Bowling Dyke Mill At East End Of Dean Clough Mills

Bowling Dyke Mill at the East End of Dean Clough Mills

A spinning mill built in 1849 and 1851 for James Akroyd and Sons, constructed in coursed dressed stone with pitched slate roofs. The building was erected in two phases following the destruction of the original Bowling Dyke Mill by fire in 1847. The eastern block dates to 1849 and the western block to 1851, with a clear gap in the window line marking the junction between the two phases.

The mill is aligned east-west, facing towards the Hebble Brook to the south, and rises to six storeys with fireproof construction throughout. The south elevation of the eastern block contains 19 windows, while the western block has 17 windows. The fifth bay from the left features taking-in doors (now converted to windows). Between the ninth and thirteenth bays, a single-storey section projects slightly forward with arcade openings in ashlar dressings. The central opening serves as an entrance, with the two flanking openings converted to windows with small-paned glazing. This section housed the boiler house, with shaved piers inserted to accommodate larger boilers added in 1894. Irregularly spaced entrances line the ground floor, including an original arched entrance.

The east elevation contains four windows, with two additional windows in the gable and a later single-storey flat-roofed extension. The north elevation facing Old Lane is punctuated by four horseshoe-shaped towers, arranged alternately from left to right: toilet tower, stair tower, toilet tower, stair tower. The toilet towers feature small vents on each floor, while the stair towers have three windows—one on each side and one on the outer face. The towers are marked by string courses, and the building is finished with a moulded cornice and plain band architrave. The stair towers rise above the roof line, and the toilet towers contain water tanks set back into the roof. A later square metal lift shaft rises above the roof line. At the western end, a large modern lift tower in glass and steel connects via a high-level footbridge to D Mill. Due to the rising ground level to the north and west, only four storeys are visible on the north side.

The interior retains cast iron columns with cast iron beams and brick jack-arch ceilings, exposed in some areas and concealed above suspended ceilings in others. The beams are of an unusual and rarely surviving type, where the top flange is reduced to a square bulb rather than being rectangular. Suspended floors above the boiler house employ a cast-iron grid frame supporting a flagged floor with cast-iron bridging joists for additional support; the columns are visible in the reception area. The exposed roof structure is a triangulated frame constructed of wrought iron sections, a type first used in 1838 for the train sheds at Euston Station and later adopted for other building types.

James Akroyd and Sons occupied a mill in the Hebble valley north of Halifax from 1815. Several buildings, including a spinning mill at Fearnley Mill and a warehouse at Crossley Mill, were constructed by the Akroyds during the 1830s. The original Bowling Dyke Mill was destroyed by fire in 1847 and quickly rebuilt. The double beam engine powering the mill was likely supplied by the engineering firm Wren and Bennett of Manchester, who may also have influenced the building's engineering. This engine was replaced in 1894 by a Musgrave inverted vertical engine, with new boilers installed at the same time.

The Akroyds engaged in worsted manufacture, and their industrial complex spread over a considerable area to the east and north of the Crossley complex at Dean Clough, including the Haley Hill complex and Copley Mill. The Akroyds, alongside the Crossleys, were major industrialists and benefactors of Halifax. The business entered decline from the 1890s onwards. Following various changes in ownership, Bowling Dyke Mill eventually became part of the Dean Clough complex in the late twentieth century.