With a couple of hours to spare just south of Huddersfield and no really big sites in my mind it was time for a revisit and to check out a small mill I'd had pinned for a while. Not really enough for individual reports so putting them together in one report.
(A) Newsome Mill
1. The History
Comprehensive history from my previous report HERE
2. The Explore
Last came here back in April 2019. Even then it was a bit after the Lord Mayor’s show. The mill was all but gone and it was all about the clock tower. Fast forward just over two years and not that much has changed. It’s still really easy access and again I bottled going up the remains of the wrought-iron spiral staircase to where the clock faces are. That said, it was a good way to pass 20 or so minutes and the views off the tower are pretty cool.
3. The Pictures
Lift door entrance:
Hmmmm. Maybe not!. Even with the assistance of a recently added guide wire....
(B) Lord’s Mill, Honley
1. The History
Lords Mill is situated in the rural valley of Honley, not far from the village on the banks of the Mag Brook stream that contributes to the River Holme further down in Magdale. The Grade II listed mill has had a chequered history, characterised by machinery breakdowns and fires. It was built in 1792 by Lord Dartmouth (the Lord of Lord’s Mill) and occupied by various clothiers and mill owners and extended twice. The first tenants were John and Richard Beaumont, and it began life as a scribbling, carding, and fulling mill. The fulling mills’ function was to take the clothier’s pieces and to process them to give a dense, felted finish by a practice known as prolonged pounding. The mill had a water wheel inside it to power the process.
By 1805 the mill’s occupiers were William Elmsall and John Beaumont and the annual rent was £7 and five shillings. A blaze broke out on 10th March, 1849, in a store or dyehouse. Once the alarm was raised people flocked to the mill and emergency messages were sent for the water engines from John Brooke and Sons in Armitage Bridge and David Shaw and Son of Crossley Mill in Honley. Shaw’s fire engine, Hercules, arrived quickly, drawn by four horses, and they prevented the fire from spreading to the main mill. The Heap family took over the mill in 1854. They lived at Crosland Hall and became woollen manufacturers and merchants on a large scale
In July 1868, the steam engine that drove all the machinery in the mill broke and every wheel was immediately brought to a standstill and nearly 100 employees found themselves without work for a while. Apparently, the engine was supposed to have a rating of 16 horsepower but was being run at 70 horsepower to run the mill. By the 1880s times had become hard and a meeting of mill’s creditors thrash out the mill’s future was held in 1884. By 1886, the lease had changed to Netherton silk dyer George Oldham. The mill was in use well into the second half of the 20th century when the building was occupied by Magdale Spinning Company who used the top two floors and by Magdale Textiles on the lower two.
On the 1st of August, 1952, a fire broke out in a carding machine on the top floor. Flames quickly spread and fire crews from Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Meltham arrived to find the top floor and roof alight. Two-thirds of the roof was damaged along with half of the top floor and the rest of the building was severely damaged. In recent times the mill has sat empty and now it is sadly derelict.
Aftermath of the blaze back in 1952:
2. The Explore
Had this place pinned a while but never got round to having a look at it. The mill is easy enough to get to as it lies on a public footpath. The mill itself was pretty well sealed up. There had been access recently by the looks of it, but the entry point had been freshly boarded up. Hence, I was just limited to the external shots posted here.
3. The Pictures
Entry for Spiderman only:
The freshly boarded up previous entry point:
A sneaky peek inside the mill:
One for another time then:
(A) Newsome Mill
1. The History
Comprehensive history from my previous report HERE
2. The Explore
Last came here back in April 2019. Even then it was a bit after the Lord Mayor’s show. The mill was all but gone and it was all about the clock tower. Fast forward just over two years and not that much has changed. It’s still really easy access and again I bottled going up the remains of the wrought-iron spiral staircase to where the clock faces are. That said, it was a good way to pass 20 or so minutes and the views off the tower are pretty cool.
3. The Pictures
Lift door entrance:
Hmmmm. Maybe not!. Even with the assistance of a recently added guide wire....
(B) Lord’s Mill, Honley
1. The History
Lords Mill is situated in the rural valley of Honley, not far from the village on the banks of the Mag Brook stream that contributes to the River Holme further down in Magdale. The Grade II listed mill has had a chequered history, characterised by machinery breakdowns and fires. It was built in 1792 by Lord Dartmouth (the Lord of Lord’s Mill) and occupied by various clothiers and mill owners and extended twice. The first tenants were John and Richard Beaumont, and it began life as a scribbling, carding, and fulling mill. The fulling mills’ function was to take the clothier’s pieces and to process them to give a dense, felted finish by a practice known as prolonged pounding. The mill had a water wheel inside it to power the process.
By 1805 the mill’s occupiers were William Elmsall and John Beaumont and the annual rent was £7 and five shillings. A blaze broke out on 10th March, 1849, in a store or dyehouse. Once the alarm was raised people flocked to the mill and emergency messages were sent for the water engines from John Brooke and Sons in Armitage Bridge and David Shaw and Son of Crossley Mill in Honley. Shaw’s fire engine, Hercules, arrived quickly, drawn by four horses, and they prevented the fire from spreading to the main mill. The Heap family took over the mill in 1854. They lived at Crosland Hall and became woollen manufacturers and merchants on a large scale
In July 1868, the steam engine that drove all the machinery in the mill broke and every wheel was immediately brought to a standstill and nearly 100 employees found themselves without work for a while. Apparently, the engine was supposed to have a rating of 16 horsepower but was being run at 70 horsepower to run the mill. By the 1880s times had become hard and a meeting of mill’s creditors thrash out the mill’s future was held in 1884. By 1886, the lease had changed to Netherton silk dyer George Oldham. The mill was in use well into the second half of the 20th century when the building was occupied by Magdale Spinning Company who used the top two floors and by Magdale Textiles on the lower two.
On the 1st of August, 1952, a fire broke out in a carding machine on the top floor. Flames quickly spread and fire crews from Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Meltham arrived to find the top floor and roof alight. Two-thirds of the roof was damaged along with half of the top floor and the rest of the building was severely damaged. In recent times the mill has sat empty and now it is sadly derelict.
Aftermath of the blaze back in 1952:
2. The Explore
Had this place pinned a while but never got round to having a look at it. The mill is easy enough to get to as it lies on a public footpath. The mill itself was pretty well sealed up. There had been access recently by the looks of it, but the entry point had been freshly boarded up. Hence, I was just limited to the external shots posted here.
3. The Pictures
Entry for Spiderman only:
The freshly boarded up previous entry point:
A sneaky peek inside the mill:
One for another time then:
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