real time web analytics
Report - - Congleton Engineering Developments Ltd, Davenshaw Mill (Congleton, Cheshire, Sept, 2019) | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Congleton Engineering Developments Ltd, Davenshaw Mill (Congleton, Cheshire, Sept, 2019)

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

urbanchemist

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Driving through Congleton I came across this place - it didn’t seem to have been reported before so I went for a look.
It was almost completely empty - big spaces smelling of metal and machine oil and some offices.

History. An 1875 map shows this as Davenshaw Silk Mill, although the original buildings have been extended.
The mill, one of several in Congleton, was run by the Hogg family for over 100 years. It sits in a meander in the Dane Shaw Brook and would originally have been water-powered, with the head provided by a weir, which is still there.
Congleton Engineering Developments Ltd operated on the site from ~ 1973 to 2017, and there is now planning approval for housing.

48704849621_efcd38405a_b.jpg


Pictures are ordered from the basement up.

48705013947_f56d31c23d_b.jpg



48704516798_5a04f27b4b_h.jpg



48704516748_e4ff0f3bbc_h.jpg


There were several neat holes cut in the ground floor with heaps of spoil next to them.
These were probably just to check what the foundations were like but the location - next to the weir - had me wondering if someone was looking for remains of the original water power setup.
I didn’t take any pictures, but there were definitely some brick structures down there.

48704516703_9d44710d30_b.jpg



48705013817_6a750dc85d_b.jpg



48705013782_00b2ee3ce4_b.jpg



48704849366_05e2601a72_b.jpg



48704516603_06e96c5dba_b.jpg



48704516573_890a464ed4_b.jpg



48704849251_4e23e6840e_b.jpg



48704516508_46b208f2ca_b.jpg



48704516463_7c3c0203e1_b.jpg



48704849161_d1ef2f24e7_b.jpg



48704849131_fbfdfd7497_b.jpg



48705013427_00dd511226_b.jpg



48704516293_5369951c05_b.jpg


The weir with the mill on the left.

48704848991_912a41e15d_b.jpg
 
Last edited:

tigger

mog
Regular User
Originally called 'Nearer Daneinshaw Mill' and probably at that time a flint mill. During the 1770's converted to a cotton spinning mill. Shown on Burdetts 1777 map of Cheshire (waterwheel symbol) though not named. For years the owners (along with MOST cotton spinning mills) were in dispute with Richard Arkwright sueing everyone for huge licence fees for patent infiringements. Arkwright eventually lost in 1871 when the judges ruled that his patent was 'obscure and unintelligible'. However, the lengthy court battles did bankrupt a lot of his competitors. Four years later he managed to get the decision overturned. More battle in court saw Arkwright eventually lose all his patents when it was proved many were not actually his inventions....
...back to this site....around 1790 it became known as Davenshaw Mill and now being used as a silk mill. In 1818 Henry Hogg was a tennant of the mill (which had largely been stripped of it's machinery apart from a brand new cast waterwheel) and by 1825 was listed as the owner and by 1840 it was again fully fitted out for silk throwing. Steam was first used to power the mill in 1874. By the 1890s the silk business was dead and the mill was used for shirt making
Messrs Hogg & Son were prosecuted for employing under age children in 1897 and around 1909 when Capel Wilson Hogg died the mill was rented out. Sold to Jonathan Hopkins after WW1 and then to Congleton Engineering in 1979
 

urbanchemist

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Originally called 'Nearer Daneinshaw Mill' and probably at that time a flint mill. During the 1770's converted to a cotton spinning mill. Shown on Burdetts 1777 map of Cheshire (waterwheel symbol) though not named. For years the owners (along with MOST cotton spinning mills) were in dispute with Richard Arkwright sueing everyone for huge licence fees for patent infiringements. Arkwright eventually lost in 1871 when the judges ruled that his patent was 'obscure and unintelligible'. However, the lengthy court battles did bankrupt a lot of his competitors. Four years later he managed to get the decision overturned. More battle in court saw Arkwright eventually lose all his patents when it was proved many were not actually his inventions....
...back to this site....around 1790 it became known as Davenshaw Mill and now being used as a silk mill. In 1818 Henry Hogg was a tennant of the mill (which had largely been stripped of it's machinery apart from a brand new cast waterwheel) and by 1825 was listed as the owner and by 1840 it was again fully fitted out for silk throwing. Steam was first used to power the mill in 1874. By the 1890s the silk business was dead and the mill was used for shirt making
Messrs Hogg & Son were prosecuted for employing under age children in 1897 and around 1909 when Capel Wilson Hogg died the mill was rented out. Sold to Jonathan Hopkins after WW1 and then to Congleton Engineering in 1979

Thanks for the history - much better than my half-hearted attempt.
 

host

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nice report. Pity about the shell like features still goes to show there’s places yet to be explored.
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 249) View details

Top