Cressbrook Mill

This is a cotton mill, built between 1814 and 1815 for William Newton, and now disused. It is constructed of rubble limestone, partly rendered, with gritstone dressings and quoins. The roof is of Welsh slate, with an octagonal wooden cupola topped with an ogee lead roof. The building is three storeys high, plus a basement supported by timber beams and cast iron. A spiral stone staircase is housed within a projecting bay to the west. The north elevation has twelve, plus two bays, with the central four bays projecting forward beneath a pediment. It features three tiers of twelve windows, the uppermost being slightly smaller than those below. Original stone lintels and sills are present, and some original windows retain glazing bars and small panes of glass. A clock face is situated within the pediment. Two bays are set back on the right, with four windows to the left; these are now blind and contain iron Gothick glazing bars, likely remnants of a preceding mill built in 1779 which stood at right angles. Three windows to the right have been enlarged. A wheel pit is located to the northwest. The south elevation is of eleven bays, arranged four-four-three, with the central four bays projecting forward under a pediment, mirroring the north side’s window arrangement. Another clock face is in the pediment, and the clock mechanism serves both faces. The cupola and clocks were added in 1837 to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Victoria. The octagonal cupola has round-arched openings, projecting keyblocks and impost blocks, a modillion cornice, and an ogee lead roof. It contains three bells inscribed "Thomas Mears of London Founder 1837." A lower, 20th-century building with a sawtooth roof is attached to the south side of the mill and is not considered to be of special interest. The mill ceased operation in 1965.