HARTFORD MILL - OLDHAM
A brief history
There has been a fair bit written on here about Hartford Mill in previous reports; and as I have not found anything new have kept it brief.
Built 1907 by the Hartford Mill (Oldham)Co Ltd, it was extended in 1920 and 1924. It closed 1959 and was used by Littlewoods as a mail order warehouse until 1992. It is a grade II listed building and there are plans for the mill to be redevoloped (not holding my breath though).
The architect was F W Dixon, there were 120,000 spindles and power was provided by a very impressive 1500 hp Urmson & Thompson twin tandem compound engine. It had a 5ft stroke driving a 24 ft flywheel; the transmission method was by ropes.
The Visit
Was lucky enough to have found a spare hour or two and as I had looked at the building the previous week thought it was time to go inside. I have seen some stunning images of this mill in the Oldham Flickr group as well as the great images in the reports on here.
The engine room is the best feature by far, although all the workings have long gone. Nice mill, still with it's chimney and the tower with its name in-layed, another good feature is the hole in the roof where one of the cast iron columns has failed.
Hartford Mill
The hole in the roof and mill tower
Large brick chimney
Looking down the lift shaft
Pillars on the large open floors
A few more of the pillars as they are a great feature of the old mills
View into the engine room from above
The engine room
Looking up, it must have been impressive when it was working
It had to be done
Light within the basement
Well that's it, glad I have finally had a wander around this mill - onwards and upwards
A brief history
There has been a fair bit written on here about Hartford Mill in previous reports; and as I have not found anything new have kept it brief.
Built 1907 by the Hartford Mill (Oldham)Co Ltd, it was extended in 1920 and 1924. It closed 1959 and was used by Littlewoods as a mail order warehouse until 1992. It is a grade II listed building and there are plans for the mill to be redevoloped (not holding my breath though).
The architect was F W Dixon, there were 120,000 spindles and power was provided by a very impressive 1500 hp Urmson & Thompson twin tandem compound engine. It had a 5ft stroke driving a 24 ft flywheel; the transmission method was by ropes.
The Visit
Was lucky enough to have found a spare hour or two and as I had looked at the building the previous week thought it was time to go inside. I have seen some stunning images of this mill in the Oldham Flickr group as well as the great images in the reports on here.
The engine room is the best feature by far, although all the workings have long gone. Nice mill, still with it's chimney and the tower with its name in-layed, another good feature is the hole in the roof where one of the cast iron columns has failed.
Hartford Mill
The hole in the roof and mill tower
Large brick chimney
Looking down the lift shaft
Pillars on the large open floors
A few more of the pillars as they are a great feature of the old mills
View into the engine room from above
The engine room
Looking up, it must have been impressive when it was working
It had to be done
Light within the basement
Well that's it, glad I have finally had a wander around this mill - onwards and upwards
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