Swan Meadow works welfare building, Eckersley Mills

Swan Meadow Works Welfare Building, Eckersley Mills

A workers' welfare building of around 1918, probably designed by Stott and Sons, for Eckersleys Ltd, as part of a large integrated cotton manufacturing complex. The building is constructed in red Accrington brick and common brick with buff terracotta dressings, slate roofs, timber windows, and steel roof trusses.

The plan comprises three adjoining elements aligned north-south: an aisled main hall to the west, with two smaller halls of unequal size to the east. These eastern halls are fronted by an east-west crush hall and have an east-west kitchen range to the rear.

The building forms a south-western component of an important group of cotton mills and associated structures on this site, which collectively constitute a striking feature forming a substantial part of the Wigan Pier Conservation Area. It is built in a neo-Classical style as a single-storey structure of varied heights, with a canted projecting plinth and hipped roofs.

The principal façade faces south onto Fourteen Meadows Road. At the left, the main hall is flanked by low three-bay aisles. The hall features a large Venetian window, tall square-headed windows in flanking bays with enriched terracotta panelling in the heads, a terracotta frieze and cornice, and a high parapet with a central terracotta pediment containing a panel lettered 'ECKERSLEYS LTD'. The aisles have square-headed windows with flat-arched brick heads and terracotta sills; the right aisle has a very wide rectangular doorway in the third bay (bricked up as of 2022) with an enriched terracotta surround including a panelled lintel lettered 'HALL ENTRANCE'. To the right is a low seven-bay façade to the flat-roofed kitchen range, with tripartite windows (lower-silled in bay one) and an entrance in bay five with an enriched terracotta surround including a panelled lintel lettered 'GOODS' (all bricked up). Set back above are the walls of the taller dining halls, with central Diocletian windows (blocked) flanked by pilasters and lower wings; the eastern men's hall is set further back still.

The west wall is similarly detailed and has a flat-roofed five-bay projection at the left with a terracotta 'EXIT' door surround in bay five, which retains some original doorway joinery with 'x' overlights.

The north wall has a similar configuration but is mainly of common brick with Accrington-brick dressings and some terracotta, including a further 'EXIT' door surround to the rear of the main hall. The flat-roofed narthex at the east end forms the crush hall to the dining halls, and has a wide terracotta surround labelled 'WOMENS DINING HALL' and a number of blocked windows; at the left it is set back, as is the men's dining hall façade above. The entrance to this is on the east wall, with a similar surround to the women's entrance but narrower. An inserted modern entrance is positioned to the left. The east wall of the kitchen has a projecting chimney breast with terracotta shoulders and cap to the stack. The roofs are partially covered by felt and bitumen.

Internally, the circulation areas have modern finishes. The main and central halls contain a modern roller-skating floor and associated fittings, and the east hall has an inserted ceiling and modern café fittings. However, the original planform remains legible through the exposed roof structures. The main roof retains its ribbed, barrel-vaulted ceiling with decorative corbels and ventilation grilles. The aisles and small halls also retain some original roof linings of lath and plaster and timber.