Cotton Warehouse, Attached Chimney And Outbuilding At Draycott Mills

The cotton warehouse, attached chimney, and outbuilding at Draycott Mills were built around 1840 to 1850, with the chimney dated 1850. This structure features fireproof construction, made of brick with rubbed brick and ashlar dressings, topped with a slate roof. It has coped parapets and gables and stands two storeys tall, measuring seven bays by three bays.

The warehouse includes seven cast iron glazing bar casements on each floor, located on the east and west sides, set within segment arched recesses that have rubbed brick heads. The ground floor on the east side is covered by adjoining buildings. At the north end, there are two board doors to the left, with a loading door above them. To the right is an attached octagonal chimney, which is truncated and lacks a plinth. To the left is a smaller two-storey outbuilding featuring a doorway flanked by windows, with a taller cast iron window with glazing bars above.

Inside, the warehouse has panelled cast iron cross beams that form a grid supporting a stone slab floor. A central row of round cast iron columns with moulded caps is present on the ground floor, and the walls are supported by rounded brick piers with stone caps. The original wrought iron truss roof is of unusual construction, featuring tension-braced wooden purlins and a wall plate. Tension-braced beams are also found in other parts of the Draycott Mills range. This building is part of a comprehensive works for the manufacture of cotton yarn and lace, and the fireproof construction method used here was an alternative to the more common beams and jack arches, employed from around 1810 until about 1845. A similar truss roof was constructed in 1856 at Adelphi Mill in Bollington, Cheshire.