Imperial Mill Engine-House
History of the mill:
Imperial Mill was a textiles/cotton mill built in 1901. The mill was bought by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 after the war as Lancashire never regained its markets and the independent mills were struggling. The production period spanned from the early 1900s-1958 where production stopped under the LCC. It was then taken over by Courtaulds where spinning stopped in 1980. The mill itself is a red brick ring mill standing at 3 storeys in parts and a maximum of 4 storeys tall. It was designed by Sydney Scott and has a long rectangular plan spanning multiple bays long and wide, along with rows of large close-set 8-paned windows and two copper domed towers can be found at either end. Sadly, the chimney was demolished in 1958.
Today the site is still used by the Lancashire Saw company and Google Maps shows other companies to operate on and in very close proximity of the site.
The Engine-House
The engine-house can be easily seen from the side of the mill that is facing the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The smaller central building sticking out from the rest of the mill is the one we explored. The paths down the canal allowed for a closer look at the building and it was clear to see it was disused. The engine-house boasts "6 round-arched windows on the long sides, and 2 Gothic-traceried round-arched windows on the end facing the canal". (Sourced from: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101273825-imperial-mill-little-harwood-ward#.XyAPeyhKiUk). Originally it housed a triple expansion engine manufactured by Yates and Thom locally.
The Explore:
Earlier this month, the two of us decided to head out on one evening to try tick this spot off. A while back, before we had both began to become fully invested in the hobby, we had attempted the site under the cover of darkness and our route lead us to several cameras and sensors. Not fancying it back then, we left for the evening and knew it would be better to shoot it in daylight. This time round and with the summer evenings being prolonged, we thought we would have enough time to get what we wanted. Using the intel from our last attempt, we ducked under the cameras and sensors and tackled a miniature forest to get in. Once inside the basement, we found a crawl space that lead us directly beneath the floor of the engine house. We then completed a beam walk above a stash of wood-chippings to pop our heads out of the floor into the vast room (the entrance really reminded us of something from Assassin's Creed). Accessing the site took a little longer than expected and very little natural light came through the tops of the boarded windows. In person it looked like enough light for a set of long exposure shots but sadly it wasn't. Both of us didn't fancy re-visiting after the way in, so we resorted to light painting.
The square grey room was some sort of storage with an arrangement of tins and jars and different equipment (shown later).
At the back of this room was a set of slanted cages and behind it some sort of motor? We couldn't work out how to get to it for a closer look or work out what it would have been used for.
Now some close up shots of the amazing tile-work.
Thanks for looking!
History of the mill:
Imperial Mill was a textiles/cotton mill built in 1901. The mill was bought by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 after the war as Lancashire never regained its markets and the independent mills were struggling. The production period spanned from the early 1900s-1958 where production stopped under the LCC. It was then taken over by Courtaulds where spinning stopped in 1980. The mill itself is a red brick ring mill standing at 3 storeys in parts and a maximum of 4 storeys tall. It was designed by Sydney Scott and has a long rectangular plan spanning multiple bays long and wide, along with rows of large close-set 8-paned windows and two copper domed towers can be found at either end. Sadly, the chimney was demolished in 1958.
Today the site is still used by the Lancashire Saw company and Google Maps shows other companies to operate on and in very close proximity of the site.
The Engine-House
The engine-house can be easily seen from the side of the mill that is facing the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The smaller central building sticking out from the rest of the mill is the one we explored. The paths down the canal allowed for a closer look at the building and it was clear to see it was disused. The engine-house boasts "6 round-arched windows on the long sides, and 2 Gothic-traceried round-arched windows on the end facing the canal". (Sourced from: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101273825-imperial-mill-little-harwood-ward#.XyAPeyhKiUk). Originally it housed a triple expansion engine manufactured by Yates and Thom locally.
The Explore:
Earlier this month, the two of us decided to head out on one evening to try tick this spot off. A while back, before we had both began to become fully invested in the hobby, we had attempted the site under the cover of darkness and our route lead us to several cameras and sensors. Not fancying it back then, we left for the evening and knew it would be better to shoot it in daylight. This time round and with the summer evenings being prolonged, we thought we would have enough time to get what we wanted. Using the intel from our last attempt, we ducked under the cameras and sensors and tackled a miniature forest to get in. Once inside the basement, we found a crawl space that lead us directly beneath the floor of the engine house. We then completed a beam walk above a stash of wood-chippings to pop our heads out of the floor into the vast room (the entrance really reminded us of something from Assassin's Creed). Accessing the site took a little longer than expected and very little natural light came through the tops of the boarded windows. In person it looked like enough light for a set of long exposure shots but sadly it wasn't. Both of us didn't fancy re-visiting after the way in, so we resorted to light painting.
The square grey room was some sort of storage with an arrangement of tins and jars and different equipment (shown later).
At the back of this room was a set of slanted cages and behind it some sort of motor? We couldn't work out how to get to it for a closer look or work out what it would have been used for.
Now some close up shots of the amazing tile-work.
Thanks for looking!
