These cotton spinning mills were built in the 19th century (1827-1871) and they are located on the south side of Huddersfield Rd about 125 yards to the north east of St Paul’s Church. They are historically significant as they are one of Tameside’s earliest surviving fire-proof mills.

They were worked by James Wilkinson from at least 1832 and there is a record of a company called James Wilkinson, Ltd working the mills in 1891. By 1920 the mills had become disused but in 1930 Robert Hyde Buckley & Sons Ltd began to use them for cotton doubling and they worked them until 1974. 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 founder of this company, Robert Hyde Buckley (6 Dec 1812-12 Sep 1867), was born at Dukinfield and he was resident at Saddleworth. The sons in the business were Robert Shaw Buckley, Richard Buckley and James Buckley.

The mills are built with watershot stone, with a graduated-slate hipped roof, and they are of fireproof floor construction supported by cylindrical cast-iron columns. The hipped roof has been partly replaced with a flat roof. They are 4 and 5-storeys high and 11-bays wide against Huddersfield Rd and 4-bays wide at the far end, by 45-bays long. The boiler house, octagonal tapering chimney, and engine house on the south west side date from 1871 and the office wing is on the north-east side.

Copley Mills are listed Grade II, List Entry No. 1162996 and they are in the Copley Conservation Area.