Tower Mill Tameside Mills

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 the textile industry, cotton doubling is the process of twisting together two or more single cotton yarns to create a single, multi-ply yarn. The machine used to 'double' spun cotton is known as a 'doubler' or 'doubling machine'.

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.