Drummond Mill was a complex of industrial buildings on Lumb Lane, Manningham, Bradford, West Yorkshire. It contained originally a spinning mill, a warehouse, a spinning shed, and an engine house with chimney and was destroyed in a fire on 28 January 2016. As of May 2019 the site of the former mill was advertised as available for redevelopment, although the new owners of the land are currently unknown.

History

The factory was built for James Drummond & Son by the architects

Henry Francis Lockwood Henry Francis Lockwood (18 September 1811, Doncaster – 21 July 1878, Richmond, Surrey) was an influential English architect active in the North of England. Family Lockwood was from a successful Doncaster family. His grandfather, Joseph Lockw ...

and

William Mawson William Mawson (17 May 1828 – 25 April 1889) was an English architect best known for his work in and around Bradford. Background Mawson was born in Leeds on 17 May 1828 to parents William and Mary Mawson. His father was a prominent paper ...

Lockwood & Mawson also designed

Bradford City Hall Bradford City Hall is a 19th-century town hall in Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building which has a distinctive clock tower. History Before its relocation, between 1847 and 1873, the town hall ...

. and was practically finished in December 1885. In 1886 the premises were opened for business. Production ceased in 2001. The complex was declared a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

in 1979. The site was acquired by SKA Textiles, based in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. The buildings were used for storage purposes and by theatre groups. While plans submitted in 2004 for the development of flats and businesses in the former mill had failed, new ones were submitted in 2012. The site was also the seat of the head offices of the World Curry Festival.

The fire

On 28 January 2016 in windy weather, a fire broke out in the basement of Drummond Mills which was used to store flammable goods, among them cardboard boxes. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called around 11:30. The fire spread so rapidly that saving the historic building became impossible. Firefighting efforts had to be concentrated on its containment and the protection of neighbouring properties. Residents and employees there had to be evacuated because of the smoke. Reaching its peak around 15:00, the fire was under control by 22:30. The partial collapse of the buildings necessitated their demolition, making it impossible to ascertain the cause of the fire. Demolition continued in May 2016 and was expected to take until autumn of the same year. The fire caused appeals to preserve the industrial heritage of West Yorkshire.

Buildings

The mill was built of sandstone blocks with ashlar dressings in an italianate style similar to that of

Salts Mill Salts Mill (sometimes spelled Salt's Mill) is a former textile mill, now an art gallery, shopping centre, and restaurant complex in Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built by Sir Titus Salt in 1853, and the present-day 1853 ...

in Saltaire, albeit of a more sober design. Cast iron pillars and double skin floors provided a measure of fireproofing, which was important due to the large amount of flammable materials usually found in a

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

. The spinning mill was originally flanked by stair turrets on both sides, although those on the Lumb Lane side were removed later. The spinning shed linked the three-storey warehouse with the five-storey main building, which in turn was linked to the boiler house. The octagonal chimney of the latter, which stands on a square plinth, has been named as "one of the best mill chimneys in Bradford" by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

References

- With an excerpt from the Illustrated Daily Telegraph, 5 December 1885, describing the construction {{coordinates, 53.8004, -1.7641, display=title Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Industrial buildings completed in 1865 Fires in England Manningham, Bradford Textile mills in Bradford Building collapses in 2016 Building collapses in the United Kingdom Building collapses caused by fire Demolished buildings and structures in England 1865 establishments in England