The Oxford Mills

The Oxford Mills is an integrated cotton mill located on Oxford Street East in Ashton-under-Lyne. The complex consists of two spinning mills flanking a central warehouse and office block, with weaving sheds attached to one of the mills. The first spinning mill was built in 1840, followed by the second in 1851, while the warehouse dates to around 1850. The weaving sheds are likely a later addition.

The structure is made of cast iron and brick, designed to be fireproof, with brick cladding and low-pitched Welsh slate roofs. The first mill is six storeys tall and measures 28 by 6 bays. Its corners are accentuated with plain panelled pilasters topped with heavy stone capitals. The mill features small brick arched windows with stone sills. At the rear, there is an internal engine house highlighted by pilasters. A semi-octagonal stair tower is positioned towards the center of the mill's inner face, and a storeyed bridge made of cast-iron girders connects the spinning block to the warehouse, which serves as the central part of the complex.

The warehouse is also five storeys high and consists of 10 by 5 bays, featuring small brick arched windows. The front gable end includes offices on two storeys, with a central door framed by an architrave and an entablature supported by moulded console brackets. Flanking windows have stressed stone architraves with flat voussoir heads and keystones. The corners are emphasized by plain panelled pilasters with stone capitals, which connect to a moulded parapet with a raised central blocking course. There is a very narrow single storeyed saw-toothed range of eight bays on the southwest side of the block, likely an extension for a card room. A storeyed bridge links the warehouse to the second mill, which was built in 1851. This mill originally had four storeys but now has three, with a layout of 10 by 5 bays. The adjoining weaving sheds are single storeyed but have been extensively altered. The Oxford Mills is an important example of an integrated complex, designed as a series of connected blocks.