Mutual Mills

Mutual Mills

A group of three cotton mills built between 1884 and 1914 for the Mutual Spinning Company, with a weaving shed added between 1927 and 1937. The buildings are constructed of red brick with stone and polychrome brick details, probably with steel frames and concrete construction, and feature flat roofs.

The site comprises three main mill buildings of five and six storeys with attached offices, a separate two-storey office and warehouse block in the centre linked by first-floor corridors to two of the mills, and a reservoir on the south-east. Cast-iron railings and gates to Mutual Street bear the maker's name "Heywood Foundry Company Ltd".

No. 1 Mill, facing Mutual Street and Aspinall Street at the north-west corner, was built by 1885. It has five storeys and measures approximately seventeen by twelve bays, with projecting corner towers and nine-pane windows to the upper storeys; the lower storeys are now blocked. An Italianate corner tower to the south-west features shouldered-arched windows with stone lintels, triple round-arched lights to the top storey with keyed arches, moulded cornices, and a parapet with ball finials. Single-storey offices occupy the base, and the engine house projects on the north side with tall round-arched windows, now blocked. A 1200 horsepower engine was installed in 1885, with high-pressure valve gear fitted by Musgraves in 1913. The steam plant was removed when electricity was installed. A chimney that formerly stood alongside the engine house has been demolished.

No. 2 Mill, facing Aspinall Street and Buckley Street at the south-west corner, dates from 1885 to 1900, with the office dated 1900. It has six storeys and twenty-one bays, with corner towers. The south-west stair tower is taller, featuring four tall lancets and paired round windows to the upper part, with corner pilasters rising to a pierced parapet with ball finials. An engine house with blocked round-arched windows projects on the east side, and a chimney formerly stood to the south. A two-storey, four-bay reception and office block projects from the base of the south-west tower, with a central wide flat arch, segmental-headed windows, a triple window above the archway, pilasters, and a parapet with scrolls flanking a pedimented stone plaque dated 1900. The upper storey is in a brighter red brick and appears to be a later addition; the range extends approximately twelve bays along Buckley Street.

No. 3 Mill, facing Mutual Street and Orchard Street at the north-east corner, was built by 1914. It has six storeys and twenty-three bays to Orchard Street, with a projecting engine house on the east side and the site of a former boiler house and chimney near the south-east corner. The south-west corner tower features triple windows, a parapet, and ball finials. A two-storey block is attached to the north end, a single-storey shed runs along the east side, and a two-storey projecting office and reception block projects from the base of the stair tower, facing the reservoir. A 1850 horsepower engine was built in 1914, though the mill's operation was delayed until 1922.

A three-storey warehouse and shed built before 1907 stands between Nos. 1 and 3 mills and is linked to them by first-floor walkways. Its tapering plan results from a property boundary on the east side, shown on the twenty-five-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1907, made before Mill No. 3 was constructed. A weaving shed stands south of No. 3 mill parallel to the reservoir. Not shown on the 1927 Ordnance Survey map revision but built by 1937, it is single storey with parallel north-light windows.

A fine set of cast-iron double gates and flanking railings, made by the Heywood Foundry Company, provide access to the site from Mutual Street. These are probably contemporary with the construction of No. 3 mill, dating to around 1914. The gates feature ornamented lock rails and bars with pointed finials, octagonal-section panelled piers with mouldings and ball finials, with standards and railings of similar design.

Heywood was the fifteenth largest centre of cotton spinning when it reached its maximum capacity in 1915. The Mutual Spinning Company trebled its capacity between 1886 and 1914 to a total of 246,000 spindles, becoming the largest firm in the town. The company's foundation as a limited company in 1884 helped maintain the spinning trade across the full spectrum of yarn production. The company operated specialist ring mills in 1891 and 1907 and spun Bolton counts from 1892 onwards. The use of the same basic design for all three mills produces a dramatic architectural effect and emphasises the importance of a consistent architectural imprint as a company emblem.