History
Hartford mill was constructed in 1907 for the Hartford Mill Company Ltd and designed by Frederick Whittaker Dixon who was responsible for designing many mills around Oldham. The building was extended in 1920 and again in 1924. The mill is cast iron and steel framed, faced in red brick walls with concrete flooring and roofs. The engine house was built to contain a 1,500 hp Urmson & Tompson steam engine which provided power for the 120,000 spindles. The baroque style tower located in the north west corner contains the staircase but is now lacking is copper dome which can be seen on historical photos. Due to the decline of the cotton industry in Britain due to competition from overseas, following the second world war, production came to an end in 1959. Following the removal of the machinery and steam engine, the mill was used as a mail order warehouse by Littlewoods until 1992. The building was awarded grade 2 listed status in 1993 but since then the buildings condition has severely deteriorated and in 2018 permission was given for a complete demolition of the building. It would be nice if at least the tower and chimney could be retained and incorporated into a new development but I think the council would prefer it to be replaced by a load of bland shitbox homes or a fly-tipping waste ground.
The explore
Visited with prettyvacant71. I really wanted to see the building before it goes the same way as many of the great textile mills in the area and I think we managed to explore the building just in time. Demolition has already begun with much of the wooden floor pulled up, exposing many holes in the concrete below and the the majority of the single story bay demolished though at least many of the bricks have been stacked up ready for reuse. Although we visited on a weekday there was no one around and we were able to cover all of the building.
Two historical aerial photos of the mill dating from the 1930s and 40s when the area was dominated by huge cotton mills with their tall chimneys and rows of terraced housing for the workers packed in between.
Looking down towards the engine house from the rope race
The top floor is very photogenic with trees growing out of the floor and some good views over Oldham and it remaining mills
Looking over the roof of the engine house with Chadderton Mill visible in the background with its chimney breaking the horizon and Nile Mill to the left
The well worn stone staircase in the tower
Engine house
Often missed out by people for some reason, but its by far the best bit with lovely art nouveau tiling and still containing its origional gantry crane
External view of the engine house
Boiler house
The boiler house unusually still contains three of its original four Lancashire boilers, later converted to water tanks and given a thick coating of asbestos. Early reports show the boilers bricked in but it was still good to see them
Chimney with boiler house below
Thanks for looking
Hartford mill was constructed in 1907 for the Hartford Mill Company Ltd and designed by Frederick Whittaker Dixon who was responsible for designing many mills around Oldham. The building was extended in 1920 and again in 1924. The mill is cast iron and steel framed, faced in red brick walls with concrete flooring and roofs. The engine house was built to contain a 1,500 hp Urmson & Tompson steam engine which provided power for the 120,000 spindles. The baroque style tower located in the north west corner contains the staircase but is now lacking is copper dome which can be seen on historical photos. Due to the decline of the cotton industry in Britain due to competition from overseas, following the second world war, production came to an end in 1959. Following the removal of the machinery and steam engine, the mill was used as a mail order warehouse by Littlewoods until 1992. The building was awarded grade 2 listed status in 1993 but since then the buildings condition has severely deteriorated and in 2018 permission was given for a complete demolition of the building. It would be nice if at least the tower and chimney could be retained and incorporated into a new development but I think the council would prefer it to be replaced by a load of bland shitbox homes or a fly-tipping waste ground.
The explore
Visited with prettyvacant71. I really wanted to see the building before it goes the same way as many of the great textile mills in the area and I think we managed to explore the building just in time. Demolition has already begun with much of the wooden floor pulled up, exposing many holes in the concrete below and the the majority of the single story bay demolished though at least many of the bricks have been stacked up ready for reuse. Although we visited on a weekday there was no one around and we were able to cover all of the building.
Two historical aerial photos of the mill dating from the 1930s and 40s when the area was dominated by huge cotton mills with their tall chimneys and rows of terraced housing for the workers packed in between.
Looking down towards the engine house from the rope race
The top floor is very photogenic with trees growing out of the floor and some good views over Oldham and it remaining mills
Looking over the roof of the engine house with Chadderton Mill visible in the background with its chimney breaking the horizon and Nile Mill to the left
The well worn stone staircase in the tower
Engine house
Often missed out by people for some reason, but its by far the best bit with lovely art nouveau tiling and still containing its origional gantry crane
External view of the engine house
Boiler house
The boiler house unusually still contains three of its original four Lancashire boilers, later converted to water tanks and given a thick coating of asbestos. Early reports show the boilers bricked in but it was still good to see them
Chimney with boiler house below
Thanks for looking
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