Bank Mills B And D

Bank Mills 'B' and 'D' are two flax mills located in Leeds, built between 1831 and 1856, with additions made in 1888. The 'B' mill, designed by John Clark of Edinburgh, features red brick with ashlar dressings and a double-pitched slate roof. Constructed in 1831-32, it has a river frontage that includes a tall square chimney stack with an ashlar base, which is now partly truncated. The mill stands six storeys tall and has 21 bays, with continuous ashlar sill bands and a partial ashlar parapet. Each floor contains 21 glazing bar casements, although a few are now blocked. The eastern end of the 'B' mill has a semicircular stair and hoist tower that projects above the parapet, resembling a circular turret.

The 'D' mill, added in 1856 and attached to the south-east of the 'B' mill, also features continuous ashlar sill bands and a brick parapet with dentils. It is four storeys high and has a layout of 9 by 6 bays. Each floor on the river front has 9 glazing bar casements with segmental brick heads, while the south-east side has 6 glazing bar casements, showing evidence of a former mill stream entrance below. Additionally, a 12-bay, 5-storey wing was added to the rear in 1888, featuring 12 large glazing bar casements on each floor and topped by a mansard slate roof with a central gabled hoist dormer that has a blocked door.

Inside the 'B' mill, it is reputed to contain cylindrical cast-iron columns and cast-in line shaftings, with a roof structure made of wrought and cast iron. The 'B' mill was designed for Hives and Atkinson, and John Clark had previously worked for John Marshall at Marshall Street Mills and for John Wilkinson at Hunslet Mill on Goodman Street.