Houldsworth Mill, also known as Reddish Mill, is a former

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

Reddish, Stockport, Greater Manchester Reddish is an area in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2011 Census, the population was 28,052. Historically part of Lancashire, Reddish grew rapidly in the Industria ...

, England (). Designed by Abraham Stott, it was constructed in 1865 for Henry Houldsworth, a prominent mill owner at the time. It 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 I ...

History

Reddish mill was built by

Stott and Sons Stott and Sons was an architectural practice in Lancashire between 1847 and 1931. It specialised in cotton mills, designing 191 buildings of which 130 were mills or buildings related to the cotton industry. Abraham Henthorn Stott was born on 25 A ...

for

William Houldsworth Sir William Henry Houldsworth, 1st Baronet (20 August 1834 – 18 April 1917) was a British mill-owner in Reddish, Lancashire. He was Conservative MP for Manchester North West from 1883 to 1906, and sometime chairman of the Fine Cotton Sp ...

, and opened in 1865. It covers , and employed 454 workers. In 1898, it amalgamated with the Fine Cotton Spinners Association. The mill had 136,692 spindles and at one time spun counts of 700 and 800, but normally 80s to 250s.

After cotton

Cotton production at Houldsworth Mill ceased in the 1950s. The mill was sold to a mail-order catalogue company, John Myers, and was used principally as a warehouse. In the late 1960s the building was expanded with a five-storey extension to the rear of the north end of the mill. This was built of glass and concrete in the style of the period. Mail-order trading ceased in the 1970s, and the mill was sold. It was divided into separate business units, but most of the building remained vacant and it fell into a state of disrepair.

Architecture

The 1865 mill consists of two five-storeyed blocks of 18 bays, with a narrower 9 bay central block for warehousing and offices. The central block has two Italianate stair towers and carries a central clock. The floors have become wider to accommodate the larger mules of the period. All floors are fireproof, with transverse vaults. The detached engine house used horizontal shafts that connected to vertical shafts in each spinning block. The chimney was octagonal, on a plinth with a highly embellished oversailer. In the early 20th century this was replaced with separate inverted compound engines for each block, with external rope races for

rope drive A rope drive is a form of belt drive, used for mechanical power transmission. Rope drives use a number of circular section ropes, rather than a single flat or vee belt. Multiple rope drive The first multiple rope drive was a 9-rope drive ...

Restoration

The pilot study for restoration was part-funded by

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 ...

. The refurbishment was funded by:Stockport Council * The mill's owners (Heaton and Houldsworth Property Company) * Northern Counties Housing Association (and Housing Corporation) * English Partnerships * European Regional Development Fund * Stockport Council * Various anchor tenants, including Ridge Danyers College and Kingfisher Pools This mill was converted by Stephenson Bell architects. It provides 70

shared ownership Equity sharing is another name for shared ownership or '' co-ownership''. It takes one property, more than one owner, and blends them to maximize profit and tax deductions. Typically, the parties find a home and buy it together as co-owners, but s ...

apartments for social housing provider

Northern Counties Housing Association Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

, start-up units for emerging high-technology and arts-based businesses with commercial and leisure uses at the lower floors to provide active frontages.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links