Vernon Mill, Stockport is a former cotton spinning mill in Portwood,

Stockport, Greater Manchester Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within t ...

, England. Built in 1881, 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 1930 and later sold on. Although still in business use, it is now 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 ...

Location

Stockport is a large town in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. It lies on elevated ground on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

at the confluence of the rivers

Goyt The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England. Etymology The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has bee ...

and

Tame Tame may refer to: *Taming, the act of training wild animals *River Tame, Greater Manchester *River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley *Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality * "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 alb ...

, southeast of the city of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The town of Stockport is the largest settlement within the

Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, south-east of central Manchester. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, it includes the outlying areas of Hazel Grov ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

a part of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, Stockport in the 16th century was a small town entirely on the south bank of the Mersey, and known for the cultivation of

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

and the manufacture of

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

. In the 18th century, the town had one of the first mechanised silk factories in the United Kingdom. However, Stockport's predominant industries of the 19th century were the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and allied industries. The Stockport Branch of the

Ashton Canal The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne. Route The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...

terminated at the top of Lancashire Hill, in

Heaton Norris Heaton Norris is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is part of the Four Heatons, and neighbours Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancash ...

, but Stockport was rich in railway connections. The

Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...

ran the

Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway The Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway(ST&AJR) was authorised by an Act of Parliament, passed on 22 July 1861 to build a railway from to Altrincham. History The 1861 Act was for a locally promoted line supported by the Ma ...

which serviced Portwood and

Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station Stockport Tiviot Dale was one of two main railway stations serving the town of Stockport, Cheshire, England; the other being Stockport Edgeley (now simply referred to as Stockport). Tiviot Dale was named after Teviotdale in Scotland. Prince Ch ...

. Portwood to the east of the town centre, alongside the River Goyt, was the location of many of Stockports Mills, and Vernon Mill was adjacent to the Palmer Mills. Vernon Mill was on Mersey Street, reflecting the view at the time that the River Mersey started upstream at the confluence of the Goyt and the

River Etherow The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derby ...

History

The mill was designed by architects

Joseph Stott and Son The Stotts were a family of architects from Oldham, North West England, of Scottish descent who specialised in the design of cotton mills. James Stott was the father, Joseph and his elder brother Abraham Stott had rival practices, and in later y ...

. The foundation stone was laid on 31 October 1881, it was the first limited liability cotton mill to open in Stockport. The industry peaked in 1912 when it produced 8 billion yards of cloth. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–18) halted the supply of raw cotton, and the British government encouraged its colonies to build mills to spin and weave cotton by themselves. Once the war was over, Lancashire never regained its markets and 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. Vernon Mill, Stockport was one of 104 mills bought by the LCC, and one of the 53 mills that survived through to 1950. It is still standing, occupied by multiple businesses including a gym, a boxing gym, and various art studios.Mill Artists'
/ref> Vernon Mill was purchased by ZS Properties (Mcr) Ltd in October 2018.

Owners

*Vernon Cotton Spinning Co *Vernon Mills (1920–1930) *Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930–1964) *Courtaulds (1964–) *ZS Properties (Mcr) Ltd (2018- ) current owners

Tenants

*Vernon Mill Artists, an artist led group with 43 active members working from studios

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Cotton Town

Spinning the Web
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon Mill, Stockport Textile mills in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Buildings and structures in Stockport Cotton mills Former textile mills in the United Kingdom Textile mills owned by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation