1. The History
The four-storey mill sits (or rather sat) at the heart of Newsome. The village grew up around the mill and was the main local employer for many years with a number of families living in Newsome having a direct relationship with the mill.
The first woollen mill at Newsome was founded by John Taylor back in 1827. It burnt-down in 1872 (a trend will emerge here!) and in 1873 Ephraim Beaumont Taylor and Joshua Littlewood entered into a partnership, operating a worsted mill here (a high-quality type of wool yarn).
The current mill buildings were constructed in the mid-1870s and by 1893 occupied the whole block and included an integrated mill, weaving sheds, clock tower along with a number of ancillary and administrative buildings. All cloth manufacturing processes were carried out on the site, starting with preparation of raw wool and ending with the production of fine worsteds. There were 200 looms and 600 employees making trousers, coats and woollen goods.
The mill’s architectural merits meant it was Grade II in September 1978, with the tower and archway being singled out to be of particular architectural interest. The main mill building itself was triple-spanned and was 16 windows long and 3 bays wide. The four original wooden floors were held-up by a double row of cast iron columns supporting steel frames and floors.
The mill celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1977 and with its order books were still full, it was the oldest privately-owned fine worsted manufacturing company in Huddersfield. The next five years saw the mill’s fortune take a turn for the worse culminating in it closing in 1983 after 156 years of near continuous operation. Most of the buildings were subsequently let-out as business units until the site was sold in 2006. The boiler house and chimney failed to survive, along with the weaving sheds and some of the ancillary buildings and were demolished to make way for new housing.
Then, a decade later, the mill was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Thursday 17th November 2016. The entire mill interior collapsed the following morning and with the structure being declared dangerous, later demolition began immediately in the darkness that same evening. Fortunately, not everything was lost in the fire. The iconic clock-tower still stands and can still be seen clearly from Huddersfield town centre on a clear day, along with the weaving sheds, administrative buildings, ancillary structures, dwellings and mill ponds.
2. The Explore
Been here and reported on this place a couple of times previously. Was passing with a friend recently, who hadn’t seen it so we popped in for a look-see. Wasn’t going to bother doing a report but got some half-decent pictures so thought I’d pop one up so people can see very little has changed. Access is still straight-forward and the views from the clock tower impressive. It remains a decent entry level explore, although the top of the clock tower remains something that alludes me!
3. The Pictures
View from the road:
Gable end of the weaving sheds:
A quick poke about in the weaving sheds first:
An old light switch:
Some of the former electrics that survived the fire:
On to the clock tower:
A modern-ish looking water hydrant:
Closed lift shaft door:
Up we go!
Looking back over the weaving sheds:
And the burnt-out main factory floor:
And up again:
The stone carved name arch:
And a surviving ancillary building:
Not fancying the way up to the clockface so time to head back down:
One of the 4 iconic clock faces:
The four-storey mill sits (or rather sat) at the heart of Newsome. The village grew up around the mill and was the main local employer for many years with a number of families living in Newsome having a direct relationship with the mill.
The first woollen mill at Newsome was founded by John Taylor back in 1827. It burnt-down in 1872 (a trend will emerge here!) and in 1873 Ephraim Beaumont Taylor and Joshua Littlewood entered into a partnership, operating a worsted mill here (a high-quality type of wool yarn).
The current mill buildings were constructed in the mid-1870s and by 1893 occupied the whole block and included an integrated mill, weaving sheds, clock tower along with a number of ancillary and administrative buildings. All cloth manufacturing processes were carried out on the site, starting with preparation of raw wool and ending with the production of fine worsteds. There were 200 looms and 600 employees making trousers, coats and woollen goods.
The mill’s architectural merits meant it was Grade II in September 1978, with the tower and archway being singled out to be of particular architectural interest. The main mill building itself was triple-spanned and was 16 windows long and 3 bays wide. The four original wooden floors were held-up by a double row of cast iron columns supporting steel frames and floors.
The mill celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1977 and with its order books were still full, it was the oldest privately-owned fine worsted manufacturing company in Huddersfield. The next five years saw the mill’s fortune take a turn for the worse culminating in it closing in 1983 after 156 years of near continuous operation. Most of the buildings were subsequently let-out as business units until the site was sold in 2006. The boiler house and chimney failed to survive, along with the weaving sheds and some of the ancillary buildings and were demolished to make way for new housing.
Then, a decade later, the mill was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Thursday 17th November 2016. The entire mill interior collapsed the following morning and with the structure being declared dangerous, later demolition began immediately in the darkness that same evening. Fortunately, not everything was lost in the fire. The iconic clock-tower still stands and can still be seen clearly from Huddersfield town centre on a clear day, along with the weaving sheds, administrative buildings, ancillary structures, dwellings and mill ponds.
2. The Explore
Been here and reported on this place a couple of times previously. Was passing with a friend recently, who hadn’t seen it so we popped in for a look-see. Wasn’t going to bother doing a report but got some half-decent pictures so thought I’d pop one up so people can see very little has changed. Access is still straight-forward and the views from the clock tower impressive. It remains a decent entry level explore, although the top of the clock tower remains something that alludes me!
3. The Pictures
View from the road:
Gable end of the weaving sheds:
A quick poke about in the weaving sheds first:
An old light switch:
Some of the former electrics that survived the fire:
On to the clock tower:
A modern-ish looking water hydrant:
Closed lift shaft door:
Up we go!
Looking back over the weaving sheds:
And the burnt-out main factory floor:
And up again:
The stone carved name arch:
And a surviving ancillary building:
Not fancying the way up to the clockface so time to head back down:
One of the 4 iconic clock faces:
