North Dean Mill, Elland, Calderdale

Summary

North Dean Mill is a former woollen textile mill of the second half of the nineteenth century, built in stone with slate roofs.

Description

North Dean is a former woollen textile mill designed by Richard Horsfall, architect, of Halifax in 1876-7, with additions in 1878, 1885 and 1919.

MATERIALS: the buildings are in coursed gritstone with slate roofs.

PLAN: the site is a north-south, elongated trapezoid in shape, with roads to the east, west and north-west. The spinning mill is aligned north-south on the eastern edge of the site, with the former engine room at the north end. A boiler house is immediately to the north and the base of the former chimney stands just beyond. Parallel and to the west of the spinning mill is a former warehouse of 1885 joined to the spinning mill at the southern end by a linking block of 1919. At the north end of the warehouse is North Dean House, a house and offices.

EXTERIOR: the original spinning mill has four storeys and is thirteen bays long and four deep. The windows are a mix of original multi-paned timber framed sashes and later three paned, with blocked windows on the ground floor throughout. There is a bracketed cornice to the double span roof. The west elevation has a large panel above the second floor inscribed NORTH DEAN MILL 1876. At the north end of the west elevation is a five-stage stair and hoist tower that rises above the roof line with three blind window openings on each side and a hipped roof. There is a round arched entrance with a moulded ashlar surround on the west side of the stair tower. On the west side of the spinning mill there are two inserted vehicle entrances and a blocked doorway. At the south end of the east elevation is the gable end of the 1919 mill extension, which is three bays deep and has tall windows to the ground floor (two blocked), with progressively shorter ones on the upper floors and a small opening in the gable. There is a line of taking in doors on the third bay north of the extension and a wide entrance inserted across two bays in the centre. Four bays from the north end is a further taking in door on the top floor.

Attached at the north end is the single storey engine house which lies behind (east of) the stair tower. It has an altered tall wide entrance to the east and a hipped roof. The lower boiler house extends north from the engine house and has a cast iron water tank on the roof. There are two windows on both the east and west elevations and a wide entrance on the north end.

The 1919 mill extension runs east-west from the end of the mill and has six bays, the westernmost being narrower than the rest. The south elevation windows have iron lintels and there are roof lights on the north-facing side. Attached to the north side of the west end that extends beyond the original mill is a square section with a hipped roof with a parapet. On the north side it has a line of taking in doors with a hoist crane above and a double line of small windows.

The former warehouse of 1885 has two storeys plus attics, and is seven bays long. The windows are modern replacements and there is an altered inserted entrance at the southern end of the west side. The east side, opposite the spinning mill, has a number of altered and blocked openings on both floors. There is a single window high in the south gable end. North Dean House is slightly narrower than the warehouse and is two storey and four bays long with a hipped roof and dentilled eaves. A stone ridge chimney stack is at the south end. The west elevation has a slightly projecting gabled bay with one window to the right and two to the left. The gabled bay has two string courses, an entrance door with an eared architrave, a single first floor window with a curvilinear eared architrave, and a round window in the gable. The north end has a plain doorway with overlight and a ground floor window. A chamfered corner to the left has a ground floor window and forms an entrance to the yard. The east elevation has a single storey extension with two windows, to the left of which stone steps lead up to a blocked doorway. There are two first floor windows.

INTERIOR: the entrance at the base of the northern tower leads to a door to the engine house, stairs to the upper floors and the hoist shaft. The upper three floors of the spinning mill are of timber construction with a single line of cast iron columns down the centre with bolting heads for line shafting. The top floor is open to the roof structure which has a double span with king-post trusses. The first floor has a stone flagged floor and the ground floor is of fireproof construction. The ground floor cast iron columns support cast iron beams with east-west aligned brick jack arches. Cast iron plates on the north wall of each floor held the vertical drive shaft from the engine house.

The former outer wall of the spinning mill is cut by wide openings on each floor into the 1919 extension. The concrete floors of the extension are supported by steel stanchions supporting steel beams. The roof has iron or steel trusses. The southern stair tower is accessed from the extension and this provides the only access to the ground floor of the spinning mill.

The engine house is subdivided by a breezeblock wall and is partly inaccessible. There are blocked openings to the spinning mill where the drive shaft entered the mill. The roof structure was not visible on inspection but is believed to have scissor braces to the common rafters with no trusses. The boiler house interior was not inspected.

The former warehouse is in use as a workshop in part of the ground floor, and office spaces elsewhere, with modern partitions and fittings. The interior of North Dean House is also in use as offices; some original panelled cupboards remain in a ground floor room at the north end of the house, probably the original office for the mill.

History

In 1876-77 Joseph Smith and Company, a partnership of five members of the same family who were all woollen manufacturers from Greetland, built North Dean Mills as a steam-powered woollen mill. It was designed by Richard Horsfall, architect, of Halifax on previously open ground and consisted of a multi-storey spinning mill with an attached engine house and boiler house. This period of the later nineteenth century was one of development in Greetland, with a church, school and new streets being constructed.

A combined dwelling house and office suite, North Dean House, was added adjacent to the mill in 1878 and a warehouse and new privy block were added to the mill in 1885. The 1893 O.S. 1:2500 map shows the mill as North Dean Mill (Worsted Spinning), though trade directories confirm it as a woollen mill, not worsted. Sam Hoyle became a partner in 1891 and by 1906 was the occupier though the firm retained the name of Joseph Smith & Co.

A 1919 extension at the southern end of the mill, by William Hall of Halifax, was of fireproof construction, and a time office and shed were built at the same time. The mill at that period manufactured tweeds, blankets, kerseys and serges, and had 3,000 spindles and 48 looms. In 1946 it passed to Messrs Hoyle (Greetland) Ltd and subsequently to J. Speak & Co. Ltd. The main part of the mill is currently used for the production, from noils, of material for new fabrics. Other areas are used by a variety of businesses. The chimney was demolished soon after 1987.

Reasons for Listing

North Dean Mill, a former woollen mill of 1876, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Industrial context: North Dean Mill illustrates an important phase in the development of the nationally important woollen textile industry of West Yorkshire;
* Architectural Interest: the architecture of the mill is coherent and impressive, designed by a known architect, and the form of the buildings clearly reflects their functions with good survival of external and internal features;
* Integrated site: North Dean is a small integrated site that retains a range of buildings including spinning mill, warehouse, engine room, boiler house, offices and reception/time office;
* Group value: North Dean Mill forms a group with Prospect Mill immediately to the east, enhancing the special interest of both complexes.

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

North Dean Mill

A Grade II Listed Building in Elland, Calderdale

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Summary

Description

History

Reasons for Listing

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