More information : Nelson’s oldest surviving industrial site, first established as a water-powered, worsted spinning mill in 1780 by Richard Ecroyd, woollen manufacturer, wool comber and merchant of Edge End. The buildings included a three-storey mill and dye house. Richard Ecroyd junior, took over in 1798, and retired in favour of his son, William in 1819. At first the firm produced heald yarn and worsteds for the Halifax market, but by the 1830s the manufacture of muslin-de-laines, mainly by handloom had been introduced. In 1836, when the mill was insured for £500, steam power was aiding the waterwheel. Machinery at this date was described as 'clockmaker’s work', carding and breaking engines and twisting frames. A small weaving shed was added around 1845. Additional engines and a gas making plant were installed in the same period. The entry of W F Ecroyd into partnership during 1849 marked the beginning of a major phase of expansion. Additional preparation buildings and weaving sheds were erected in 1850-52 (West Mill), and 1862-63 (North Shed). The Co-operative Society in Nelson came into being when some employees opened a shop on the site in order to make profit. The shop is now known as the Palace Hippodrome on Leeds Road. Sir William Ecroyd Snr died in 1876, and Edward Ecroyd left the firm, which was then taken over by William Farrar Ecroyd and his two half brothers, Richard and John. South Shed was erected in 1880 with a capacity of 800 looms, taking the total capacity of the mill to 2000 looms. In the 1870s the mill was driven by two, main beam engines. The South Shed engine was offered for sale in 1880, when it was described as having a 25†cylinder x 5’ stroke, with spur-gearing. It was replaced by a circa 270ihp horizontal tandem engine. In 1885, the Colne & Nelson Pioneer reported that the North Shed beam engine was developing 140ihp. In the same year, 1636 looms were running. An extension to the South Shed, under way at the time, increased looms to over 1800. Products included cotton, worsted and jacquard fabrics. In 1888, Lomeshaye became the first local mill to be lit by electricity, when two dynamos, powered by a Tangye horizontal engine were installed. The workforce had steadily increased. In 1861, 500 were employed, in 1871, 825, and by 1885 it had reached 1000. Provision for the workers included a library and laundry, and the Lomeshaye Coffee Tavern and Workmen’s Institute, opened in 1882 by Edward Ecyrod. A settlement of about 50 cottages had been built to the north of the mill. These were lit by gas produced on site. A second gasholder was located near the canal, and supplied houses on the Whitefield Estate. William Ecroyd & Sons Limited was registered in 1896, with a capital of £90,000, and W F Ecroyd’s son as chairman. Various employees became directors, amongst them Leonard Clement, the mill manager, and Cornelius Lister, the company clerk. John Reed, brother of William of Spring Bank, was described in 1898 as a prominent member of the firm. A final period of development occurred during the early twentieth century; in 1902 the North Shed engine was replaced by a Burnley Ironworks, horizontal, cross-compound 14†+ 28†x 3’ stroke with fly-wheel grooved for 10 ropes, during 1909 a small extension was made on the site of the gasworks were then sold to, and subsequently closed by Nelson Corporation, and finally, during 1915 two new boilers by Thomas Beeley, and a circa 700ihp horizontal tandem engine, 20†+ 39†x 4’ 6†stroke, with fly-wheel for 24 ropes, by Pollit & Wigzell was installed. In 1903, 600 looms were removed into empty space at Lomeshaye Bridge Mill. In 1914, Edward Ecroyd dies, and a year later, William Ecroyd, to be followed by Philip Ecroyd in 1916. Although the mill survived throughout the 1920s, poor trade resulted in closure during September, 1933 and the voluntary liquidation of William Ecroyd & Sons Limited. Machinery, including 1600 looms, was sold piecemeal in the summer of 1934, with the buildings auctioned later in the year. The new owner, James Dixon, a Burnley machinery merchant, hoped to offer room and power but his plan never materialised. The mill was purchased by Nelson Corporation in 1937, although their first, much heralded tenant, the Union Rubber Company, produced little or nothing. A short tenure, by the Clyde Rubber Company, to make gas masks, took place in 1939-40. In 1941, as part of the wartime dispersal programme, T J Smith & Nephew of Hull moved one of their subsidiaries, Lilia Limited, manufacturers of sanitary products to the mill. The business later operated as Southalls (Birmingham) Limited. A small paper making plant, with two MG machines, was installed to make tissue for the company’s products. During the 1960s knitted surgical fabrics were made on the site. At the height of production over 800 were employed making cotton wool, maternity goods, sanitary towels, tampons and surgical dressings. In 1987, Smith & Nephew closed the factory and transferred production to Birmingham. The buildings were sold for use as industrial units, and taken over in 1989 by the Glenfield Group who undertook a major programme of renovation and conversion.
The buildings comprise a complex of weaving sheds and multi-storey preparation blocks, mainly dating from the middle of the nineteenth century. The eastern boundary is formed by single-storey offices, loading bays and the wall of the South Shed. Features of the offices are key-stone arched windows and main doorway, a plinth and deep cornice. Decorative scrolls are placed beneath the window sills. A glazed lobby runs west towards the North Shed and boiler house. Just past the offices are two round-headed doorways. The first is inscribed “1845 to 1859†and the second, which gave access to the weaving shed, 1871. To the rear of the first door is a small shed, which may be the oldest on the site. Next to the lobby is the North Shed, which has been partly converted to an enclosed yard. The remaining portion retains a conventional, weaving shed roof. The South Shed extends towards the site of the mill pond (now a car park) and has been altered to give access to units, and the inner yard, although much of the northern light roof remains. At the far end is a rectangular extension, probably erected in 1885. After 1945 it was used for paper making. The building was considerably heightened, and the north lights replaced with a steep, single span roof. However the extent of the weaving shed is clearly shown by a line of stone corbels and blocked ventilators. The rear wall of the main South Shed is to the west, and forms the principal entrance to the industrial estate. Its main round-headed doorway is dated 1863 which does not agree with various accounts which suggest the shed was built in the early 1870s, or the doorway of 1871 noted above. The date may not be contemporary with the building. Two preserved lamp standards have been positioned at the main entrance. One was made by William Roberts, Phoenix Foundry, Nelson. The West Mill is a range of three storey warehouse and preparation buildings to the rear of the weaving sheds, with a large block, set a right angle, overlooking the lobby and offices. 27 bays face the present car park, and latrine turrets are placed at both ends. An integral beam engine house, with narrow, round-headed windows in its east and west walls, is sited roughly in the centre. Straight line joints in the masonry suggest rebuilding or extension in this area. At the northern end of the West Mill is a small, five bay weaving shed and loading area dated 1909. This building, which may have held jacquard looms, occupies the site of the gasworks. The weaving sheds and three-storey buildings enclose a small inner yard which was originally entered through a covered passage from Water Street. Although some demolition has taken place, the boiler house, with four large round-headed doors facing the yard survives. The octagonal, banded stone chimney is to the rear adjacent to the lobby. An engine house may have been sited just to the south of the boilers judging by the stone blocks in the shed wall. At the south end of the yard is another engine house built against the wall of the South Shed. Its side wall has round-headed windows. The position of the 1902 North Shed engine is difficult to determine, although it may have been at ground floor level in the three storey building north of the boilers. All buildings on the site display a similar architectural style. Dressed and random stone is used throughout, and stone copings, especially those to the weaving sheds, are supported on corbels. The sheds have round-headed ventilation openings to each bay. Stone gutters and kneelers to the gable ends are features of the West Mill. Finer masonry, including ashlar, is used on the office frontage. Factory Settlement: four well preserved terraces slightly beyond the North Shed. Details include quoins, stone gutters on corbels, and shallow, curved lintels to doors and windows. The complex is now an industrial estate, known as Lomeshaye Business Village. Condition: extant. (1) |