Leigh Mill

Leigh Mill is a large double cotton spinning mill constructed in the early 20th century. The first block was built in 1913 for the Horrocks Company, followed by a second block to the same design in 1923. Both were designed by Bradshaw, Gass & Hope, architects of Bolton.

The mill is built of red brick with buff brick banding and dressings, likely cladding a reinforced steel frame. It comprises two six-storey blocks, each ten bays wide and seven bays long, featuring corner water towers on the southeast and southwest corners of the respective blocks. The southeast tower, belonging to the 1913 block, is tall, rising above roof level with two stages, the lower with a central roundel, and the upper with deeply recessed round-headed niches on all faces, surmounted by a slate cupola. The southwest tower appears to have never had a cupola, as evidenced by a photograph from 1929. The upper floor of the main blocks is treated as an attic storey, with a dentilled sill cornice. Windows are uniformly arranged as five-light units under flat heads. Offices are provided in two and three-storey sections on five elevations of both blocks. Each block has an engine house and rope race tower, with blank faces featuring round-headed niches. A low boiler house has a largely renewed south elevation. Various entrances have been altered or blocked over time. Rear (north) elevations include symmetrically placed stair and privy blocks. A tall chimney stack has a cap.

The mill’s interior once contained over 200,000 mule spindles and 4,800 ring spindles and originally housed spinning machinery by Platt and Oldham. One steam engine survives intact and in working order within the 1923 block; it is one of the largest produced by Yates and Thom and was known as the 'Mayor' and 'Mayoress' along with its pair. The boiler house formerly contained seven Lancashire boilers. Leigh Mill is considered one of the most monumental and complete mills surviving in Greater Manchester, representing the final generation of cotton mill construction. It was designed as a double mill, with the second block built after demonstrating the initial investment’s viability.