Bolton Union Mill was a cotton spinning mill in

Halliwell, Bolton, Greater Manchester Halliwell is predominantly a residential area of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It gives its name to an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,929. Halliwell ...

. It was built in 1875 and 1880. It was taken over by the

Lancashire Cotton Corporation The Lancashire Cotton Corporation was a company set up by the Bank of England in 1929, to rescue the Lancashire spinning industry by means of horizontal rationalisation. In merged 105 companies, ending up in 1950 with 53 operating mills. It was ...

in the 1930s and brought back into production. Subsequently, it passed to

Tootals Tootal is a brand name for a range of British ties, scarves and other garments. The brand is now owned by Coats Viyella. It originates from a textile spinning and manufacturing company established in Manchester in 1799, which later became Tootal ...

and Dewhurst Dent in 1964. Production finished in 1967. The building is still standing. It has of floor space and was driven by a 1200 hp tandem compound J Musgrave engine with a flywheel with 28 ropes operated at 50rpm.

History

Bolton was a

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe Italy * ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...

; textiles have been produced in Bolton since

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

weavers settled in the area during the 15th century, developing a wool and cotton weaving tradition. The urbanisation and development of Bolton largely coincided with the introduction of

textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines in the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron foundi ...

. It was a

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

of the 19th century and at its zenith, in 1929, its 216

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s and 26 bleaching and dying works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of cotton spinning in the world. No. 1 Mill Built was built in 1875, and No2 Mill was built in 1880. a further site was operated from 1884 by John Hebden and Son, Vernon Mills. The Bolton Union Spinning Company Co Ltd was constituted in 1874 and was operating the mills in 1900. Mill No3 was built in 1902–1905. It is not recorded when production stopped. The industry peaked in 1912 when it produced 8 billion yards of cloth. The Great War of 1914–18 halted the supply of raw cotton, and the British government encouraged its colonies to build mills to spin and weave cotton. The war over, Lancashire never regained its markets. The independent mills were struggling. The

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

set up the

in 1929 to attempt to rationalise and save the industry. Bolton Union Mill, Bolton was one of 104 mills bought by the LCC, and one of the 53 mills that survived through to 1950.

LCC received permission to re-open the mills in 1946 but in 1961 the mills were bought by Barlow & Jones and Mill No. 1 demolished. In 1976 the other mills were closed by

Ltd. In 1985 No. 1 Mill site was landscaped for use as playing fields and No2 Mill was used by Dewhurst Dent Holdings Ltd, G & R Dewhurst (CMT) Curtains Ltd, Dewhurst Printing Company. The mill was to be demolished (2008) and replaced with apartments, because the council sees the mill as no longer reflecting the image of the surrounding area. In 2016, it was still standing and in use.

Architecture

Power

Driven by 1200 hp tandem compound engine by

John Musgrave & Sons John Musgrave & Sons was a company that manufactured stationary steam engines. It was founded in 1839 by John Musgrave and his son, Joseph, at the Globe Ironworks, in Bolton, historically in Lancashire, England. In 1854 the company supplied a ...

, operating at 100psi. It had a 32-foot flywheel with 28 ropes, operated at 50rpm. The cylinders, 28"HP, 52"LP had a 6-foot stroke. The air pump was driven from the crosshead.

Owners

*John Hebden and Son, Vernon Mills *The Bolton Union Spinning Company Co Ltd *Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930s-1964) *Tootals *Dewhurst Dent

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

www.cottontown.org

www.spinningtheweb.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton Union Mill, Bolton Textile mills owned by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Textile mills in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Buildings and structures in Bolton