Tower Mill River Mill Tameside Mills Queen Mill Dukinfield Old Mill Extension Old Hall Mill

This cotton-spinning mill is located on the north side of Park Rd by the river Tame. It was built for Christian Valentine Koch* (1834–1895), from Switzerland, who was a prominent 19th-century industrialist and an important figure in the cotton-spinning industry of Dukinfield.

The mill was designed by Edward Potts of Potts, Pickup & Dixon of Manchester, and it opened in 1886 with 44,000 spindles. Facing Park Rd, the mill is 4-storeys high, with a basement, by 17-bays long and it is of fireproof construction. It is similar in design to the associated River Mill, which is also situated on Park Rd about 400 yards distant to the west, but it is more ornate. Subsequently, the mill was worked by the River & Tower Mills Co Ltd (1912) who ceased spinning at River Mill in 1934 but continued to work Tower Mill with spinning mule frames and ring-spinning frames until 1955 when the company went into liquidation.

When it was no longer used as a cotton mill it was used by various industries and divided into small units. At one point there were plans for the mill to be converted into apartments but with the recession in 2007/08 these plans were abandoned. The mill then lay empty until it was bought in 2013 by English Fine Cottons Ltd, refurbished and re-equipped to begin ring spinning cotton yarns again in 2016. It was then, after an absence of 61 years, the only cotton-spinning mill in production in the UK. The parent company of English Fine Cottons Ltd is Culimeta-Saveguard Ltd, which went into administration in March 2024 and liquidators were appointed in Sep 2024. Consequently, Tower Mill was put up for sale.

Tower Mill is Grade II listed, List Entry No. 1268070.

The function of the Tower of Tower Mill
Cotton mills normally had a tower and this one is a particularly ornate and prominent 150-foot high feature.

These towers served two key practical roles, and sometimes a third auxiliary roll, in cotton-mill design.The top of the tower was fitted with a large header tank and water was pumped into it, either by using the mill’s main steam engine, or a small auxiliary steam engine, to drive the pump that moved water into the header tank. Later, an electrically-powered pump would have been used:

• Water storage for fire safety: Acting as a water tower, it provided the high-pressure water supply needed for the mill’s internal sprinkler system. Cotton dust is highly combustible and it was a major fire hazard in cotton mills as it can ignite instantly from even a small spark and spread flames rapidly across the mill.
• Vertical access to the mill: By incorporating a staircase and lift to provide access to every storey and basement of the mill.
• Auxiliary role for mill humidity: Cotton is sensitive to the level of humidity in the air and if this is incorrect then yarn breakages will occur. Mills sometimes used the tank to supply water to humidifiers designed to add moisture to the air to combat dryness.

The surviving range of these cotton mills (No. 3) is situated between Tower Mill and River Mill on Park Rd and it is set back from the road by about 45 yards. The mills were built for John and Edward Chadwick who traded as John Chadwick & Co Ltd. The main range dated from 1852 and it was 6-storeys high. The builders were Edward Sigley & Sons of Ashton-under-Lyne, who were contractors, stonemasons, and builders. This range was expanded in 1857, 1860 and 1872 and by 1884 the combined ranges were operating 102,000 spindles for spinning and doubling.

In a cotton mill, doubling is the process of combining two or more separate strands of spun yarn into a single, more uniform strand referred to as plied yarn. To do this parallel strands of yarn are fed into a ring doubling frame or two-for-one twisting frame. In the latter, the frame makes two twists in the yarn for every one rotation of the spindle. The purpose of doubling is that plied yarns are significantly stronger and more durable than single yarns and they are smoother.

Corded or cabled yarn is a strong, multi-layered yarn made by twisting two or more plied yarns together.

In 1884 the final range, designated No. 3, was built and the architects were Potts, Son & Pickup based in Manchester and Oldham. The front of this range, facing Park Rd, is 4-storeys high by 11-bays wide.

By 1920 there were 115,596 mule spindles, 14,108 ring-spinning spindles and 10,240 doubling spindles. Tameside Mills closed in 1933 and all the ranges, with the exception of No. 3, were demolished.

By 1933, the Lancashire cotton industry was in a severe depression caused by global competition that resulted in bankruptcies. Between 1931 and 1933, over 100 mills closed in Lancashire. The industry saw falling exports and structural decline, leading to rationalisation efforts like the Lancashire Cotton Corporation founded by the Bank of England in 1929. Two of the earliest cotton-spinning companies to be sold to the Lancashire Cotton Corporation were Bolton Union Spinning Co (1920) Ltd of Halliwell, Bolton, and Royd Mill (1919 ) Ltd of Hollinwood, Oldham, both in Jan 1930.

This former cotton mill was located on the north side of Foundry St between West St and Oxford Mills on its eastern side. It was built of red engineering brick in 1901/02 for Queen Mill (Dukinfield) Ltd and it was the last mill to be built in Dukinfield. In 1954 it was acquired by Fine Spinners and Doublers Ltd. The company was also a member of The Federation of Master Cotton Spinners' Association Ltd. In 1963 it was acquired by Courtaulds Northern Textiles Division but shortly afterwards the mill ceased cotton production. The mill then became part of the Sterling Moulding Materials Group (later, Sterling Mouldings). Sterling Mouldings ceased production at Queen Mill by 1983/84 and the mill was demolished at this time.

The architect for the design of Queen Mill was the renowned Sir Philip Sidney Stott of Oldham and the contractors were Messrs Storrs & Son, of Stalybridge. It was 4-storeys by 33-bays long built of red engineering brick and a notable feature was the water tower crowned by a cupola.

When the mill opened it had 101,608 mule spindles for the production of 36/54s count velvet weft and American cotton twist (warp) of 36/50s count. When woven, these yarns would have resulted in a medium thickness velvet fabric.

Yarn Counts of 36/54s and 36/50s

These notations means that two different yarn thicknesses were blended together to create 2-ply yarns. The ‘s’ in the counts stands for ‘singles’.

36s means that 36 hanks x 840 yards of this yarn weigh one pound.
50s means that 50 hanks x 840 yards of this yarn weigh one pound.
54s means that 54 hanks x 840 yards of this yarn weigh one pound.

The equivalent 1-ply yarn to a blend of 36/54s count is 22s count (medium thickness).
The equivalent 1-ply yarn to a blend of 36/50s count is 20s count (medium thickness).

The larger the number, the thinner the yarn.

The former Dukinfield Old Mill Extension was located on the north side of Park Rd, about 775 yards to the west of the junction of Park Rd with Sandy Ln and Clarence St. It was built of red engineering brick in 1894/95 for the Old Mill Co (Dukinfield) Ltd and at the time it was officially described as the Extension of Dukinfield Old Mill when it was really a replacement. The architect for the design of Dukinfield Old Mill Extension was the renowned Sir Philip Sidney Stott of Oldham.

The first mill on this site was established in 1792† and this was significantly expanded in the 1810s and 1820s. In 1877 the London Gazette recorded that the partners in the Old Mill Co were John Camenisch‡, Lewis Lloyd and Harold Cunningham. After the Extension was built in 1894/95 the earlier buildings were eventually demolished.

The London Gazette records that the Old Mill Co (Dukinfield) Ltd went into liquidation in 1952 and it was around this time that cotton spinning ceased at the mill. After cotton spinning ceased the mill transitioned through several industrial and commercial uses. In Feb 2014 the mill was badly damaged during storms and it was declared structurally unsafe and demolished later that year.

This mill was comprised of a weaving shed located off the west side of Wellbridge Rd. It was bounded to the north by Dukinfield Hall and to the south by the Lower Peak Forest Canal. The shed was built speculatively after the end of the Cotton Famine in 1865 and it was occupied between 1871 and 1874 by William Young & Co and then by Henry Bannerman & Sons Ltd. The latter company was based on York St, Manchester, and it also owned River Meadow Mill and North End Mill in Stalybridge besides Brunswick Mill on Bradford Rd, Ancoats, Manchester. Brunswick Mill is listed Grade II, List Entry No. 1197807. On opening, Old Hall Mill had 200 looms but the shed was then expanded and by 1884 it had 300 looms. When a devastating fire occurred in 1906 it had 550 looms.

After the fire the weaving shed was completely rebuilt to a design by the renowned architect, Sir Philip Sidney Stott of Oldham. The new shed was about 155-feet wide by 125-feet long and it was positioned so that the sawtooth or north-light roof across the width of the building was on a bearing of N 32° E. The steeper side of each tooth was glazed while the shallow side was covered with an opaque material to shield the interior from the sun. This ensured consistent good-quality light needed inside for the weavers operating the looms.

In 1930 the Old Hall Mill was acquired by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Ltd but shortly afterwards it was decommissioned and it closed in 1933.