North Dean Mill

North Dean Mill

North Dean Mill is a former woollen textile mill designed by Richard Horsfall, architect of Halifax, in 1876-7, with substantial additions made in 1878, 1885 and 1919. The buildings are constructed of coursed gritstone with slate roofs.

The site occupies a north-south elongated trapezoid with roads to the east, west and north-west. The original spinning mill runs north-south along the eastern edge, with its former engine room at the north end. A boiler house stands immediately to the north, and the base of the former chimney remains just beyond. Parallel to the west of the spinning mill is a warehouse dating from 1885, joined to the spinning mill at its southern end by a linking block of 1919. North Dean House, a house and offices, stands at the north end of the warehouse.

The original spinning mill has four storeys, extending thirteen bays in length and four bays deep. Windows comprise a mix of original multi-paned timber-framed sashes and later three-paned examples, with ground floor windows blocked throughout. A bracketed cornice runs beneath the double-span roof. The west elevation displays a large inscribed panel above the second floor reading "NORTH DEAN MILL 1876". At the north end of the west elevation stands a five-stage stair and hoist tower rising above the roof line, featuring three blind window openings on each side and a hipped roof. A round-arched entrance with moulded ashlar surround is positioned on the west side of the stair tower. The west elevation of the spinning mill also contains two inserted vehicle entrances and a blocked doorway. At the south end of the east elevation, the 1919 mill extension projects as a gable-ended structure three bays deep, with tall ground floor windows (two blocked) and progressively shorter windows on upper floors. A line of taking-in doors appears on the third bay north of the extension, with a wide entrance inserted across two bays in the centre. A further taking-in door on the top floor is located four bays from the north end.

The single-storey engine house is attached at the north end, positioned east of the stair tower, and features an altered tall wide entrance to the east and a hipped roof. The lower boiler house extends north from the engine house and carries a cast iron water tank on its roof, with two windows on both east and west elevations and a wide entrance on the north end.

The 1919 mill extension runs east-west from the original mill for six bays, with the westernmost bay narrower than the rest. South elevation windows feature iron lintels and roof lights appear on the north-facing side. Attached to the north side of the west end, extending beyond the original mill, is a square section with hipped roof and parapet. The north side features a line of taking-in doors with a hoist crane above and a double line of small windows.

The 1885 warehouse rises to two storeys plus attics, extending seven bays in length. Windows are modern replacements and an altered inserted entrance appears at the southern end of the west side. The east elevation, facing the spinning mill, contains numerous altered and blocked openings on both floors, with a single window high in the south gable end. North Dean House, slightly narrower than the warehouse, comprises two storeys in four bays with hipped roof and dentilled eaves. A stone ridge chimney stack stands at the south end. The west elevation features a slightly projecting gabled bay with one window to the right and two to the left. This gabled bay contains two string courses, an entrance door with eared architrave, a single first floor window with curvilinear eared architrave, and a round window in the gable. The north end contains a plain doorway with overlight and ground floor window. A chamfered corner to the left has a ground floor window and forms an entrance to the yard. The east elevation includes a single-storey extension with two windows, to the left of which stone steps lead up to a blocked doorway, with two first floor windows above.

Interior

The entrance at the base of the northern tower provides access to the engine house door, stairs to upper floors and the hoist shaft. The upper three floors of the spinning mill employ timber construction with a single line of cast iron columns down the centre, fitted with bolting heads for line shafting. The top floor remains open to the roof structure, which features a double span with king-post trusses. The first floor is stone-flagged and the ground floor employs fireproof construction. Ground floor cast iron columns support cast iron beams with east-west aligned brick jack arches. Cast iron plates on the north wall of each floor held the vertical drive shaft from the engine house.

The former outer wall of the spinning mill is cut by wide openings on each floor into the 1919 extension, whose concrete floors are supported by steel stanchions carrying steel beams. The extension roof contains iron or steel trusses. The southern stair tower is accessed from the extension and provides the only access to the ground floor of the spinning mill.

The engine house is subdivided by a breezeblock wall and is partly inaccessible. Blocked openings remain where the drive shaft entered the mill. The roof structure was not visible during inspection but is believed to incorporate scissor braces to the common rafters with no trusses. The boiler house interior was not inspected.

The former warehouse operates partly as a workshop on its ground floor and as office spaces elsewhere, with modern partitions and fittings installed. North Dean House is similarly in use as offices; some original panelled cupboards remain in a ground floor room at the north end of the house, probably the original office for the mill.