Heybrook Mill

Heybrook Mill is a mid-19th century woollen mill and associated mill housing, situated in Rochdale. The site comprises a three-storey, seven-bay mill and a rear range at right angles, now used as housing. The construction materials are predominantly coursed squared gritstone and brick, with slate roofs.

The main mill range runs parallel to the street. The entrance bay, located six bays in from the left, features loading doors above. These were likely added later, as the tie-stone jambs match the surrounding windows and do not extend down to sill level. Modern doors are present, along with replacement window frames. Paired windows are visible on the left return elevation. The rear wall has no fenestration; however, the careful stone coursing changes to a more rustic rubble where it is obscured by the adjacent property, No.4 Hey Brook House, which is not part of the listed structure. The north gable end is rendered in brick.

The rear range, accessed from Entwisle Street, consists of four single-fronted houses, with Nos. 1 and 3 projecting, displaying both hipped and gabled rooflines. The stonework to the centre and right of the range is consistent with that of the mill, while the left side uses thinner courses. The houses feature six-panel doors with overlights; Nos. 1 and 2 have a blocking piece above the cornice, and Nos. 3 and 4 have a shallow entablature below it. Stone surrounds are plain. The ground-floor fenestration varies: four-pane sashes, a wooden canted bay, a two-light mullion window, and a full-height stone canted bay are all present. Windows on the first floor generally resemble those of the mill, again with tie stone jambs. Nos. 3 and 4 have a moulded stone eaves cornice, while the cornice on Nos. 1 and 2 is made of timber.

The rear of the complex showcases brown brick in a 5:1 English bond, with the right end being rendered. Blocked paired round brick arches are visible in the centre, and inserted doors and windows are present, with former sash windows retaining stone lintels on the first floor. The right return of the houses is attached to the mill with two brick arched buttresses connecting them via a brick wall.

A front boundary wall, approximately 2 metres high and constructed of coursed stone, extends from the southwest corner of the mill, enclosing a garden area. A gateway on Entwisle Street features monolithic stone shafts approximately 2.5 metres high, topped with single-stone gabled capstones.

Historical records reveal that an 1848 map showed a house called Hey Brook House on the site of the current houses, with a long range attached to Hamer Lane and extending onto Yorkshire Street, alongside a rear yard entrance. It is believed that the round-arched range provided access to the rear yard, and that the main house was later rebuilt as smaller houses, likely shortly after the map's publication.

Despite being incomplete, Heybrook Mill is an early surviving example of a woollen mill in Rochdale, reflecting the town's thriving woollen industry before the introduction of cotton production.