Fazeley Mill

Fazeley Mill is a textile factory dating from 1886, with minor alterations in the 20th century. It was built for William Tolson Ltd, by Messrs Wattons of Lichfield, and is constructed of red brick with ashlar sandstone dressings, topped by a shallow, double-pitched roof set behind a low parapet. The building has a linear form, running north-south and parallel to the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. The main weaving block is aligned east-west, with a small attached engine house at the north end, incorporating a boiler house and a chimney within the mill’s structure. An internal mill stair is constructed around this chimney stack.

The east elevation features a five-storey weaving block of 29 bays with pilasters marking the corners. Shallow arched-headed windows with 20th-century frames are present on all floors, and a cill band runs along the top floor windows. Bay three at the north end has taking-in doorways above ground floor level and a hoist beam above the top floor door. The north end gable is lit by two windows on each floor, in contrast to the south end which has four windows to each floor. The engine house is attached to the north end, two storeys high, with corner pilasters and a tall window with a semi-circular arched head. A low boiler house, set back and further north, features small roof louvres.

The interior has a high ground floor with a central colonnade of cast-iron columns, the moulded heads of which are clasped by semi-circular ends of the spine beams. These columns support metal H-section beams, which in turn carry metal cross beams. Upper floor beams have mountings for line shafting, and the upper floor ceilings are timber. An internal stone staircase with pierced cast-iron risers winds around the enclosed chimney stack, located within a brick-walled compartment.

Fazeley Mill is a well-preserved example of a late 19th-century textile factory, specifically designed for the manufacture of narrow fabrics. It exemplifies the metal-framed construction typical of the period and reflects the significance of the local textile industry, previously established by the Peel family in Fazeley in the late 18th century.