Adelphi Mill

Adelphi Mill

This is a cotton spinning mill, now subdivided into commercial units. It was erected for Swindells Brothers in 1856 and has received 19th and early 20th century additions. The building is constructed of ashlar sandstone blocks with slate-covered roofs.

The mill is rectangular in plan with engine houses (1856 and 1907), a boiler house, a truncated chimney, and a cotton store positioned at the north end. The main range is six storeys high and 30 bays long on its west front. A shallow parapet conceals a multi-valley roof. The primary entrance sits at the north end, featuring a rusticated portico raised on four steps, composed of three round-headed arches. The southern arch has been blocked by the addition of a lift shaft, dated 1919 by a stone date mark on its west face. The north-west corner is topped by a square corner tower surmounted by octagonal corner turrets, corbelled outwards. A second original entrance door is located in the 10th bay from the north end. Square-headed window openings with stone sills contain many renewed frames in uPVC. Three dry chute toilet blocks are spaced evenly along the main range. On the east side, there is evidence of a taking-in opening towards the centre of the range.

At the south end stands a two-storey, three-bay addition with the inscription '1824' in the stone lintel of the central entrance doorway. It has an Italianate character, with recessed window bays and sills that form projecting string courses, the upper one of which sits on corbels. Window openings show some alterations and the frames have been renewed in uPVC, though the metal fascia of the original central mullions has been retained.

At the north end is an attached chimney base, square in plan, with a moulded plinth and cornice, surmounted by the moulded plinth of an octagonal chimney whose shaft has been removed. The ventilation arches in the north and south faces have been converted to form doorways. Adjacent to the north end is a tall, gabled engine house and a three-bay, two-storey boiler house with arched openings to the east. Further north, adjoining the boiler house, stands a three-storey cotton store with square-headed window openings, except at first floor level on the east side where they are round-headed. A smithy adjoining the cotton store to the east has been reduced in height. A 1907 engine house, three storeys high and square in plan, adjoins the north-east corner of the mill.

The interior has been subdivided into offices and industrial units, concealing much of the historic fabric except at ground floor level. Construction on the upper floors is traditional, with timber bridging beams supported by three rows of cast-iron columns. At ground floor level, the building is 'fireproof' in form, with cast-iron columns supporting cast-iron beams spanned by brick jack arches. At first floor level, an area of metal sheeting that acted as fireproofing is visible lining the ceiling. At the same point and also on the fourth floor, substantial cast-iron blocks that formed bearing housings for drive shafting survive. No parts of the steam engines or boilers remain, though the 1856 engine house walls carry evidence of the engine and drive in the form of stone blocks that supported them. The cotton store roof comprises cast-iron plate and wrought-iron rod trusses.

To the east of the main range stand wrought-iron railings on a stone plinth with stone gate piers. On the canal bank, the cast-iron base plate of a canal-side crane survives. On the east bank remains the lower portion of a more substantial crane, comprising a circular shaft formed of a wrought-iron frame lined with timber.

Bollington, a small Cheshire village blessed with full-flowing Pennine streams and benefiting from the Macclesfield Canal after 1831, was a considerable centre of cotton spinning, boasting numerous mills of all scales. Adelphi Mill was erected on the banks of the Macclesfield Canal for the spinning of cotton yarn by Swindells Brothers, George and Martin ('adelphi' being the Greek word for 'brothers'). George managed the new factory and is said to have had his name inscribed over the main entrance. The Swindells were a significant family in Cheshire textile industry history and previously owned Rainow and Ingersley Vale Mills in Bollington, as well as Higher and Lower Mills with the Olivers. They also owned Clarence Mill, on the canal side north of Adelphi, and operated the two factories in tandem. In 1898 the Swindells amalgamated with Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Ltd., adding Waterhouse Mill in Bollington to their holdings. Adelphi was converted for throwing and spinning silk and man-made fibres in the mid-20th century, subsequently becoming part of the Courtaulds textile empire before closing in 1975.

By 1875, Adelphi Mill had been carefully extended southwards by 18 metres, with the original gable end now forming an internal partition. The 1875 Ordnance Survey map also shows the boiler and engine houses in their position at the north end and canal-side cranes for loading raw materials from barges, with the base of one still surviving. The mill tower above the north-west corner originally had a simple parapet and shallow hipped roof without turrets; these were added after 1905, possibly in 1919 when the lift shaft was installed at the north end. A three-storey extension, initially for blowing but later used for gassing and winding, was added to the south end in 1924. In 1907 a new engine house was added to the north-east corner with a substantial vertical engine installed. The lodge to the north of the mill has been enlarged and extended since 1875. In the early 20th century a cotton warehouse was erected to the west of the mill. After closure the mill chimney was reduced to its base, and in the 1980s the mill floors were subdivided into industrial units and offices. For a brief period the north end was converted to a hotel, when an entrance was created through the base of the chimney.