Swan Meadow works office and winding block, Eckersley Mills

Swan Meadow Works Office and Winding Block, Eckersley Mills

An office block of 1904 and winding block of 1912, forming part of an integrated cotton manufacturing complex, probably designed by Stott and Sons for Eckersleys Cotton Trust.

The building is constructed of red Accrington brick and common brick with red terracotta dressings, slate roofs and timber windows. The winding block incorporates cast-iron columns and reinforced concrete beams. The plan comprises an entrance and office range on a cranked layout alongside Swan Meadow Road, abutted to the north by an irregular winding block aligned east-west with a concave façade facing Pottery Road.

The structure forms the north-eastern component of an important group of cotton mills and associated structures on this site, collectively a striking feature comprising a substantial part of the Wigan Pier Conservation Area.

The building is two storeys in the Edwardian Baroque style with terracotta sill bands, cornice and parapet. The principal façade faces east onto Swan Meadow Road and comprises 13 bays: a 7-bay office range on the left and a 6-bay winding range on the right. The office range has a parapet with balustrades between two enriched gablets with niches in bays 2 and 6, flanked by pilasters which continue down past the first-floor windows with brick corbelling between them below the sill in the manner of an oriel window. At the left is a wide segmental-headed doorway with an inserted window. The entrance in bay 7 features an elaborate terracotta architrave with panelled pilasters bearing consoles, a frieze lettered 'OFFICES', a concave cornice with egg-and-dart enrichment, and an enriched broken elliptical pediment dated 1904. It retains its original panelled timber doors. The cast-iron rainwater goods include hoppers also dated 1904. The ground-floor sill band carries decorative iron railings and the ground-floor openings have a continuous drip mould. At the left the range incorporates a large square gatepost with stone imposts and artstone cap. The roof retains a ridge ventilator and has a brick north gable.

The winding range to the right has a convex corner at the right and a central Flemish gable with a diamond motif lettered 'A / 1912 / D', flanked by recessed panels with lettering in relief reading 'ECKERSLEYS' and 'LIMITED'. The left and right bays have similar oriel-style detailing to the office range but with pilasters flanking inverted segmental arches rather than gables at parapet level. The ground-floor windows retain decorative iron grilles. Apart from a small window above the offices entrance, all windows are square-headed with lugged architraves incorporating triple key-blocks. The timber windows have dentilled wooden transoms and three-pane upper lights.

The left return of the office range, facing south-east, is of five bays with similar detailing but includes a true oriel window in the centre, two-pane upper window lights and mostly flat-arched windows to the ground floor. At the right is a segmental-arched doorway with an inserted window. The end and rear elevations are of common brick and relatively little-altered.

The north façade facing Pottery Road on the winding range is concave with a brick parapet, corbelled-brick cornice and concrete sills. There are six first-floor windows, unevenly spaced, and thirteen ground-floor windows with corbelled-brick lintels and decorative iron grilles. The right end bay has two narrow windows flanked by shorter windows on each floor.

The interior of the office range retains rich Edwardian decoration including plasterwork, glazed wall tiles, mosaic flooring, timber architraves and doors with Art Nouveau fittings, Lincrusta dadoes and glazed timber screens found across the first floor and rear staircase, including in the lavatories. Some damage exists where a small fire occurred, but the overall scheme survives well. The front staircase retains its decorative balustrade. At ground floor are quarry-tile chequered floors and some stone flooring, tiled dadoes and decorative plaster and timber. A former kitchen area retains a Belfast sink and iron cooking range with tiled front. The winding range has a north-light roof to the first floor and the ground floor has cast-iron columns with steel and concrete beams. Some areas are concealed by modern commercial finishes.