Newsome Mill - Huddersfield
History
Newsome Mill was owned by the firm of Taylor and Littlewood from its opening in 1827 until it closed in 1983. The declining use of suits as an essential part of a man's wardrobe and the collapse of the Japanese economy, an important export market for Taylor and Littlewood, were in part responsible for the closure.
The original mill building is a prominent feature of the Huddersfield skyline and has Grade II listed building status. In 2008 it was included on the Victorian Society's list of ten most endangered Victorian buildings in Britain.
Newsome Mill was pioneering, in that it was not sited near running water. It was steam powered from the beginning. Rain water running off Castle Hill was piped to the mill for processes such as scouring.
The mill itself has 4 huge open plan floors, and a very nice clock tower. There are a couple of very trashed outbuildings. Within the mill it's generally empty of any significant features, bar the odd empty office, lift shaft, a cupboard and a few light switches! The holy grail of the mill is located in the magnificent clock tower, home of a huge bell, clock workings, 4 glass clock faces and a ladder to the top of the tower/water tank which gives some stunning views.
My Visit
Newsome Mill was one of my bugbears, should have visited the place when it first surfaced in 2012, after a few weeks it supplied a rash of reports on 28DL and regular visits almost on a par with Camelot.
The clock tower always looked worthy of popping up, so when I did get my act in gear to visit the mill someone had decided to close all the access points. It's one of those places I have called in since just on the off chance things may have changed, last I'd heard the spiral stairs up the clock tower had been demolished making this part no longer accessible.
That sure I wouldn't get in today I'd left all my stuff in the car, a quick return to collect my stuff and I was in.
The mill itself isn't that bad, big open spaces, cast iron columns and wooden floors.
Some of the wooden floors have seen better days so following the nail heads is the sensible approach.
The main stairwell with the lift and double doors onto the large open floor is a nice feature, classic mill green too.
The upper floor has the remains of some offices and a partition wall, it also has the most holes in the floors!
From here the brave can head up the clock tower, the spiral stair no longer exists, the majority of the steps have been knocked off. What remains is a pole loosely attached at the bottom and a few treads near the top. The whole thing bounces around as you try to climb a bit like a Witches Hat at the playground, or a rats tail down an alley; what's the worst that can happen I asked myself.
The first thing you encounter is a huge bell after some rickety wooden stairs.
Plus there is the running updates as to when the water tank at the top of the tower was painted.
Then you get to the clock faces, this is why people visited this mill back in 2012.
I would have put a photo from the top of the tower of the stunning view, but preferred this one through the round window.
Was great to descend the mill to the sound of banjo music, the call of pigeons, barking whippets and squealing ferrets, this still remains a grand Yorkshire mill and glad to say it hasn't changed much since 2012.
A grand day out, and glad to have finally seen the place myself.
Cheers,
TLR.
History
Newsome Mill was owned by the firm of Taylor and Littlewood from its opening in 1827 until it closed in 1983. The declining use of suits as an essential part of a man's wardrobe and the collapse of the Japanese economy, an important export market for Taylor and Littlewood, were in part responsible for the closure.
The original mill building is a prominent feature of the Huddersfield skyline and has Grade II listed building status. In 2008 it was included on the Victorian Society's list of ten most endangered Victorian buildings in Britain.
Newsome Mill was pioneering, in that it was not sited near running water. It was steam powered from the beginning. Rain water running off Castle Hill was piped to the mill for processes such as scouring.
The mill itself has 4 huge open plan floors, and a very nice clock tower. There are a couple of very trashed outbuildings. Within the mill it's generally empty of any significant features, bar the odd empty office, lift shaft, a cupboard and a few light switches! The holy grail of the mill is located in the magnificent clock tower, home of a huge bell, clock workings, 4 glass clock faces and a ladder to the top of the tower/water tank which gives some stunning views.
My Visit
Newsome Mill was one of my bugbears, should have visited the place when it first surfaced in 2012, after a few weeks it supplied a rash of reports on 28DL and regular visits almost on a par with Camelot.
The clock tower always looked worthy of popping up, so when I did get my act in gear to visit the mill someone had decided to close all the access points. It's one of those places I have called in since just on the off chance things may have changed, last I'd heard the spiral stairs up the clock tower had been demolished making this part no longer accessible.
That sure I wouldn't get in today I'd left all my stuff in the car, a quick return to collect my stuff and I was in.
The mill itself isn't that bad, big open spaces, cast iron columns and wooden floors.
Some of the wooden floors have seen better days so following the nail heads is the sensible approach.
The main stairwell with the lift and double doors onto the large open floor is a nice feature, classic mill green too.
The upper floor has the remains of some offices and a partition wall, it also has the most holes in the floors!
From here the brave can head up the clock tower, the spiral stair no longer exists, the majority of the steps have been knocked off. What remains is a pole loosely attached at the bottom and a few treads near the top. The whole thing bounces around as you try to climb a bit like a Witches Hat at the playground, or a rats tail down an alley; what's the worst that can happen I asked myself.
The first thing you encounter is a huge bell after some rickety wooden stairs.
Plus there is the running updates as to when the water tank at the top of the tower was painted.
Then you get to the clock faces, this is why people visited this mill back in 2012.
I would have put a photo from the top of the tower of the stunning view, but preferred this one through the round window.
Was great to descend the mill to the sound of banjo music, the call of pigeons, barking whippets and squealing ferrets, this still remains a grand Yorkshire mill and glad to say it hasn't changed much since 2012.
A grand day out, and glad to have finally seen the place myself.
Cheers,
TLR.
but for anyone visiting now, note i"ve fitted a locating pin into a wall bracket to prevent it flailing about.......as much so it"s lessened the chance of it collapsing by @ 50% (but no guarantee)
