Bailey Mills, New Delph

Bailey Mills is a woollen textile mill complex in New Delph that developed in stages during the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th century. The main spinning mill building and the lower part of a short north-west wing, along with the engine/boiler house and chimney, were built in 1863. The spinning mill was doubled in size from nine to eighteen bays in 1865, and a separate office building fronting Oldham Road was added around the same time. The short wing and stair tower were heightened in 1871. A warehouse on the west side of the site was constructed in the later 19th century, followed by a warehouse fronting Oldham Road in the early 20th century. A weaving shed and various alterations and extensions were added during the later 20th century.

The complex is built of coursed, squared sandstone with corrugated steel sheeting to the roofs (formerly slate) and brick to the interiors. The spinning mill is aligned north-east to south-west, originally parallel to the railway line, with a rectangular plan formed by two builds under a three-span roof. A short wing and stair tower project at the west corner, and there is a 20th-century extension at the north-east end. The engine and boiler house with circular chimney are situated adjacent to the south-west end of the mill. Adjacent and parallel to Oldham Road on the north side of the site are a rectangular office building over a basement and a separate warehouse building with an angled elevation on the yard side. On the west side is an approximately square warehouse under a three-span roof, attached to an offset approximately square three-light weaving shed, with a small trapezoid reservoir on their south-west and north-west sides.

Main Spinning Mill

The spinning mill is four storeys high and eighteen window bays in length, with a straight joint bisecting the elevations to mark the two builds of nine bays each. It is six window bays deep under three gables of a triple-span roof. Most of the fenestration consists of two square windows to each floor, forming vertically continuous openings separated only by monolithic, rock-faced sills and lintels. The exception is the ground floor on the north-west elevation, where the slope of the land required a dug-out area with a retaining wall and single, deeper, rectangular windows. The windows are six-pane in timber frames, some with tilting casement openings. On the north-west elevation (facing Oldham Road), between the eighth and ninth bays at second-floor level, is a stone plaque inscribed "1871 1863 1865". On the south-west elevation, between the tenth and eleventh bays at second-floor level, is a stone plaque with "BAILEY." in relief lettering. There are three taking-in doors in the north-west elevation.

Towards the right-hand end of the north-west elevation is a short wing that projects three bays and is two bays deep. A change in the stone coursing and the windows indicates that it was raised from two to four storeys with a mono-pitch roof. The lower windows are similar to those in the main building, being square with six-pane timber-framed windows and rock-faced sills and lintels. The north-west end elevation has a window and doorway. The two upper floors are built with larger blocks of stone and have a single, deeper window on each floor with smooth-cut monolithic sills and lintels. These windows are nine-pane in timber frames, some with tilting casement openings. The south-west side elevation is blind and abuts the stair tower to its right. The stone coursing indicates that the stair tower originally rose to the roof height of the mill and was then raised to support a water tank.

At the south-west end of the mill is an original two-storey, lean-to structure with stonework that courses through from the main south-east elevation; its roof is now missing. It has a doorway and window with monolithic stone lintels in the south-east elevation, both now blocked. At the north-east end of the mill, a fire escape has been inserted in the third bay. A flat-roofed, two-storey extension has been built against the lower floors in pier and panel construction, faced in coursed stonework with floor-to-ceiling panels of glazing. The windows are nine-pane in timber frames. The north corner is chamfered and the right-hand bay of the north-west elevation has an extra storey. Built alongside the area on the north-west side and abutting the north-east elevation of the short wing is a single-storey modern structure of unknown use with stone cladding to the north-west elevation, brick walls elsewhere, and a shallow mono-pitch roof of corrugated asbestos sheeting.

Engine House, Boiler House, Coal Shed and Chimney

Located at the west end of the mill, these form a group of single-storey buildings that cluster around the base of the circular chimney. On the north-west side is a taller building with two equal double-pitched roofs covered in corrugated asbestos sheeting. The right-hand half of the north-west elevation has a wide doorway and adjacent window. On the south-east side is a lower building now in a partially ruinous state, divided in two by a brick spine wall. The right-hand side originally abutted the side elevation of the lean-to structure, but the front wall and roof covering of this section are now missing and a modern circular metal tank has been placed on the line of the front wall. The left-hand side has a partially collapsed roof covering. A large opening has been inserted under a rolled steel joist in the south-east elevation. The exterior side elevation has two deep windows with nine-pane glazing and a wide doorway at the left-hand end. The circular chimney is built of stone with metal straps up to two-thirds of its height, terminating at a moulded band, with brick above and a cornice. The buildings were largely inaccessible but have timber roof trusses.

Office Building Fronting Oldham Road

The office building is single storey on the road side with a basement level on the yard side due to a fall in the land. It is rectangular with a hipped roof. The north-west, road-side elevation is of nine bays in a symmetrical composition. The central three bays project slightly under a triangular pediment, and the elevation has a chamfered plinth, plain impost band, and string course. The windows and doorways in the seventh and ninth bays are round-headed in an arcaded design, with moulded imposts to the windows in the centre and a small round-headed window in the pediment above (all now boarded). Abutting the left-hand end is a coursed stone boundary wall with curved coping stones. The right-hand return has a round-headed doorway approached by a full-width ramp due to the fall in land towards the mill on the south side. The left-hand return is blind. The yard-side rear elevation has three equally spaced rectangular windows to the centre, with a similar single window to the left and a pair of narrow windows to the far right. The larger windows have two-over-two pane hung sashes and the narrower windows have one-over-one pane hung sashes. The basement level beneath has a similar single window to each side of a wide central opening with a rolled steel joist lintel supported at its midpoint by a stone pier. The building was inaccessible internally.

Warehouse Fronting Oldham Road

The warehouse is single storey on the road side with a basement level on the yard side due to a fall in the land, and has a partial attic storey at the north-east end. It is wedge-shaped with an angled east, yard-side corner and a double-pitched roof. The north-west, road-side elevation is of nine bays. Eight deep rectangular windows have monolithic stone lintels and slightly projecting sills (the windows are boarded). The wide doorway in the ninth bay has a rolled steel joist lintel. The right-hand return has stone coping to the gable and a taking-in door in the gable. The left-hand return has a curved left-hand corner and an irregularly-shaped gable. On the right-hand side is a doorway reached by a flight of stone steps with a stone balustrade with shaped coping stones. In the centre is a large rectangular window with a nine-pane timber window frame, and a similar window beneath. On the left-hand side are two small windows with two-pane timber casements. Above at attic level are four small windows with two-pane timber casements. The angled wall has a small gablet towards the left-hand end, now partially obscured by a later 20th-century enclosed bridge linking the building to the wing of the main mill building. It has four rectangular windows, three with nine-pane frames and the fourth narrower with a six-pane frame. There is a single small window at attic level with a two-pane casement. At basement level there is a left-hand doorway with an adjacent window sharing a lintel, and a doorway with a window to each side. The yard-side return is of five bays with the left-hand bay obscured by the later raised infill extension. The second, fourth and fifth bays have large rectangular windows, and the third bay has a taking-in door. At basement level there are similar windows in the first, third, fourth and fifth bays, with a wide doorway with a rolled steel joist lintel in the second bay. The building was inaccessible internally.

West Warehouse

The stone-built warehouse is largely obscured by a later 20th-century extension on its north-east side and is inaccessible on its south-west side. It is roughly square with a slightly higher two-span roof running east-west to the centre and north-west side, and a lower double-pitch roof on the south-east side. The building is single storey on its north-west elevation (facing Oldham Road to the rear of the small reservoir), while a fall in the land means that the two-span part of the building also has a basement level and a first-floor level. The south-west section is of two storeys. There is a wide doorway at the left-hand end of the north-west elevation. The north-east elevation has windows beneath the later 20th-century extension, which is raised to first-floor level on square concrete piers with concrete pier and panel construction above. The panels contain large full-width windows and a stone-clad gable wall at the south-east end. The south-east section has four large rectangular windows at first-floor level of its south-east elevation, which has a chamfered right-hand corner. The windows have monolithic stone lintels and slightly projecting sills and three-pane timber window frames with a horizontal upper pane. The ground-floor windows are obscured by a later single-storey lean-to of corrugated steel sheeting. There is a doorway in the angled right-hand corner. At the left-hand end is a two-bay, single-storey range (stonework painted white) which abuts the north-east wall of the later weaving shed. It has two large rectangular windows, that to the left partially blocked to form a smaller opening. The building was largely inaccessible, but the south-east section has king post roof trusses with raking struts, and the first floor is supported on rolled steel joist cross beams.

Weaving Shed

The single-storey, stone-built weaving shed lies at the south-west end of the site and is attached to the west warehouse by the two-bay, single-storey range. It is roughly square with a three-span saw-tooth roof running north-south. The south-east elevation has stone pilasters to the outer corners, and a change in the stone coursing at roof level suggests that the roof structure may have been altered. There is a large doorway in the centre, now partially blocked to form a window. Another doorway in the south-west elevation has been altered to form a window. A straight joint towards the left-hand end indicates that the building has been extended on the north-west side. The north-west elevation has very large, closely-spaced rectangular windows. It is partially obscured by the later single-storey lean-to of corrugated steel sheeting, now partially collapsed. The roof covering is partially missing. Internally, the building has an angle-iron roof supported on rolled steel joist cross beams on square steel posts and brick piers.

Interior of Main Mill

Owing to the condition of the buildings, only a very limited internal inspection was possible. The ground floor of the mill has a concrete screed with timber upper floors. Each floor has two rows of slender cast-iron columns running the length of the building with square bolting heads for transmission brackets and plates supporting timber cross beams, which are set into the outer stone walls with cast-iron brackets bolted to the walls. The roof is of three equal spans and the roof structure is formed by rows of three common rafters with collars and strapped tie beams supporting purlins. The stair tower is of fireproof construction with stone steps, some levelled with concrete. There are also two timber staircases, one in the centre and one at the north-east end.