| Summary : Broad Oak Printworks was the most important calico printworks of Accrington, founded in 1792 as bleaching crofts by Taylor, Fort, Bury & Co of Oakenshaw. James Bury withdrew in 1794 to run Sabden Printworks, and in 1811 Taylor & Fort dissolved the partnership. In 1812, the works were taken over by Thomas Hargreaves, previously a manager for the firm, and Adam Dugdale. A plan of the works dated 1813 illustrates a typical layout of an early printworks. The most striking feature is the series of separate shops or departments along the stream from east to west: a wash house, two dye houses, sour house, bleaching house, blue dyehouse and singeing house, dry house, stove house, large print house, block shop, machine room, and old print shop. Power was provided by seven waterwheels and the cloth moved downstream from one end of the works to the other as it was processed. The works expanded greatly after 1816, steam power was introduced, and new print shops erected. Further extensions, including new raising and finishing rooms, turbine engine and boiler houses were added in first years of the twentieth century. Major modernisation and reconstruction scheme after 1920, and new printshops were built in early 1930s. The works contracted after World War II; machine printing ended in 1958, engraving ceased in 1960, the screen printing department closed in 1966, and the finishing operations were transferred to Loveclough in 1970. Warehousing and some minor operations continued. Demolition of portions of the works occurred in the 1960s, principally the older printshops on the eastern perimeter of the complex. |
| More information : Broad Oak Printworks was the most important calico printworks of Accrington, founded in 1792 as bleaching crofts by Taylor, Fort, Bury & Co of Oakenshaw. James Bury withdrew in 1794 to run Sabden Printworks, and in 1811 Taylor & Fort dissolved the partnership. In 1812, the works were taken over by Thomas Hargreaves, previously a manager for the firm, and Adam Dugdale. A plan of the works dated 1813 illustrates a typical layout of an early printworks. The most striking feature is the series of separate shops or departments along the stream from east to west: a wash house, two dye houses, sour house, bleaching house, blue dyehouse and singeing house, dry house, stove house, large print house, block shop, machine room, and old print shop. Power was provided by seven waterwheels and the cloth moved downstream from one end of the works to the other as it was processed. The works expanded greatly after 1816, steam power was introduced, and new print shops erected. The works housed three single colour machines, 216 tables, two steam engines of 10hp, one of 14hp and one 20 hp by 1829. Hargreaves & Dugdale listed as calico printers at Broad Oak in trade directories for 1818 and 1828-9. Further buildings were constructed during the 1830s. Adam Dugdale retired circa 1836, and the firm became Hargreaves Brothers & Co. By 1846, the works housed 12 machines, 300 tables, five steam engines (25hp, two 14hp, two 110hp) and water power, with approximately 850 employees. Oak Printworks is named on the 1848 Ordnance Survey first edition 1:10,560 map, which shows a large complex of buildings, including a gasometer. Following the death of Robert Hargreaves in 1854, the works was leased to F Grafton of Manchester, J E Lightfoot, chief chemist of Broad Oak, and Thomas Lightfoot. The Bell Shop (printing department) was taken over by William Hesketh, cotton manufacturer, who ran 456 looms in the building until his bankruptcy in 1865. Another portion of the works was operated by Alexander Grearson, manufacturer, until 1858. A third section was taken over circa 1857 by R D Kay, a relation of the Hargreaves family, to manufacture India rubber and waterproof cloth; this business failed in 1873. In 1880, when Grafton purchased the works, buildings included eight engine houses, seven boiler houses, two machine shops, two dye houses, bleaching croft, finishing rooms, gas retort and fire station. Among the engines were five beam, three horizontals and nine auxiliary steam engines. Printing machinery comprised 30 machines, ranging from single to eight colour and 24 tables. Expansion between 1880 and 1890 increased the number of machines to 32, and by the latter date 56 buildings of various sizes occupied the site. About 1000 were employed at the works during this period. Named on the Ordnance Survey first edition 1:2500 map of 1893. Calico Printers Association Ltd was formed in 1899 with F F Grafton as first chairman. F W Grafton & Co Ltd (34 machines) became a subsidiary, later renamed Broad Oak Print Works (1923) Ltd. Further extensions, including new raising and finishing rooms, turbine engine and boiler houses were added in first years of the twentieth century. Major modernisation and reconstruction scheme after 1920, and new printshops were built in early 1930s. The works contracted after World War II; machine printing ended in 1958, engraving ceased in 1960, the screen printing department closed in 1966, and the finishing operations were transferred to Loveclough in 1970. Warehousing and some minor operations continued. Demolition of portions of the works occurred in the 1960s, principally the older printshops on the eastern perimeter of the complex. Numerous companies occupied the site subsequently; the most important was Caligen Foam Ltd, a firm established in 1964 by CPA, and General Foam Corporation (U.S.A.) to manufacture foam linings for fabrics. The textile industry is represented by Hyndburn Quality Dyers and Finishers Ltd. The buildings comprise a single-storey stone-built watch house and a two-storey manager's house, which flank main gates. New printshops occupied by Caligen Foam. Large circular brick chimney and modern structures to rear of watch house. Road turns in a south-westerly direction by a stone-built cloth warehouse dated 1925. Modern offices occupy site of printshops just beyond warehouse. A few yards beyond the road forks east towards Tag Clough. Single- and two-storey laboratory blocks of mid-nineteenth-century date run on the southern side of this road, reservoir opposite. Approximately opposite the lower end of the laboratories is a three-storey shop with round headed windows. Used as mechanics' shop during 1920s, but was almost certainly a manufacturing unit in the nineteenth century. Beyond this building is a single-storey bleach croft with attached boiler house dating from before 1850. Opposite is the concrete base of the turbine with ruined brick-built boiler house to rear. Above the bleach croft are further single-storey sheds, all dating from the later nineteenth century and formerly used for bleaching, printing and blue dyeing. Past the road to Oak Vale Mill is another range of stone-built single-storey sheds (Hyndburn Quality Finishers). The lower end dates from circa 1890, and was once the stentering department while the top portion, constructed in the early twentieth century, was a screen printing shop. Opposite the stenter house is a detached single-storey dye-house. Large reservoirs are situated immediately behind the works, in Warmden Clough and on Moleside Moor. (1) |