Shaw Lodge Mill Weaving Sheds And Clock Tower

SHAW LODGE MILL WEAVING SHEDS AND CLOCK TOWER

Halifax

Weaving sheds dating to 1847 and 1852, built in coursed dressed gritstone with wood-framed windows (2-over-3 or 2-over-6 lights, some blocked). The building is constructed into a sloping site, with the southern section from 1852, the central section from 1847, and a clock tower with offices added in 1876. The east front facing Shaw Lane displays ten windows, four of which break forward, including a half-blocked entrance at the centre. Beyond these are seven further breaking-forward windows, followed by six blocks of four windows alternating forward and back, with several entrances and a blank wall curving northwards. The structure rises between one and four storeys plus basement, with upper levels largely unwindowed. The southern 1852 section retains its original saw-tooth roof; the centre and northern sections have replacement sheet metal roofing, which has been raised with a parapet added.

The interior comprises open sheds supported on iron columns (mostly replacements). The northern section, dating to 1847, retains original iron roof supports to the side walls, below a raised wall and 21st-century roof structure. A spiral iron staircase stands at the southern end of the 1847 section.

The clock tower and offices, built in 1876 at the north end of the weaving sheds, face north onto a courtyard. The two-storey office range has rock-faced stone on the ground floor and a pitched slate roof. The ground floor contains five 6-over-6 windows (grouped as two pairs and a single to the left) and a half-blocked cart entrance to the right with cornice. The first floor has six windows arranged similarly, with the centre four set in round arches with ashlar dressings; the right-hand window above the entrance is recessed. To the left stands the four-stage clock tower with chamfered corners and a pyramidal slate roof. It features a semi-circular arched entrance with vermiculated rustication on the dressings and an individually carved stone mask as keystone, surmounted by a dentilated cornice and double doors with glazed fanlight. The first-floor stage contains triple round-arched windows with ashlar dressings, Ionic columns and pilasters to front and back. The first and second floors are defined by string courses. The second-floor stage displays a circular clock face on each side with Roman numerals. An upper stage with projecting dentilated string course has double round-arched shuttered windows to each side, supported beneath by curved brackets, with dentilated eaves to the roof. To the right of the offices, at right angles, is a further two-storey office range with three windows and an entrance, built in matching style in the mid-20th century.

The mill complex was established by John Holdsworth, whose family were already woollen textile manufacturers and merchants in Shibden and Halifax. The firm was founded in 1822, initially producing worsted cloth by hand loom weavers. In response to mechanised spinning developments, John Holdsworth established his first spinning mill in 1822. By 1825 he was purchasing land at Shaw Lodge, with a mill (the extant No 1 Mill) dated to 1830. Mechanisation of weaving followed, with the first power loom weaving shed begun in 1844 and extended in 1852. The No 2 Mill, dated between 1831 and 1839, stood to the south, while No 3 Mill (dated 1850 on a 1925 plan, though earlier records describe it as a warehouse) was built to the north of No 1 Mill, existing by 1855. By 1839 the mills were steam powered, each with separate engines. By 1855 a separate engine house, boiler house and chimney were built on the eastern side with underground power connections. In 1851 the firm won a medal at the Great Exhibition for their worsted cloths. Family branches in Bradford and London operated the business, and John Holdsworth occupied Shaw Lodge, a house close to the site (now demolished). Continuing prosperity led to construction of a seven-storey warehouse north of No 3 Mill in 1862, an office block with adjoining stable in 1865, and a workshop, shed and timekeepers office at the north end of the weaving sheds in 1876.

Later alterations include loss of the No 2 Mill and the southern end of No 1 Mill, reconstruction of the stables, extensions to the engine and boiler houses, and reroofing of most weaving sheds and mills. The firm continued operating until 2006, surviving the decline of woollen manufacturing in Britain, specialising in moquette production for bus and coach upholstery. The site was due for redevelopment.