley his half of the mill went to John Hartley as trustee of his estate. In a sale of 1834 the mill was described as ‘heretofore in the occupation of John Moore and after, of William Bennett, but now unoccupied.’ 1834 put up for sale by Mr Richard Hartley and Mrs Ann Robinson. In 1834 James Hargreaves Roberts buys Narrowgates Mill for £850. [See Barley Green Mill] Some property appears to have remained in Ann Robinson’s hands. She died in 1854. This estate essentially bought by Nelson Corporation in 1919 for £2400. In 1867 certain parts of the mill were described as having been recently destroyed by fire. At about this time the mill was transferred to Thomas Moorby who died on 18th of September 1874. In 1878 Elizabeth Ann, the widow of Thomas Moorby transferred the mill to her son John Moorby for £1608. Schedule of 1878 transfer refers to water wheel, steam engine, boiler and shafting. 1878 there is a surrender to Elizabeth Ann Moorby. [mortgage to Elizabeth Ann] In 1888, the Local Board for Nelson buys the mill from Elizabeth Ann Moorby [relict of Thomas Moorby] , the Mortgagee, and John Moorby for £6,000. [2004. Chris Aspin points out to me that a Moorby also had a mill at Musbury, Helmshore and a gravestone there records his burial at Downham] LTP transcript 78/AG/10 Page 14. Newton Pickles says that when J Pickles and Son did repairs in 1936 they had 70 looms, a national Gas engine and a Gilkes turbine ten feet tall and about 50hp. It had adjustable guide vanes with external linkage and governor. Cast steel shaft and a fabricated brass spinner. The spinner was damaged and Gilkes made a new one. They replaced the 10ft X 15ft wooden penstock with a CI tank and new grilles. New clow made for the dam. Newton said that at the time Adam Hargreaves was running the mill and that Mitchell of County Brook was his partner. In 1950 Nelson Corporation buys the site of the reservoir from the executors of Gertrude Hartley of Fence Gate for £185-12-6. Beyond this the mill passed into the hands of Mr Hayhurst of Nelson and was a private residence.
OUZLEDALE MILL, BARNOLDSWICK.
I have no early evidence for Ouzledale. My first concrete piece of information is in 1822 when John Mitchell was noted as ‘wood turner’. So it was almost certainly a bobbin mill at the time. However, I have long been fascinated by this site because there is plenty of evidence to show that it was never part of the Clough estate. [Mitchell’s Mill later Clough] I think this gives us a clue. If you look at the water site in Ouzledale, it is obvious that if anyone was going to build a water mill on the Clough site with no impediment they would use the whole of the resource and have the best water site in Barlick, not in terms of volume of water but because of the amount of fall that could be obtained from Ouzledale Dam to the Clough site. The fact that this was never taken advantage of seems to me to suggest that the Ouzledale site was in use as a water mill before Clough or at least was in ownership as a potential water site. In 1757/1760 a James Mitchell is paying land tax but it is not clear what holding this refers to. There is a separate payment at the same time for the Clough estate and I have a feeling that James’ payment might be Ouzledale, was John in 1822 the son of James?
I think we have to bear in mind that in the mid 18th century a water power site was a desirable asset and I suspect that a Mitchell bought the site and built the mill before the mill below, Mitchell’s, was built. The building certainly looked to be about this date. What is certain is that in later years the Clough Mill Estate owned the rights to Gillians Beck. Same family perhaps. This is conjecture but I am convinced Ouzledale is earlier than Clough. 1822 John Mitchell is noted as wood turner. 1853 OS map the mill is marked as ‘saw mill’. 1851 census, John Robinson is noted at Ouzledale as Jointer. Harold Duxbury told me that they had it for many years and in his lifetime they were making carts and barrows. In 1903 when the Calf hall Shed Co bought Butts Mill they found that it included the Ouzledale estate so at some time William Bracewell bought it. It later became a foundry.
Ouzledale mill as a Foundry
CHSC entries from October 1907.
CHSCMB. 2/10/1907. The secretary reported that Mr Jones, the tenant of the cottage at Ouzledale had declined to pay the rent due. The Secretary was authorised to take such steps as he might think proper to obtain the payment. 31/10/1907. The secretary reported that Mr Jones had paid the 18 months arrears of rent for Ouzledale Cottage together with 6/8 for solicitor’s charges. 6/11/1907. resolved that messrs Slater, Dent, King and Brook examine the entrance to Ouzledale Foundry and order the necessary repairs. 13/11/1907. A steel girder to be fixed over the lintel of the door at Ouzledale.
CHSCMB. 20/11/1907. Resolved that if E Harrison’s price for girders is satisfactory he fixes two at Ouzledale Foundry. 11/12/1907. Resolved that no further repairs be carried out at Ouzledale, the property having been brought into a disreputable state of repair by Jones the tenant. [In trading account for six months ending Dec 31 1907 Ouzledale rent is only £11-13-11.] 19/02/1908. That Mr S Bracewell to rebuild the wall at Ouzledale as requested by the surveyor to the council and that his attention be called to the fact.
CHSCMB. 24/06/1908. Title deeds of Ouzledale to be examined to see who the boundary wall on the north side belongs to. 8/07/1908. Letter received from Richard Jones giving six months notice to quit his tenancy of Ouzledale Foundry and cottage on Dec 31st next. Resolved that the notice be accepted provided Mr Jones reinstate the property and leaves it as he found it. 9/09/1908. Resolved that Coulthurst make good the damage done at Ouzledale through the water tub giving way. [Headstock of wheel?]
CHSCMB. 30 Sept 1908. Co agrees to sell firebars to WB White and Sons Ltd of Colne at 25/- per ton subject to an offer from R Jones. [Looks like evidence Jones is still melting at Ouzledale Foundry] 7/10/1908. Firebars sold to R Jones at 25/- per ton.
CHSCMB. 12/01/1910. Managing Director to visit Burnley re. Ouzledale Foundry. 16/02/1910. Resolved that Ouzledale Foundry be let to William Henry Hey of Vivary Bridge, Colne on a monthly tenancy at the rate of £18 per annum and payment of the district rate. The cottage at Ouzledale to be put in repair and advertised to let. 23/02/1910. Rent to Hey confirmed at £18 per annum company to pay Poor Rate. Cottage at Ouzledale to be let to Mr Atkinson at 4/9 per week. J J MacDonald be engaged to puddle round Ouzledale Dam and that Coulthurst stop the water getting into the foundry. Resolved that the cottage be not papered. 9/03/1910. The footpath at Ouzledale to be repaired with clinker from the yard. 29/06/1910. Chairman and Mr Holdsworth arrange for repairing or fixing a new kitchen range in Ouzledale Cottage.
CHSCMB. 26/04/1911. The tenant at Ouzledale intimated that he was selling his business. Resolved that the new tenant be accepted providing the rent is up to date. 3/05/19111. Messrs Slater and Barrett wait upon Mr Thompson the gas manager to arrange for a supply of gas for Ouzledale. Gas will be required for illumination the workshop and cottage in addition to what will be needed for power. [gas engine] 10/05/1911. Letter from the council offering to take the supply of gas to the road leading to the foundry. 17/05/1911. Mr Watts, the new tenant at Ouzledale Foundry to pay 15/- extra per annum for gas supply to the works the extra charge to be reduced if the water wheel is sold. 31/05/1911. Resolved that a deputation call on Mr Watts at Ouzledale Foundry with power to sell him the waterwheel at a reasonable price. 7/06/1911. Waterwheel to be sold to Mr Watts for £5. Plan of Ouzledale Estate to be produced at the next meeting. 21/06/1911. Mr Atkinson to mark Ouzledale estate with boundary stones.
CHSCMB. 23/06/1911. Company to allow the UDC to lay the gas and water mains on the conditions mentioned in Mr Thompson’s letter. 13/09/1911. Resolved that the fixing of the gas pipe at Ouzledale Foundry be left to Mr Brooks. 10/04/1912. Mention that Mr Atkinson’s attention be drawn to the matter of the fencing of Ouzledale Lodge. 15/05/1912. Messrs Watts and Hargreaves be informed that they may erect a mechanic’s shop at Ouzledale at their own expense, the rent for the foundry remaining unaltered. 29/05/1912. Resolved that the co repair the wall bordering on the Clough property (the Clough lodge below Ouzledale) raising the wall to yard level also that the floor be put in the wheel race, the whole of this work to be let to messrs Brown and Watts, the co to agree to pay for the wall and the tenants to pay 5% interest on the costs and that a ten or fifteen year agreement be considered for the tenancy of Ouzledale. 5/06/1912. Brown and Watts accepted as tenants of Ouzledale foundry. Tenancy to be a yearly one with the option on their part to continue for ten years if they erect certain premises which will belong to the co at the end of the lease. Rent as at present and tenants to pay 5% on the cost of wall and additions agreed.
CHSCMB. 4/09/1912. Mr Atkinson to put in boundary stakes round Ouzledale Dam so that the company’s property may be fenced off.
CHSCMB. 11/12/1912. Resolved that the pointing of the outside of Ouzledale be left until a more favourable time. [middle of winter] 5/03/1913. Resolved that Mr A King be commissioned to sell the materials in the disused hen place at Ouzledale. An inquiry to be made into the amount of rent received from Hy Brown and sons. 26/03/1913. Resolved that in future Dale Ironworks accounts be paid by cheque on bill nights and not as a contra against the rent. [Dale Ironworks will be Brown and Watts. I have come across a reference about this time to ‘Overdale Foundry’ as well.]
CHSCMB. 18/06/1913 Resolved that Ouzledale cottage be painted white outside. 2/07/1913. Tenant of Ouzledale be required to pay all extra rates levied on the new property. 17/09/1913. Mr J W Watts to be instructed to see to the overflow at Ouzledale and prevent rubbish being placed in the pit. 12/11/1913. The Dale Ironworks account for putting in foundation for new room be considered at the next meeting. 19/11/1913. The tenants at Ouzledale, Messrs Brown and Watts be afforded the tenancy at the present rent and increased rates and 5% on the £20 expended by the company or a ten years lease at the same rent at their option. 26/11/1913. Resolved that Dale Ironworks have the option of continuing as yearly tenants or taking the foundry on ten years lease. The account of £20-16-9 for building the back wall to floor level and putting a concrete floor in the wheelrace to be paid for by the company. 17/12/1913. The Dale Ironworks account of £20-16-9 to be paid and 5% charged from Jan 1 next as an addition to the rent. 17/06/1914. Ernest Harrison to repair the wall and put down boundary stones at Ouzledale Dam.
CHSCMB. 28/06/1916. Reported that an account for £17-9-5 was approved for payment from the Dale Ironworks Co. [Good evidence that Brown and Watt were trading under this name in 1916.]
CHSCMB. 18/04/1917. Ernest Harrison be instructed to repair the leakage at Ouzledale Dam and to make a cement wall behind the puddle.
CHSCMB. 9/05/1917. A letter from Hartley and Pilgrim and a report by Charles J Lomax on the water rights of Clough Mill and Butts Mill dated 14/03/1917 was read and it was resolved that in view of the erection by Messrs Nutter of a new shed on the stream above Ouzledale Dam that the company join messrs Slater in the erection of a Lea Recorder by paying half share of the cost, not exceeding £25, providing no further costs are incurred and that the company has the right to see the recorder.
CHSCMB. 8/05/1918. Reported that Henry Brown and Sons are encroaching on the land of J Slater and Sons adjoining the foundry. Mr Wood to bring the plans of Ouzledale to the next meeting. 5/06/1918. The plan of Ouzledale estate was produced which shows that on the north side of the foundry the company’s land extends 5 feet from the present engine house wall and ten feet from the wheel race wall and that the door on the north easterly side of the extension opens onto the company’s land.
CHSCMB. 5/01/1921. Letter from BUDC complaining about road down to Ouzledale from the end of the paving in Longfield Lane. Company responded that problem was water draining onto road from property between the dam and Longfield Lane. If the council were to rectify this it would make the repair of the road a simple matter. 6/04/1921. Letter from the sanitary inspector read requiring numerous repairs to the house at Ouzledale. The directors visited the house and the works and it was decided to make the house habitable.
HAVRE PARK FOUNDRY [This has to be looked at with Ouzledale because there is a continuing connection until 1929]
CHSCMB. 4/02/1920. resolved that the sale of the plot of land abutting onto the dams at Wellhouse Mill and Valley Road containing 6,574 square yards to William Brown, Wellhouse Works be approved. [This was for Brown’s new foundry, Havre Park] The price to be £1396-19-6. All water and other rights to be retained for the benefit of the company. 3/03/1920. Henry Brown and Sons paid £60 as deposit on the purchase of the land in Valley Road. 24/03/1920. Draft conveyance of land in Valley Road approved. 2/06/1920. Completion of transfer of land at Wellhouse be postponed until Sept 30th 1920. Interest to be charged at 6% [On outstanding money?]
CHSCMB. 17/05/1922. Common Seal of Co attached to conveyance of land at Valley Road to H Brown and Sons. 6574 yards at 4/3 per yard, £1396-19-6.
CHSCMB. 16/01/1929. Stated that the rates for Ouzledale Foundry were Old, nil and New £1. There has been no mention of Ouzledale in the accounts apart from cottage rent since Henry Brown bought the Havre Park land in 1922. 16/10/1929. Resolved that ‘the foundry in the Dale’ be re-roofed and glazed at a cost of £54. [Note: this is the same time that H Brown and Sons go into liquidation. The assumption is that when Browns failed, Cecil Ashby their foundry man took Ouzledale with assistance from CHSC. From conversations with Harold Duxbury I’m pretty sure that CHSC let him use the foundry free until he got established. This is why there is no immediate change in rents at Ouzledale.] 30/06/31. Income from Ouzledale Estate is £48-2-2. Previous year it was £7-1-3. It looks as though the foundry is again in use but no note in the minutes about it. 30/06/1932 income for year is £37-8-4. 13/07/32. Resolved that Ouzledale foundry (damaged by lightning and flood on 11 July 1932) be rebuilt. 17/08/32. Six tenders received for rebuilding of Ouzledale Foundry. F Blezard’s tender of £185 be accepted and he proceed forthwith.
CHSCMB 18/03/1936. A letter received from [James Cecil ] Ashby of Ouzledale Foundry dated 6 March regarding repairs to Ouzledale House was read and it was resolved that Mr Banks attend to this matter. 23/12/1936. Application from Mr Ashby for an extension to the foundry costing about £200. It was agreed that this should be done if Mr Ashby pay £52 per annum rent for the foundry and agree to a tenancy of 7(?) years. 13/01/1937. Tender of Mr G C Blezard at £264-16-3 accepted. [This is the brick extension in the yard.] 20/10/1938. Letter received from Mr N E Barrett dated 25th August 1938 regarding the boundary at Ouzledale was considered. Resolved that the sec should speak to Mr Barrett and say that although the board could not accept the statements made in Mr Barrett’s letter they would purchase a strip of land approximately 150 yards at 3d per yard the purchase to be carried through at minimum cost.
CHSCMB. 17/11/1938. A letter from Mrs Norman Barrett dated October 29th was read in which he said that Mr Slater was not prepared to sell any of the land at Ouzledale and that she intended to fence off along the boundary. Resolved that Mr Barrett be asked whether Mr Slater would rent any of the land.
CHSCMB. 16/04/1942. Resolved that the whole of the shafting removed from Calf Hall Shed and stored at Butts Mill should be offered for sale. 21/05/1942. Tender of Ouzledale Foundry at £455 be accepted and that they remove the material at very early notice.
CHSCMB. 16/01/1947. Letter received from Ouzledale Foundry Company regarding the condition of their lavatories. Resolved that the co would provide 2 water closets and a septic tank for an increase in rent of £13 per annum. The co was prepared to bear half the cost of an extension to the scullery to form a wash house. 20/02/1947. Ouzledale Foundry agree to the increase in rent.
CHSCMB. 21/05/1959. Letter received from Ouzledale Foundry dated 27 April drawing attention to the fact that part of the roof had collapsed at Ouzledale. Harold Duxbury reported that he had stripped the roof and would take down the top part of the walls in that section to make the building safe. [This is last CHSC entry for Ouzledale. Evidently the Foundry Co were still renting the mill even though they had moved down to Long Ing.]
MARTON MILL
1801. John Bond had a water spinning mill at Marton in 1801. Insurance cover: mill £40. Nearby spinning shop, £30. Millwork £30. Machinery (mill) £20. Machinery (spinning) £100. Stock (mill), £50. Stock (spinning) £30. John Bond was also publican in Marton. The mill was stopped by 1820
ELSLACK MILL
1801. The partnership of Wilson and Dewhirst [sic] insured the cotton mill at Elslack for £80. Mill was £20, machinery £190, stock £190, spinning shop £20. It looks as though they left this mill when they moved to Embsay in 1813. [See Belle Vue Mill, Skipton.]
BARLEY MILL
1808. Barley Green Mill, Barley, Nelson. Will of William Hartley of Barley, cotton twist spinner. Leaves mill to John and Hugh Roberts of Thorneyholme [Barrowford?] in trust. 1819. Mention of a surrender to George and Thomas Holgate, bankers, by John Moore of Burnley. ‘A parcel of land in Barley Booth containing from N to S 14 yds and from E to W 15 yards and bound on the north by land belonging to Thomas Clayton Esq. On the S and W by waste and on E by land belonging to John Robinson of Barley on which certain cotton works have been erected.’ Also mentioned in the same surrender of 1819 are rights to a mill goyt to Ogden Water to convey water to the mill, a water wheel and a tail goyt. Grant of these rights was dated 1793. Date stone on the mill was ‘1795. William and Mary Hartley.’ In 1819 Barley Green Mill passed to George and Thomas Holgate. I have a reference saying that in 1824 George and Thomas Holgate were declared bankrupt. This mill came to be called ‘Barley Village Mill’ to distinguish it from Narrowgates in the same village. In 1835 James Hargreaves Roberts buys Barley Green Mill. In 1838 John Roberts and James Hargreaves Roberts traded as Roberts Bros and Co. Cotton Manufacturers at Habergham Eaves and in the Forest of Pendle. They dissolved the partnership and sold the mill, date unknown. John Roberts was described as cotton manufacturer of Habergham Eaves in an indenture of 1812. In 1834 (?) James Hargreaves Roberts dies and the mill is transferred to his sisters Jane and Nancy Roberts. Bob Hargreaves, in 1971 the oldest person in Barley said that in 1881 there was a cloudburst that destroyed the mill and bankrupted the owner and it ‘never turned a wheel again’.
COUNTY BROOK MILL
1732. County Brook Mill mentioned in Barnoldswick Manorial Court proceedings of 17th April 1732 as New Mill. Fines levied on persons for obstructing the water course with rubbish. [It was almost certainly a corn mill at this time.]
1810 Midgely estate map shows mill at County Brook [Variously known as Hey Mill, Stew Mill, New mill and County Brook mill] as ‘worsted mill. Named as New Mill in 1828 plan. Marked as New mill on Owlet Nest estate plan of 1838, owners Messrs William and John Midgely. At its peak in the late 1930’s County Brook had 25ft waterwheel, 25ft diameter and 6ft across the face, wooden construction, CI shaft and gear segments and iron buckets. Pinion 4ft diameter, 3” pitch gearing. Reckoned to make 40hp. Augmented with 60hp national Diesel coupled to same shaft as the wheel, no clutch. This engine replaced with 100hp National diesel running at 130rpm when B&P extended mill in 1939. Further 200 loom extension run by 100hp electric motor. Mill still running, has been in ownership of Mitchells ever since it converted to textiles.
THE THREE MILLS ON COUNTY BROOK.
The first water mill, Midge Hole [or Midge Mill, corruption of Midgely’s mill?], is to be found in the clough just below Mount Pleasant Chapel on the road down to County Brook Mill. All that can be seen now is some old walls and traces of a dam and wheel pit. The first mention I have found of the mill is in Wilfred Spencer’s papers on the Midgely Estate. Ezra Sellers took the mill over from his elder brother Marshall sometime in the mid 19th century and ran it as a power loom mill with 24 looms weaving winceyette shirtings for the Bradford market but as this trade fell off they changed to dealing with Manchester merchants. Raymond Mitchell at County Brook has in his possession an advice note dating from 1876 which shows that Ezra was sending cloth to be finished at Messrs. Robinson & Co., who were cloth finishers at Greenfield near Saddleworth. This was found when Foulridge Station was being demolished and so indicates that Sellers was transporting goods by rail. The interest I have in this is that we tend to assume that when steam came in, water power went out. This was not necessarily the case and Midge Hole and County Brook are good examples of the continued use of water power. By 1882 Sellers found it impossible to carry on at the mill as the Canal Company’s new waterman was demanding too much ‘palm oil’ to let the water down from the reservoir to suit the working of the mill. (This must have affected County Brook as well.) They moved down to Nelson where they took space in Holmfirth Mill and eventually expanded to 162 looms. At this time Ezra was 53 and his son John was 32.
Midge Hole was in existence before the Sellers took it over but I have no information as yet on when it was built. The only pointer I can give is that it could have been built to take advantage of the end of the Arkwright monopoly when his patents were extinguished in 1785. If this was the case it would start life as a spinning mill. One final point which has been niggling at me is that old Mr Barrett of Hey Fold told Helen Spencer that when Midge Hole Mill was demolished it was the Canal Company that did it and used the stone for their own repairs. Did they buy the mill in 1840 when they built the reservoir?
WOODEND MILL
Further down the County Brook, just above the Stew Mill, there is a footbridge across the brook and if you look carefully above this point you can see traces of a building and a mill leat. This was the site of Wood End Mill and the first mention I have of this is in about 1694/5 in a letter written by Thomas Barcroft of Noyna Hall at Foulridge to Richard Moore of Ball House Foulridge. Thomas is complaining about the fact that Richard is threatening to take him to court over non-payment of rent for Burwains Mill, a corn mill which stood in the valley now flooded for Foulridge Lower Reservoir. He cites one of the reasons for bad trade at Burwains being because of Pollard’s recently built mill at Wood End. By implication he seems to suggest that Wood End was a corn mill and had a drying kiln which was a big advantage in a damp climate like the Pennines.
COUNTY BROOK MILL.
Finally we come to County Brook Mill. I rely heavily here on information from the Wilfred Spencer papers and from Raymond Mitchell, the present owner of County Brook Mill who wrote a splendid booklet about the mill in 1994. Helen Spencer, Wilfred’s widow, gave me other clues, largely connected with estate maps.
There is mention of Hullet [Owlet] Nest Farm and a mill in an indenture of 29th August 1785 in which the owners were Joseph Hartley of Cragg (Foulridge), Margaret his wife and Daniel Parker of Hague, yeoman. The mill has changed its name frequently. In 1828 it is Hey Mill, in 1838 New Mill, in 1910, Stew Mill and I have heard some call it Mitchell’s Mill. The first mention I have found of it is on a map of the Midgely Estate in 1810 when it was described as a worsted mill, in other words processing wool. This was very early for power weaving and I would suggest it was a spinning mill then. Raymond Mitchell told me that when his grandfather took over the mill it was three storied and there was evidence of corn milling having been carried on there. The water frame for spinning came into general use round about 1785 so it may well have been a corn mill up to that point. Raymond has a sale notice in his possession dated June 1842 for the Hullet Nest Farm. A William Hewson and his wife Betty Hartley were the owners at the time. In the description of land and property ‘the cotton mill, Hey Mill’ is mentioned. The vendor reserved the right to remove the ‘engine, boiler house and waterwheel’ unless the purchaser wished to keep them at a cost of £30. So, from this we know that Hey Mill had embraced change, had changed to cotton and was supplementing the water power with a steam engine. The buyers were William and John Midgely hat manufacturers of Colne and they paid £1440.
The practice of installing an engine to work in conjunction with a water wheel was common. What isn’t immediately obvious is that there were other advantages from this arrangement beyond simply increasing the power available. Any form of textile machinery works best at one particular speed. One of the major disadvantages of water power was the fact that it is very difficult to guarantee constant speed. Governors were fitted to them but were almost useless in that their response time was so slow. With the advent of steam, water power users soon realised that if they installed an engine in the power train and ran the water wheel at full flow, topping up the power with the engine, they could control speed far more accurately by varying the steam to the engine by means of a governor. This steadier speed would increase production, cut down on weft breakage and put profits up. Another surprising benefit which Dr Mary Rose proved in her work on Quarry Bank Mill at Styal is that steam power was cheaper than water power and so profits went up for this reason. Water power looks as if it ought to be free but in practice, the maintenance of the wheel and it’s water resource was very expensive.
The 1851 census records three families as living at Hullet Nest (now known as Owlet Nest) and all are connected with textiles, two of them as handloom weavers of wool. Two old women, one 65 and the other 69 are described as bobbin winders but this is almost certainly in connection with the domestic industry. In other words, no evidence that there was any activity at the mill.
In the 1861 census there is no mention of any trade connected with the mill. This was the time of the Cotton Famine and it may well be that the mill was disused for textiles then. However, in the same census a man called Edmund Riley of ‘Hullet Nest’ [Owlet Nest] is described as farmer of 27 acres and ‘Mordant Maker’. He was in partnership with a man called William Yates in this business. (Mordant is a term used in dyeing to describe a chemical which fixes the colour in the cloth.) This fits in with the name ‘Stew Mill’ because we know that this was coined when the site was used for charcoal making. The wood was ‘stewed’ in closed vessels and the vapour which came off was distilled and produced a range of chemicals from light fractions like wood alcohol and naphthalene through phenols to heavy distillates like Stockholm Tar. This process was a valuable source of chemicals before the advent of the petro-chemical industry. Raymond says that in 1928 there were still retorts in the mill and tanks containing liquor. His grandfather found millstones in the basement in 1907 and so it seems clear that it was also a corn mill at some time.
The waterwheel at Hey Mill was 34 feet in diameter and four feet wide. [This is Raymond Mitchell’s description, Newton Pickles gave a different size, see above.] During the 1950’s the mill ran on water power supplemented by an oil engine. By the end of the decade the shed was electrified and it became uneconomic to use the original power. The wheel was demolished in 1960 and the shaft can still be seen in the mill yard.
THE MITCHELL FAMILY
The first thing to state is that regardless of erroneous statements to the contrary, there is absolutely no known connection between the Mitchells of Clough and the Mitchells of County Brook. The evidence for this is Raymond Mitchell of County Brook who has done considerable research into his family. On March 27th, 1876 William Mitchell was born at Ryecroft Bingley and he was to become owner of the mill at County Brook in 1907. There might be a connection here between the Sellers family (Midge Mill) and the Mitchells. There is a mention of a Sellers in an electoral roll of Barnoldswick in 1841 and 1848 but his address is given as Bingley, this seems to be an indication that he lived in Bingley but had property interests in Barlick. It seems a large coincidence to me that two men with connections to Bingley should both finish up as cotton manufacturers on the same small watercourse on the boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Suppose William Mitchell worked for Sellers at Midge Hole and when this finished in 1882 he went to Slaters at Salterforth where he became a tackler. (We know he worked there) By 1907 canal traffic was falling off and the irregular water supply that had dogged the mill ever since the Canal Company built Whitemoor reservoir in 1840 would be easing. Perhaps this was just the time for an intelligent man to step in and take advantage of the low price of a disused watermill when everyone else was thinking steam power and larger units. Whatever happened, on Nov 11, 1910 the Nelson Leader printed a piece describing ‘Stew Mill’ as a weaving mill running 36 looms. Charcoal production was still being carried on and the article mentions the fact that production had not had to stop for shortage of water ‘for the last two or three years’.
The mill was subsequently enlarged and additional power obtained from an oil engine. It is now electrified and still, at the time of writing in 2003, still producing cloth and in the ownership of the Mitchell family.
Looking at the County Brook as a whole, its potential importance as a water power source was blighted in 1840 when the Canal Company took control of the water. The one thing that water powered industry needs above all others is an un-interrupted supply. The Company had only one interest, to let down the water when it suited them for the operation of the canal. This obviously conflicted with interests of the mills who needed continuous water day and night. By day it ran the mill, by night it filled the dam and gave a reserve for the following day. This single fact explains the chequered history of the mills on the watercourse between 1840 and 1907. The degree of success that William Mitchell achieved at County Brook Mill was almost certainly connected with the decreased usage of water by the canal as traffic dropped. If you want to speculate further about this, consider what might have happened if the canal hadn’t taken the water in 1840. County Brook would have had a bigger water resource than Kelbrook, Foulridge or Salterforth and might have developed into a small town. This may seem far-fetched when we look at the present-day rural setting of County Brook Mill but it could all have been much different.
EARBY WATER MILL
1806. Joseph Cowgill and William Harrison were cotton manufacturers in Earby until 1806 when the partnership was dissolved. They had a small water powered mill in Earby, almost certainly the corn mill up Red Lion Street. William Harrison was trying to let it in 1810. On 15 May 1867 the property was in the possession of Sir John Lister Kaye and he sold it to Richard Edmondson, farmer for £500. There is no mention of it being used for textiles after 1806 or of any mill on the site in the 1867 conveyance.
DOTCLIFFE MILL, KELBROOK
Dotcliffe at Kelbrook. 1818. George Ingle [Yorkshire Cotton] says that ‘Kelbrook Mill’ or Dotcliffe was used for cotton spinning on mules by John Wormwell prior to 1818 when his machinery was for sale and the mill was let. I asked him what the reference for this was and he told me that there was a notice in the Leeds Mercury for 2nd May 1818. It described the machinery as mules, cards, roving frames etc, and subsequently the letting of the mill by Widow Wormwell. It was let to Henry Jackson and continued to be used for cotton spinning. There is a mention in ‘The History of Lothersdale’ of Smallpage having Dotcliffe in 1836. The mill appears on the 1st edition OS map surveyed 1853 as ‘water powered cotton mill’. In 1857 the mill burned down but Smallpages must have rebuilt because Geoff Shackleton evidence is that they were there until the summer of 1898. There is evidence there was a beam engine in the mill because in 1886 there was a smash. It was reported that the beam and flywheel broke but it must have been rebuilt because when a secondhand Musgrave engine replaced it in 1923 the beam was left in situ. There is no mention of the mill in Barrett for 1902. This agrees with the fact that there was a sale on Wednesday 8th of July 1903 at the Crown Hotel, Colne of Dotcliffe Mill, all the machinery, 9 cottages and a stable adjacent and also Royds Farm and some land. The sale document [original in Colne Library] gives an detailed description of the mill and contents: Weaving shed for 220 looms. I small Lancashire boiler and one Cornish running at 55psi. Beam engine, cylinder 24”X4ft 6” stroke, 14 ft beam, wrought iron connecting rod and crank, CI entablature and 17ft flywheel. 10ft diameter second motion wheel, so it’s a geared engine. Built to run at 50psi and coupled to the Gilkes vortex water turbine which is evidently connected to the engine by a clutch as it can be worked separately. The turbine was 20hp, designed for a fall of 33ft and 371 cubic feet of water/minute giving 20hp. Electric light installation put in 1893 by Spagnoletti and Crookes, dynamo running at 784 rpm. There is also a new Davey Paxman steam engine and dynamo in the Grey Room, designed to run 65 lights separately. Apart from the usual weaving plant there is a dyeing plant with auxiliary engines and drying room. [GS mentions a sale in 1906, is this the same sale or a later one? Date of 1903 sale is correct, I have a copy of the sale document] Newton Pickles talked about repairing the shafting from the turbine in 1932, it was on a girder above that shaft that Albert Hoggarth the engineer hung himself and the workers wouldn’t cut the rope down so NP did it for them. NP says that at that time the turbine just drove the dynamo. GS says that J J Duckworth took over after Smallpages left, was this after the sale of 1903? In 1912 Duckworths added a 100 loom extension. In 1923 there is a report of the beam engine being replaced with a Musgrave. This fits with an order from Burnley Ironworks on 23rd May 1924 for I HP piston rod packing, 3 ¼” no. 22947 from Universal Metallic Packing Co for J J Duckworth Ltd. This was replaced with a US Metallic Packing in May 1931. May 1929, report by Earby UDC that 60 men and 60 women were out of work at Dotcliffe because of repairs. Craven Herald 23/01/1931 notes that the Springbank Weaving Co at Dotcliffe carries on with eight loom sets despite the lockout in the area against more looms. They are advertising for non-union labour and only need another 30 to make up their full number. 20/02/1931. CH report that Mr Procter of Springbank Weaving Company says that they have 16 sets of eight looms running and the remainder on four looms, all non-union labour. The secretary of the Weavers Association at Earby, Mr E S Kay, said that 70 weavers were recognised as being on strike at Dotcliffe. 29/05/1931. CH reports a temporary stoppage at Dotcliffe for breakdown. 16/09/1931. Report that Albert Hoggarth, engineer at Dotcliffe had been fined 10/- with 3 guineas costs for poisoning fish in Harden Beck by blowing undiluted boiler water into the beck. The poisonous agent was the boiler compound ‘Noncrus’. 8/07/1932. CH reports about 70 warps slashed at Dotcliffe. The manager of the Springbank Manufacturing Co found the damage when he opened up at 7am on Monday 4 July. 7/10/1932. CH report of the suicide of Albert Hoggarth, 38, 2 James Street, Salterforth. John William Wilkinson, manager of the Springbank Weaving Co found him after he had arrived at the mill at 06:40, found the workers locked out, he started the engine and looked for Hoggarth and found him hung on a girder over the turbine shaft. Jeannie Smith of 24 Dotcliffe Road said that Hoggarth had been courting her mother and she had rejected him. Hoggarth was heard to say he would top himself. His Brother Herbert Hoggarth of 2 Beech Street, Barnoldswick identified the body and said Albert had been engineer at Kelbrook for three years. Worrall 1938 gives Springbank Weaving Co as manufacturers at Dotcliffe with 460 looms. Ditto in 1939 but 440 looms. Worrall 1957 cites Dotcliffe Mill (Kelbrook) Ltd as weaving at Dotcliffe with 440 looms. Charles Lord manager. LTP 78/AH/15 page 3. Fred Inman talks about Speak and Booth being at Spring Mill in Earby. [Later the name of this firm was Booth and Speak. Fred Inman says that the reason for this was they worked a fiddle by taking government money to concentrate, liquidated the firm and then started again as Booth and Speak] Fred says they were Bailey’s then (Worrall, C W Bailey, Springs Mill, 548 looms.) Fred says B&S first bought Shuttleworths out at Victoria, shut that when they bought Spring Mill, then took Dotcliffe, sold that for engineering and moved to Albion Shed. They scrapped there and went out. [This is a firm that played the subsidy game brilliantly]
GREEN END SHED EARBY
1835c. William Windle born Earby 3/02/1825 stated in an article in Craven Herald 30/12/1932 that he worked as a lad as a power loom weaver in ‘The Old Shed’ built by Christopher Bracewell at Green End [who came to Earby from Thornton Hall in 1813.] I have evidence that the shed was built in 1839 but no concrete reference. He said it was visited by the ‘plug drawers’ [this was summer of 1842] and as originally built it held 140 looms in a long narrow building, later enlarged to 260 looms. There is evidence that before 1839 it was a warehouse for twist and cloth for HLW.[This isn’t a water site and I was glad to get this reference as it seems to prove that it had a steam engine. Mitchell’s Mill had an engine by 1827 at the latest so 1839 isn’t too early for the area]
HAVERDALE MILL
1836. Haverdale Mill, below Crackpot. [5 miles north of Bainbridge] 10/12/1836. Mr Knowles first got water to the wheel of his new mill. Built as a water twist mill, by 1851 the machinery was for sale and it became a corn mill. It was built to spin woollen yarn for knitting and carpets. In 1904 the site and ruins of mill were for sale.
HIGHERFORD MILL, BARROWFORD
In her will of 1638 (1738?) Grace Grimshaw bequeathed to her sons James and Christopher all that cotton mill and factory. She also left them Whittycroft Estate and Crowtrees House which had both been mortgaged to raise the capital to build the mill. Doreen Crowther says that the mill was run as two firms, ‘James and Christopher Grimshaw’ and ‘Grimshaw and Bracewell’. They also ran two malt kilns on Higherford Hill.
HIGHERFORD MILL, BARROWFORD, NELSON.
PRELIMINARY SURVEY DONE BY SCG ON 10/05/1984
OS reference: SD862401
Formerly called Grimshaw’s Mill, it started its life in the late 18th century as a water powered spinning mill.
WATER POWER PHASE.
The mill has an excellent water power resource in Pendle Water. This free-flowing stream has a wide catchment area and carries little sediment. It is therefore a reliable and easily managed power source.
The weir that serves the mill is situated 625 yards north of Higherford Mill at SD861406. It was severely damaged in the flood of 8th of August 1967 and some major timbers and stones from it can still be distinguished up to 200 yards downstream. The flood was caused by a cloudburst on the west side of Whitemoor and Coldweather. There was a lot of damage from Admergill down to Nelson, the road at Rough Lee was completely washed out and needed major repairs.
At the weir is a cast iron clow and headgear which is in good condition. From the clow and underground goyt carries the water SSE through parcel no. SD8640/0645 for approximately 100 yards. This watercourse is of stone arch construction and, from the lack of settlement in the field, is in good condition.
The goyt proceeds at ground level to a large balance pond one acre in extent (SD861403). The main goyt proceeds past the pond but there are connections between the two which allow water to be admitted to the pond from the goyt and vice versa. There is a spillway 50 yards long from the NE corner of the pond to Pendle Water which is in excellent condition. The goyt is silted and almost dried out but the balance pond contains a body of water and its walls and embankments are in good condition.
From the balance pond there is a separate watercourse running parallel to the main goyt. During the last two years the portions of these goyts lying within the bounds of parcel no. SD8640/1314 have been obliterated by landscaping.
The goyts reappear at the rear of the mill where there are two cast iron clows with head gearing, watercourse and cast iron penstock all in good condition.
It has not been possible to investigate the mill interior for the purposes of this report but there will be considerable evidence of the wheel chamber and associated constructions remaining. The tailrace emerges from the mill in the bed of Pendle Water immediately above the west abutment of Higherford Bridge.
The total fall available from this resource is estimated as approximately 20 feet. Unconfirmed reports state that the wheel was 24ft in diameter and 8ft across the face. It was high breast fed. These same sources state that the wheel was in use until 1914 when it was taken out and replaced by a turbine driving a DC generator. This was later converted to a DC stand-by unit.
In 1832 a detached chimney was built 50 yards to the west of the end of the mill and an engine installed to run in tandem with the wheel. The whole mill existed in its present form from 1891. The chimney and flue are in good condition.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MILL.
The mill is constructed of local stone and the weaving sheds have north light roofs. The area of the whole of the premises is approximately 24,000 square feet.
The chronology of the building of the mill seems to have been:
West end of central multi storey section built c.1800.
East end of same built c.1830.
Weaving sheds added c.1840 to 1891.
Chimney 1832.
The whole complex is a typical early water powered textile mill of the area. It displays well the transition from water powered spinning through steam weaving to electric individual drives. The watercourses, though damaged by landscaping, are an excellent example of the management of such a resource.
Even though the mill was built over a long period of time its architectural style is homogeneous and pleasingly reflects the features of some of the much older buildings near it, Notably the round headed mullions of the Fold. (SD862400)
The mill is the earliest example of the combined textile mill in Barrowford or Nelson. Apart from minimal alterations it has maintained its external characteristics even though its internal use has changed to light industry. It would be difficult to find a better example of its type. On a smaller scale, it is directly comparable in use and development with Quarry Bank Mill at Styal in that it is the urban equivalent of Greg’s mill. A listing would protect the mill from radical change and this would, in turn, have an effect on the immediate area as the mill is the keystone of the important Higherford Preservation Area.
SCG/10/05/1984
This report was done to support an application for Listing for the mill. Since then I believe that Pendle Heritage has taken the mill over. I had a report the other day that when they took over they found a horse’s skeleton in the cellar! (21/11/00)
G Shackleton research. Received 20/11/00
1824. Built by Christopher Grimshaw as a four storey spinning mill driven by a waterwheel.
B5 HIGHERFORD MILL, BARROWFORD
1832. Steam power introduced.
1866.Messrs Grimshaw and Harper are operating the mill.
1867. Thomas Grimshaw is the owner, and puts the mill up for sale. Mill is described as four storeys high and capable of holding 10,000 spindles (but presently containing 4,000 throstle spindles only) and the space for preparation etc. There is a separate weaving shed which will hold 240 looms but contains at present 180 only ( 60 by John Pilling of Colne and nearly new).
1870. Fire at the mill… details?
1871. The mill was auctioned in January together with 200 looms.
1872. Thomas Grimshaw is still listed as owner and occupying the mill with William Holt.
1883. The firm of Smith and Wiseman take the mill, and move their looms to here from Vivary Bridge Mill, Colne where they had been for over 20 years. They are weaving jeans and plain cloths initially with 214 looms.
1885 Dispute at the mill. Claimed that Messrs Wiseman are paying 12% less than elsewhere in the district.
1888 R. A. Wiseman has 458 looms here and 150 employees. He tries to pay them 5% less than the present piece rates. Another period of very troublesome industrial relations begins.
1889 The old boiler house is emptied to allow for an extension in weaving capacity and a new boiler is installed in a new boiler house. The old engine house is also pulled down and space created for a new taping machine. When rearranged the shed will hold 50 more looms and a total of 500.
1894. Messrs Wiseman’s lease expires in January and he threatens to take his looms to Burnley due to the higher cost of being in Barrowford (mainly transport cost due to the distance to a railway station).
1895. The mill runs little for the next two years and includes a period of a 36 week strike ending in May 1896.
1895. Mill starts up after a strike of 36 weeks and runs 489 looms through to the mid 1930’s.
c.1935 The mill is in the occupation of T & R Wiseman Ltd. who ran 250 looms.
1960. T & R Wiseman Ltd running 230 looms.
HIGHERFORD MILL, BARROWFORD—STEAM ENGINES
No information available on the original steam plant installed in 1832, but at this date all probability would suggest this to have been a beam engine. Less likely would have been to adapt a horizontal engine directly onto the shaft of the waterwheel to supplement the power. There are some records of repairs etc. to the engine that was installed new in 1889. These indicate that the engine was a horizontal tandem compound engine with the HP cylinder mounted behind the LP.
During the 1950’s Messrs Brown Sons and Pickles, of Barnoldswick do work here and recall that the shed was driven by an oil engine, there being no sign of the steam engine.
EARLY WATER POWERED LOOMS IN BARLICK
1844. In the Craven Herald of 1/05/1931 Stephen Pickles wrote that in 1844 there were a few power looms in Gillians, Clough and Old Coates. Stephen was very reliable [S. Pickles and Sons] and whilst the Gillians reference is surprising, I accept it. I have independent evidence that there were looms in Old Coates definitely driven by water power and Clough certainly had them. Clough was run by Mitchell up to 1867 when he sold it to John Slater son of John Slater Snr. This John had an interest in a silk mill at Galgate [escaped consequences of Cotton Famine?]. Long before 1867 John Slater senior had a loomshop in Manchester Road with 14 hand looms, was a carter and did odd jobs. Around 1850 he put 50 looms into Clough and his son James was head cut-looker at Clough. In 1881 James Slater left the family partnership and with McFarlane Widdup [Born 1841 at Salterforth Lane, son of John Widdup, dealer. 1841 census.] ran 144 looms at Clough. The partnership didn’t last long and in 1889 James Slater moved to Salterforth Shed where he had 216 looms. James eventually owned Salterforth Shed. [For Widdup, see Widdup Brothers of Moss Shed]
SAWLEY MILL, CHATBURN.
In 1822 Baines records William Shaw as corn miller. Some time around 1795 the mill was taken over by Peel Yates and Company for block printing, dyeing, bleaching and finishing. Thomas Peel lived nearby but in July 1811 the lease was for sale as the company started to reduce the number of works they operated. The mill seems to have reverted to corn milling.
TWISTON MILL, NEAR RIMINGTON.
There is evidence that a William Bailey was cotton manufacturer of Twiston Mill. He bought a manual fire engine from Clitheroe Local Board in 1870. Then there was a disastrous fire at the mill. Marked as ‘Cotton’ on OS map of 1858. Thomas Moorby of Twiston described as Cotton manufacturer in an agreement of 1867. [See Narrowgates Mill. Thomas Moorby who died on 18th of September 1874?]
WADDINGTON MILL, CLITHEROE
Baines, 1822 gives Richard Ellison, corn miller, Edward Chippendale, wood turner and John Shepherd cotton spinner and manufacturer all on the same site. Slater 1871 gives Thomas Banks as corn miller. [There may be confusion here with Grindleton Mill nearby.]
PIGHOLE MILL, WALVERDEN BROOK, BRIERCLIFFE
Pighole Mill, sometimes known as Peglar’s Mill is on the Walverden Brook and is now known as Fern Valley. Bennett, History of Burnley suggests that it was probably built as a corn mill after the closure of Walverden Mill by 1438 and its transfer to Colne. Not shown on Yates map of 1786 but referred to in the 1851 census as a bobbin mill. In the 1841 census 39 people, including 7 HLW are shown in the building. Later converted to Cottages. Still exists as Fern Valley in 2003.
RIBCHESTER.
This was a centre for bobbin turning, there were several separate firms working there, see Baines 1822. Joseph Whitaker is mentioned in Baines 1822 also as Cotton Manufacturer at Knowle Green.
ROGGERHAM MILL.
This mill at Briercliffe existed as a corn mill in 1610 and was a legal accessory to Extwistle Mill. It ground corn for over 200 years and at the end of the 18th c was converted to woollen spinning. Cotton was introduced and by 1820 there is evidence of cotton spinning and hand loom weaving. By 1700 the mill seems to have been run by the landlord of the Bay Horse Inn in Worston. Later demolished.
NEW MILL FOULRIDGE
1938 Worrall notes J F and H Roberts as manufacturers at New Shed, Foulridge with 673 looms and some at Oxenhope. Fred Inman said his wife worked there
OLD COATES MILL AND COATES MILL.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE MILLS.
The first thing to say is that care must be taken to distinguish between the two mills which had the same name. I have made the distinction by referring to the earliest mill as OLD COATES and the later mill as COATES. Nothing is left on the ground of Old Coates. The later mill closed early and became DOBSONS DAIRY, then it went back to weaving velvet under the name Yorkshire Plush, became CARRS PRINTERS and in the last five years has become HOPE ENGINEERING.
BRACEWELL CONNECTION.
Another source of possible confusion as regards Old Coates mill is the fact that one of the partners in the early 19th century was William Bracewell, together with his brothers, Thomas and Christopher. I refer to these as the Bracewells of Coates. They were sons of William Bracewell of Coates the brother of Christopher Bracewell of Green End at Earby who was born at Coates but moved to Earby in 1813. Christopher of Green End had a son called William who became William Bracewell of Newfield Edge in Barlick and was nicknamed ‘Billycock’ no doubt to distinguish him from the other Bracewells who were, of course, his cousins. Billycock built Butts in 1846 and New Mill, later called Wellhouse in 1854. He also owned the Corn Mill, Ouzledale Mill, was in the process of building the new gas works next to the Corn Mill and had many other interests in Barlick when he died in 1887. A further possible confusion arises here because he had a son called Christopher George.
You might wonder why I am digressing into Billycock history; the reason is that knowledge of him is essential to following the Old Coates story. Bracewell of Newfield edge was a combative business man. His aim was as near total control; of the town as he could get. One of his main weapons was control of water supplies and I have much work to do on this subject before it will become completely clear. However, I have enough hard evidence now to make some reasonable assumptions about the areas where I have no firm evidence. Let’s concentrate on two instances of this effort to control water. First and least tangible at the moment is the fact that at some time after 1846 he bought Ouzledale Mill on Forty Steps which was a saw mill at the time I think and logic says it predates Mitchell’s Mill (Clough) because I find it impossible to believe that if Clough had been the first build, Mitchell wouldn’t have made sure that he controlled the Ouzledale resource. The fact that he didn’t suggests that it existed before he built his mill. Ouzledale dam was at a higher level that Butts Mill and I suspect that Billycock’s intention was to divert the water to enable expansion of Butts Mill which had a limited water resource. This would have course had an impact on Mitchell’s business.
For some reason he never pursued this possibility. I don’t know why, perhaps he couldn’t get enough land to expand at Butts, perhaps Mitchell put up adequate opposition because I have no doubt that he would see the danger. There is a possible clue in the fact that Bancroft Mill couldn’t be built using Gillians Beck as a water resource until an alliance by marriage between the Nutter and Slater families early in the 20th century, Slater owned Clough at the time and crucially, he appears to have controlled the riparian rights back to what was effectively the source of Gillians Beck. There is further evidence that might support this, Gillians Mill higher up on the beck never used the main beck as its power resource when it was built in the mid 1780s, it used a small beck coming down behind Bancroft Farm. The inference from this is that Mitchell got the rights to the back right back to the source when he built his mill and Slater got these when he bought what was then Clough. One last piece of evidence about Gillians is that when I was engineer at Bancroft I was always puzzled by the fact that there was a by-pass round the dam and provision to send all the water in Gillians directly down to Clough. Sydney Nutter once told me that he thought this dated back to the building of the mill when there was an agreement with Slaters that in hot weather, if Clough was struggling for vacuum, Bancroft was obliged to send the cooler water direct to Clough instead of warming it in the lodge after use for condensing. This was a very pressing problem when there was a succession of steam mills on a watercourse. I have plenty of hard evidence for this in respect of other mills in the town. The bottom line is that there is enough evidence to suspect that Bracewell appears to have bought Ouzledale to put pressure on Mitchell.
The second instance of this use of water as a weapon against business rivals concerns the water resource at the Corn Mill which relates directly to the fate of Old Coates. The Corn Mill is probably the oldest established use of water power in Barnoldswick. The earliest reference I have so far is November 1640 when it changed hands. Therefore it certainly predated the water powered textile industry and almost certainly any use of water power for sawing wood. It is certainly the best water site in the town as it controls Butts Beck which is formed by the combination of Gillians and Calf Hall becks, the major resources in the town. It had a very large dam stretching all the way back to Dam Head on Gisburn Road and a good flow.
Whatever the problems Billycock had with expansion at Butts, what is certain is that by shortly after 1850 he had made the decision to build New Mill. There is evidence that this decision puzzled many people in the town because the site he chose for the New Mill had no significant water resource. Many of the legends in the town about underground tunnels connected the ancient monastic site at Calf Hall with Gill Church date from this time. Nothing certain has surfaced yet about watercourses installed by Billycock originating at Butts but I have been told that they did exist. Personally I can’t understand why because he controlled the beck by ownership of the Corn Mill. However, what is certain, and I have hard evidence for this, is that he put a six inch cast iron pipe in from the Corn Mill dam to the New Mill. His intention all along had been to run the mill from Butts Beck water. This resource existed as late as July 1890 when the Calf Hall Shed Company approached the Barnoldswick Gas and Light Company to explore the possibility of getting water from them.
So, we have a situation where we know that Bracewell had the capability to divert water from the Butts Beck to what is now Wellhouse. We need to look at Old Coates now to see what Billycock did and what were its consequences.
OLD COATES MILL.
Information about Old Coates is thin on the ground but grows gradually. There is absolutely no reason to suppose that there was a mill on the site before the water-powered textile era. So, until I get evidence to the contrary, I am assuming that it started as a water-powered twist mill shortly after 1785 when the Arkwright patents were overturned and the technology became widely available. Latest research suggests a building date of 1803 by Bracewells of Coates. I have evidence that there was water powered weaving in the mill around 1840/1850. John Pickles told Newton that there was a beam engine in there before it finished and the photograph shows the chimney so we know it became steam powered. William Atkinson in his History of Old Barlick says that illegal whisky was distilled in the ‘gas house’. As there has never been any suggestion of finishing at the mill this must mean that a gas plant had been installed for lighting the mill. The 1892 map shows a round structure to the east of the mill next to the access road which could have been the gasholder.
If my build date of 1803 is correct it is before Billycock Bracewell moved into the town from Burnley. At that time they had no problems with water, they were getting the full flow of the Butts Beck and were in as good a position as the Corn Mill. They ran the mill until 1860 and had looms in Clough Mill as well. In fact, in the 1851 census, Christopher and Thomas are recorded as living together at Clough House next to Clough mill and are noted as being in partnership with William, who lived at Coates, in an enterprise which employed 60 men, 44 women, 15 boys and 9 girls. In 1860 they abandoned all their interests in the town and there is a record in Slater’s Directory of 1871 of Christopher Bracewell and Brothers at Waterloo Mill, Clitheroe. The question is of course, what happened?
This is where I have to fly a kite because I haven’t got enough hard evidence yet. Remember that Billycock had put the pipe in to supply his New Mill from Corn Mill dam. This meant that he was diverting a considerable quantity of water from the Butts Beck with a consequent reduction in flow to Old Coates. I don’t t5hink this would have been a serious matter when the beck had a full flow but would certainly have had serious consequences in drought conditions. We know that by this time Billycock had a steam engine in the Corn Mill so there was no imperative for him to put water over his wheel which would obviously have fed Old Coates. In low flow conditions, as long as he had enough water in the dam to condense his engine and provide boiler feed, he could let all the rest go down to Wellhouse. I think this was enough to make Old Coates unviable. The circumstantial evidence that this was so is the fact that six years after the New Mill started, the Bracewell Brothers moved their interests out of the town.
It looks as though a man called James Nuttall bought the mill then. I think he had the idea that he could make the mill viable again by using the water from the Foul Syke which brings the water down from below Wellhouse mill. This didn’t carry a lot of water but was augmented by the Bowker drain which had been put in to collect all the water from the North side of the canal plus any leakage from the canal. There’s a big mystery about this drain, who put it in and why and I’m still working on it. One thing is certain, it was regarded as stolen water.
Whatever his intentions the next thing we hear is that in 1860 there is a case in the Chancery Court of the Duchy of Lancaster between Billycock Bracewell and James Nuttall over the rights to the water from the Bowker Drain and we have to surmise that Nuttall lost because the mill stayed empty and the farmer at Coates Farm, John Raw, stored his hay in it. I think we can make another assumption here, that Billycock either bought the mill or the contents once he had convinced Nuttall that he couldn’t run it. The reason I say this is that there is a mention in the diary of William Dugdale of Barlick that on the 20th August 1874 the boiler was removed from Old Coates Mill and taken to the Ingleton Coal Pits. The crucial thing about this is that in July of the same year, Billycock bought the Ingleton coal field. Billycock died in 1887 and Billy Brooks told me that he remembered the mill being demolished when he was about ten years old, this would make it 1892.
COATES MILL.
Four years after the court case with Bracewell, James Nuttall started to build New Coates on a green field site to the north east of Coates Bridge with the advantage of the canal water for condensing. This was the first mill to be built on the canal side in Barlick and I think that Nuttall’s experiences with Bracewell had taught him to look for the most reliable water resource, he found it in the canal.
New Coates was originally built for 300 looms, it was powered by a beam engine and William Atkinson says ‘It was built for those would-be manufacturers who had been thwarted at Old Coates Mill’. A shortage of capital delayed completion. In the Craven Herald of 8th of September 1888 there was a report that ‘Coates mill works on as usual during the depression caused by the collapse of the Bracewell interests’. I can’t help thinking this must have given one or two people much satisfaction. Various tenants are mentioned over the years, James Nutter was in there with 56 looms in 1880. Bell and Russell in 1896. Coates Manufacturing Company, late Dewhurst and Harrison is mentioned in 1905 with 400 looms.
By about 1912 the mill was owned by Ridings Mill Stores of Blackburn. It was run by the Coates Manufacturing Company which was a consortium of Earby men led by Walter Wilkinson who used to be the manager of the Co-operative Stores at Earby, some of the names associated with him were Jack Myers, ? Duckworth, Elisha Harrison, ? Waddington and others. There is mention of a ‘Seal Manufacturing Co.’ at this time and I suspect these men were the partners in it. It was named after ‘Seal Croft’ in Earby, the site owned by Bailey on which Albion Mill was built. Walter Wilkinson had three sons, one of whom, Granville Wilkinson, went to Whitefield and started there. The Coates Manufacturing Company may have bought the mill off Ridings when they built the extension on the canal bank. This would be 1919 and would probably be when Johnny Pickles put the Hick Hargreaves engine in which they bought second hand from a mill in Bolton which had closed. There is a Universal Metallic Packing order dated 14/08/1919 for this engine. Johnny converted it to rope drive by fixing CI segments on top of the existing gears and turning the rope grooves after the engine was assembled, in its own pit. Newton says it was the truest flywheel in Barlick. There’s some confusion about when it closed down but there is mention of it standing idle until it was bought in 1931 by Dobson’s Dairies of Manchester. Newton, at the age of 15, got the job of getting the engine going again. Later, after WWII, Brown and Pickles installed a new Lancashire boiler. It ran until the late 60’s as a dairy and then went back to weaving velvet for a time but not on the engine. Later it became Carr’s Printers but when they moved out into Calf Hall Shed it became Hopes, engineers.
SUTHERS, MANUFACTURERS AT WELLHOUSE AND COATES.
Suthers. William
1851 census shows him at Lane Bottoms, 65, Chelsea Pensioner. Wife Ann is 48 and HLW wool. Two sons, Robert 18 and Luke 15 both throstle spinners.
1861 census shows same entries except that Luke has left home and Robert is a power loom oiler.
1881 census shows William F Suthers, 25 years living in Barnoldswick Village. [Just possible he is son of Luke born 1836, who would be 21 when he was born.] 1871 census shows Luke as living in Barnoldswick Village aged 36 and overlooker. No wife mentioned.
SUTHERS. WILLIAM F. 1881/1891 CENSUS
1881. William F Suthers, 25 years, Barnoldswick Village. Mary, wife 26. Jane 5. Luke, 2. Frederick 9 months.
1891. William, 34. Mary 35. Jane 15. Luke 12. Frederick 10. Harry 7. Ethel 4. Harcourt 2.
SUTHERS. LUKE. B 1845. 1881/1891 Census
1881. Luke Suthers, Barnoldswick Village. Head, 46. Wife Charlotte, 44. Twins, Grace and Mary Ann, 3 years.
1891. Same entry. But Luke’s age is 54 and Charlotte’s is 52. Address is 30 Walmsgate, Barnoldswick.
SUTHERS. EPHRAIM. b.1863. 1881/1891 CENSUS
1881. Ephraim Suthers, Barnoldswick Village. Head, 18. Wife Ada, 16.
1891. Ephraim Suthers, 11 Hill Street, head 28. Wife Ada, 26. Daughter Ann, 2 years.
SUTHERS. JOHN T. b. 1861. 1881/1891 CENSUS
1881. Barnoldswick Village. John T Suthers, 20 years.
1891. 9 Alice Street. John T Suthers, head, 30. Elizabeth, wife, 29 years. Tom E. son 1 year.
CHSCMB 20/07/1922. Following the death of George Proctor there was a ballot for the vacant seat on the board. Jonathan Peel, H Clark and Luke Suthers were candidates. Jonathan Clark was elected.
CHSCMB. 7/02/1923. Resolved that WF Suthers and Sons Ltd be accepted as tenants of the space occupied by Wm Bailey(Barnoldswick) Ltd [who had liquidated]. Suthers had bought 160 of Bailey’s looms and some machinery. Edward Wood was the liquidator and on 28th February he reported he had sold 160 to William Suthers and Sons Ltd and their rent started from March 1st 1923. Also he reported on 14 March 1923 that he had sold the remaining 416 looms to the Wellhouse Manufacturing Co Ltd. Rent to commence May 1st, 1923.
SUTHERS. LUKE. CHSC DIRECTOR’S BALLOT
CHSCMB. 16/07/1925. Following the death of Thomas Baxter there was a ballot for a new director. Candidates were Slater Dugdale, Luke Suthers and H Clarke. Slater Dugdale elected.
SUTHERS. LUKE. SALE OF CHSC SHARES.
CHSCMB. 4/11/1920. Luke Suthers sells shares in CHSC. 30 to John Whitfield Overing. 58 to Herbert Clarke. 150 to J J Sneath. 12 to Winnie Windle.
SUTHERS. LUKE. SALE OF CHSC SHARES AND LIQUIDATION.
CHSCMB. 4/11/1920. Luke Suthers sells shares in CHSC. 30 to John Whitfield Overing. 58 to Herbert Clarke. 150 to J J Sneath. 12 to Winnie Windle. 18/11/1925. Jane Sneath 200. Mary Ann Cowgill 50. Mary Cowgill 50. John & Mary Sneath 50. John W Broughton 100. Francis Clark 14. Leonard Windle 6. Roth Berridge 50. Charles E Sneath 30. Elizabeth H Ibbotson 17. 2/12/1925. Elizabeth Hannah Ibbotson 97. 24/02/1926. Sec. reported that he had taken possession of the premises of W F Suthers Ltd on 3/02/1926 for rent owing of £100-9-1, that he was appointed liquidator on Feb 6th and that there were sufficient assets to meet the claim.
In an article in the Craven Herald dated 17/11/1930, Luke Suthers death was reported at Hutton near Preston. He was a director of W F Suthers Ltd the firm founded by his father. When this firm liquidated Luke and his brothers manufactured cotton cloth in a corrugated iron shed at Coates under the title of the Ghyll Manufacturing Company. In about 1927 he left the town for Preston where he worked in the cotton trade for a time and then became proprietor of a petrol station on the Clitheroe to Blackpool road.
SCG/07 December 2003
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"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
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