Lister's Mill (otherwise known as Manningham Mills) was the largest
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
factory in the world.
It is located in the
Manningham district of
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England and was built by
Samuel Cunliffe Lister to replace the original Manningham Mills that were destroyed by fire in 1871.
The mill is 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 Irel ...
, built in the
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
style of
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
.
At its height, Lister's employed 11,000 men, women and children – manufacturing high-quality
textiles
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
such as
velvet
Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
and silk. It supplied of velvet for
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
's coronation and in 1976 new velvet curtains for the President Ford
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. The 1890–91 strike at the mill was important in the establishment of the
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
which later helped found the modern-day
Labour Party. On completion in 1873, Lister's Mill was the largest
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 ...
in North England. Floor space in the mill amounts to 27
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s (109,000 m²), and its imposing shape remains a dominant feature of the
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
skyline.
The chimney of the mill is high, and can be seen from most areas of Bradford. It cost about £10,000 to build, and its total weight has been estimated at . Samuel Lister called it "Lister's Pride".
Until the arrival of electric power in 1934, the mill was driven by huge steam boilers. Every week the boilers consumed 1,000 tons of coal brought in on company rail wagons from the company collieries near
Pontefract
Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...
. Water was also vital in the process and the company had its own supply network including a large covered reservoir on-site (now in 2006 that area is a piazza and underground car park).
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Lister's produced of real parachute silk, of flame-proof wool, of khaki battledress and of parachute cord.
Decline
The Listers' business decreased considerably during the 1980s. Stiff foreign competition and changing
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
trends such as increased use of
artificial fibre
Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...
s were the reasons. In 1999 the mills were closed.
[ Being a prominent structure the mills attracted a great deal of attention and several regeneration proposals came and went. The sheer size of the buildings being a major difficulty. However local residents, former workers and notably Reverend George Moffat never lost hope that the mills would rise again. They campaigned hard to save the mills.
]
Rebirth
In 2000 property developers Urban Splash
Urban Splash was founded in 1993 by Chairman Tom Bloxham MBE and Creative Director Jonathan Falkingham MBE; the company has spent more than two decades working with architects and designers to restore old buildings and create new, sustainable c ...
bought the mills. They planned to renovate the existing larger buildings and build new ones. Apartments, workplaces, shops and public spaces were planned to be part of Listers. A deal was finally struck whereby remedial work on the structures and removal of industrial waste would be part-funded by Yorkshire Forward, Bradford Council and English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
. In September 2004 Freda Watts, a former silk weaver at Listers, cut a ribbon across the entrance to the mills – construction work had started.
The next landmark for the £100 million project was the sales launch of the first phase. In late 2004 over 2,000 people queued (some overnight) to buy one of the 131 apartments being created in the south mill, now renamed Silk Warehouse. It was a sell out and a great boost for the project and the wider regeneration of Bradford
New residents started moving in during 2006. The next phase, regenerating the second large building is to be called Velvet Mill. It is planned to replace the existing roof on this building with a glass and steel structure housing two storey apartments. David Morley practice are the architects. The new homes went on sale in early 2007. The plan is to create a new piazza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
with the huge mill chimney at its centre.
See also
*Grade II* listed buildings in Bradford
There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the metropolitan borough of Bradford in West Yorkshire.
List of buildings
...
*Listed buildings in Bradford (Toller Ward)
Toller is a ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 16 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle ...
*Bliss Tweed Mill
Bliss Tweed Mill is a former mill for the manufacture of tweed. It is located on the edge of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It became a Grade II* listed building in 1980.
The mill was built in 1872 for cloth manufacturer William ...
*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 Gall ...
References
External links
Manningham Regeneration website
Bradford Centre Regeneration website
{{Bradford
Textile mills in Bradford
Silk mills
Manningham, Bradford
Former textile mills in the United Kingdom
Grade II* listed buildings in West Yorkshire
Grade II* listed industrial buildings