Crescent Road Mill St Helens Mill

Crescent Road Mill, St Helens Mill

A steam-powered cotton spinning and weaving mill of complex layout, with the earliest part built in 1819 for Joshua Binns, followed by additions in 1824, 1833–40, and 1845. The site comprises five ranges of brick buildings grouped around and within a courtyard.

The main spinning block faces the street in red-brown brick with English bond and a 20th-century cement tile roof. This comprises four storeys with 22 bays by 4 bays, constructed in three phases. The central block of 1819 features tall windows with wedge lintels and a fire-proof structure of cast-iron columns with fluted capitals on the ground floor. A stair tower projects from the rear wall, and a distinctive privy tower with tile diamond-shaped vents is integral to the design. A similar block was added to the south in 1824. At the north end, a block built between 1833 and 1840 includes a round-arched engine house window.

In the rear yard and on the north side sits a 4-storey range of 12 bays, reported to date from around 1845, built in similar character. Its lower storey sits below the present yard level. Loading doors occupy bay 4, with stone steps descending to a basement entrance at bay 5. An inserted doorway is positioned to the right. On the top storey between bays 6 and 7 is a circular opening with a moulded frame, possibly for a clock face. Stone sills and wedge lintels are typical throughout, with wooden 5-by-6-pane window frames, some now blocked.

All buildings are constructed in brick with English bonds, including sections with mixed header courses. No chimneys remain.

The interior reveals wide brick segmental arches carrying the ground floor. A blocked first-floor loading door on the right return is partially obscured by a later 20th-century 2-storey block built from reclaimed materials. Attached to the west and at right angles is a tall 3-storey range with a round-arched window, probably an engine house.

Three parallel single-storey sheds occupy the rear, built around 1860. One is a lean-to; the others are gabled with slate roofs and wooden louvred ventilators on the ridge. A hipped-roof block fits into the corner. On the south side of the site stands another block from around 1860, three storeys with 13 bays in 5:1 English bond, built in light red and orange bricks with slate roof and small glazed roof lights. Tall 6-pane windows punctuate the elevation, with inserted doorways on the yard side. A 2-storey, 5-bay office wing projects at right angles and features an ornate gothic traceried door. An open-sided shed and loose box close the north side of the yard.

Joshua Binns built his new mill on this site in 1819 and by 1824 had expanded it in partnership with James Dean. They operated 18 pairs of mules and 14 carding engines. By 1833 a 20-horsepower steam engine had been installed with 93 people employed, spinning medium-fine counts of yarn. A third extension was added by 1836, when power-loom weaving was introduced. By 1845 the detached range was built, possibly for spinning and the manufacture of printing cloth. The remainder of the mill was used for spinning power-loom twist for Matthew Binns and G.J. Wainwright, who left in the 1850s. Cotton spinning was subsequently carried on by Clementson and Leyland, and by 1871 William Young and Co. became sole occupants. The last recorded use as a mill was in 1876.

The site represents an important grouping of mill buildings in multiple occupation arranged around a courtyard, with various sections still identifiable. The 1819 portion is one of the oldest surviving cotton mill buildings in the Ashton–Stalybridge district.