Shaw Lodge Mill Weaving Sheds and Clock Tower, Halifax, Calderdale

Description

HALIFAX

679/0/10316 SHAW LANE
03-APR-07 (West side)
Shaw Lodge Mill Weaving Sheds and Clock
Tower

GV II*
WEAVING SHEDS 1847, 1852, in coursed dressed gritstone with wood framed 2-over-3 or 2-over-6 windows, some blocked. Built into slope of ground to rear (west), with southern section dating to 1852, central section to 1847, and clock tower and office to 1876. East front of weaving shed to Shaw Lane has, from south, 10 windows of which 4 break forward including a half blocked entrance to the centre, the 7 windows breaking forward, then 6 blocks of 4 windows, alternately forward and back, with several entrances, then blank wall to the north, curving towards the west. Between 1 and 4 storeys plus basement with upper levels windowless. Original saw-tooth roof at southern end in 1852 section, replacement sheet metal to centre and north where it has been raised, with a parapet.

Interior: open sheds supported on iron columns, mostly replacement. Northern section, dating to 1847, has original iron roof supports to the side walls, below raised wall and C21 roof structure. Spiral iron staircase at southern end of 1847 section.

CLOCK TOWER AND OFFICES
1876, at the north end of the weaving sheds, facing north onto a courtyard. North elevation: 2-storey block to right with rock-faced stone on ground floor, and a pitched slate roof. Ground floor has 5 6-over-6 windows grouped as two pairs and a single to the left, and a half blocked cart entrance to the right with cornice. First floor has 6 windows grouped as below, centre 4 of which have round arches in ashlar dressings. Right hand window over entrance is recessed. To the left is the 4-stage clock tower, with chamfered corners and pyramidal slate roof. Semi-circular arched entrance with vermiculated rustication on the dressings, an individually carved stone mask as keystone and dentilated cornice. Double doors with glazed fanlight over. First floor stage of tower has triple round-arched windows with ashlar dressings and Ionic columns and pilasters to front and back. First and second floors defined by string course. Second floor stage has circular clock face on each side with Roman numerals. Projecting dentilated string course to upper stage which has double round-arched shuttered windows to each side with a string course beneath supported by curved brackets, and dentilated eaves to the roof.

To the right of the offices, at right angles, is a further 2-storey range of offices, with 3 windows and an entrance at ground level, built in matching style in mid C20.

Interior of offices not accessed.

HISTORY
The firm of John Holdsworth & Company was founded in 1822 by John Holdsworth, whose family were already woollen textile manufacturers and merchants in Shibden then in Halifax. They specialised in worsted cloth, produced by hand loom weavers, but developments in mechanised spinning led in 1822 to John Holdsworth establishing his first spinning mill to join a growing number of worsted spinning mills in Halifax. The location of this is uncertain, but by 1825 he was purchasing land at Shaw Lodge and his first mill on the site is dated to 1830. This is the extant 'No 1 Mill' on the present site.

Further developments in the industry led to the gradual mechanisation of the weaving part of the process, and the first power loom weaving shed was begun at Shaw Lodge in 1844. This was accompanied at around the same time by further spinning mills and, in 1852, by an extension to the weaving shed. The No 2 Mill, dated to between 1831 and 1839, was to the south of the extant buildings, and at right angles to them leading eastwards to the Hebble Brook. It is unclear whether what is named as No 3 Mill and dated 1850 in a plan of 1925 was built as such, as earlier plans call it a warehouse, though it was certainly in existence by 1855, standing to the north of and adjoining No 1 Mill.

The mills appear to have been steam powered by 1839, with separate engines for each of the two mills. By 1855 a separate engine house, boiler house and chimney were built on the eastern side of the site, with underground power connections to the mills. By this time, the firm had invested in Jacquard looms and in 1851 won a medal at the Great Exhibition for their worsted cloths. Branches in Bradford and London were run by members of the family, and John Holdsworth had a house, Shaw Lodge, close by the western side of the site, now demolished.

Continuing prosperity led to the construction of the 7-storey warehouse to the north of No 3 Mill in 1862, and the separate office block with adjoining stable in 1865. A workshop and shed at the north end of the site, and a tower and timekeepers office at the northern end of the weaving sheds were added in 1876.

Since then, alterations to the buildings have included the loss of the No 2 Mill and the southern end of No 1 Mill, the reconstruction of the stables, extensions to the engine house and boiler house, and the reroofing of most of the weaving sheds and mills. The firm continues to operate up to 2006, having survived the demise of most woollen manufacturing in the country, specializing in the production of moquette for the bus and coach trade. The site is due to be redeveloped.

SOURCES
www.holdsworth.co.uk "over 200 years in the textile industry"
R.C.H.M. Yorkshire Textile Mills 1770-1930, 1992
Wrathmell, S. Unpub. notes

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE
The weaving sheds and clock tower at Shaw Lodge Mill are part of a very important and complete complex of worsted mill buildings. The importance of the Yorkshire textile industry is widely acknowledged, and has been examined thematically by English Heritage. Shaw Lodge was identified by the 1992 thematic survey of West Yorkshire textile mills as meriting a II* grade by virtue of its high quality and intactness.

The national criteria for designation of industrial buildings include factors of architectural interest, planning, evidence of process and function, intactness and contextual value. The weaving sheds, though plain architecturally, show clear evidence of function and process. The overall completeness of the site and its significance in showing the regional specialism of worsted production make it of more than special interest.

As an integral and essential part of the mill complex, the weaving sheds and clock tower are of high significance in the history of this nationally important industry.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

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Shaw Lodge Mill Weaving Sheds and Clock Tower

A Grade II* Listed Building in Halifax, Calderdale

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