Higherford Mill

Former textile factory and attached sluices and head race, now workshops and shops. Built around 1844, incorporating elements of an earlier 19th-century mill, with further additions of 1882 and 20th-century alterations.

The building is constructed of coursed squared sandstone, some watershot, with ashlar dressings. The roof is covered with stone slate and Welsh slate. The east gable is coped and carries a single ashlar chimney.

The site comprises a three-storey, eight-bay central range aligned east-west, which provided office, warehouse and material preparation facilities. To the north stands a contemporary nine-bay single-storey north-light weaving shed. To the south is an eight-bay weaving shed of 1882. Linked to the rear of the three-storey range is an altered engine and boiler house, also of 1882. At the north-west corner of the three-storey range sits a double sluice controlling water flow into a water wheelpit within the building. The sluice is served by a double head race consisting of stone-lined channels linked by a stepped overflow, extending twenty metres northwards in identifiable form.

The east gable of the three-storey range faces onto the road and carries most of the architectural detail present in the building. There is a wide cart entry with a shallow segmental arch, quoined jambs and boarded door, giving access to a covered loading area. To the left is a doorway within a plain ashlar doorcase with a cornice above the lintel. Further left stands a tall two-light flush-mullioned window with segmental arches to the lights. Lower versions of this window appear on each side of the gable at first and second-floor levels, and at the centre of the first floor. All but one window have sash frames. A loading doorway to the centre of the second floor has been converted to a window. Windows to the side walls have wedge lintols and 20th-century frames.

The interior floor construction consists of timber beams spanning between the side walls with cast-iron columns at mid-span. A wheelpit for a former breast-shot wheel occupies the basement. The roof is carried on king-post trusses.

The northern weaving shed is multi-ridged, L-shaped on plan, with a tall wall to the road frontage later pierced by openings. The rear wall features outlet openings for valley gutters and a cast-iron launder carried on stone brackets. The interior roof is carried on rows of cast-iron columns with integral brackets to carry line shafting.

The southern weaving shed is also multi-ridged but has been reduced in length by one bay. The rebuilt front features two wide doorways set back from the road frontage. The south side wall has two plain doorways, one at each end. The interior has been altered to form garage service areas but retains cast-iron roof supports.

The sluices and head race originally drew water for the water wheel, and later the water turbine and engine boiler, from Pendle Water. A short length of double-channel head race remains visible at the rear of the site, with one channel from Pendle Water and the other from a reservoir. The channels are stone-lined and linked by a stepped overflow, with the upper level grooved for stop planks. The upper channel makes a sharp turn as it reaches the sluice gates, which are set at right angles to each other. The sluice gates are made of iron and sit within a metal framework, raised by means of a wheel-operated rack-and-pinion mechanism.

Higherford Mill is a substantially complete example of a first-generation purpose-built spinning mill with single-storey weaving sheds forming the main working unit of the site. The introduction of the weaving shed into north-east Lancashire transformed the textile industry of the area, which became a specialist power-loom weaving district. The site is additionally significant in retaining substantial evidence of the continued use of water power in conjunction with steam power until the late 19th century. Such sites are increasingly rare.