East Walk, West Range, Chimney and Weighbridge

This is a late 19th-century twine works comprising an east walk, west range, chimney and weighbridge, with 20th-century additions and alterations.

Materials and Construction

The twine walk has a timber-framed construction with oak posts held together with iron bolts. Some weatherboarding remains on the side elevations, though parts have been replaced with profiled metal sheeting. The roof is covered with double Roman tiles. The west range is built of brick and stone rubble, with some rebuilding in late 20th-century blockwork. Its roof is slate, except over the Crossley engine where it has been replaced with profiled metal sheeting and glazed panels. The chimney is built of brick.

Plan and Layout

The principal building is the east twine walk, oriented north to south, with the balling house built against its north gable end. A narrow attached range to the west, which housed the engines (originally steam, later oil and diesel) and the boiler, extends southwards and was built in two phases. A former lean-to addition built after 1929 against the northern end of the east elevation of the walk has collapsed and been removed. To the north of the walk stands a detached chimney.

Exterior

The Twine Walk

The twine walk has been built within a narrow gully and its southern third cuts into the hillslope. It is 37 bays (approximately 97 metres) in length and has two storeys and an attic floor, though the attic does not extend across the full width of the building.

The gabled north elevation of the two-storey balling house is timber framed with weatherboarding to the ground floor and thin scantling with panels of infill to the floor above. The ground floor has a pair of timber doors, each containing a small window, to the left-hand bay, flanked by brick piers. To the right are two further casement windows and a pedestrian entrance door at the far right. There is a half-glazed taking-in door with flanking lights to the first floor. The east return is divided into bays by buttressed brick piers, each containing from left to right: a round-headed window, a window and door with a fanlight, and a pair of later doors with a fanlight.

The upper part of the north gable wall of the east walk is visible behind the balling house and is built of brick with timber framing and infill panels above. It has a two-light casement window at the apex of the gable.

Much of the ground floor of the west and east side elevations of the walk is open-sided, although the northern end is enclosed and contains some continuous glazing. Towards the northern end the sides have been reclad in places using profiled metal sheeting and a garage door, and a variety of windows have been introduced during the second half of the 20th century. The first floor is enclosed with weatherboarding, though some areas have been replaced with metal sheeting, and incorporates a continuous run of fixed glazing, although there are some inserted later windows in places.

The south gable end has a retaining wall of squared stone rubble with two brick piers (one collapsed) at ground-floor level. Above this, the gable wall appears to have been weatherboarded but this has largely come away from the frame, leaving the timbers exposed.

The West Range (Power House)

The attached west range was probably constructed at the same time as the walk, and was subsequently extended southwards in the early 20th century. It is a single-storey building which breaks forward of the east walk and is divided into three parts: boiler house, engine house and a second, later engine house at its north end.

The east elevation of the former boiler house has three casement windows (one a late 20th-century replacement) set high in the wall, with an entrance under a stone lintel towards the north end and a pair of timber doors beneath the left-hand window. There was originally a small clerestory to the ridge but this has been removed. The adjacent engine house rises up the slope and has a higher roof-line. Its northernmost bay has timber double doors under a timber lintel; the remainder of its east elevation is obscured by the balling house. The north and west elevations of the west range have no openings, except for an inserted small window towards the northern end of the west side.

Interior

The Balling House and Walk

The balling house is situated at the north end of the walk and has extant line shafting. An entrance passage on the west side has a small room on the left which was used as a drying room for the twine before balling. There is a single room above which was probably used for bringing raw materials into the building.

The ground floor of the walk was used for finishing the twine. The frame's uprights support the deep cross beams and joists of the floors above; some of the outer posts now rest on inserted concrete pads and Acro-props have also been added in an attempt to stabilise the building. The space is divided into three aisles along the length of the building, though some mid- to late 20th-century partitions have been introduced to subdivide the northern end of the walk, and much of the floor is earthen. The northernmost two bays of the ground floor are separated from the rest of the building by a partition wall, and this area retains overhead transverse line shafting and a number of plaiting machines.

The first floor, which was used for twisting, is also divided into three aisles. It has overhead transverse line shafting at its northern end and a floor of tongue and groove boards. A narrow timber staircase leads up to the attic which has two twisting walks. A row of central posts runs the length of the building, although some are missing at the south end, and these have a twine support or 'skirder' fixed to either side. Each skirder has upright wire loops or guides along its upper surface which kept the threads of yarn off the ground ready for twisting. The roof, which is unlined and uninsulated, consists of a narrow plank ridge piece, principal rafters, and only slightly smaller common rafters, some of which are later replacements. The inside of the tiles and battens have been lime-washed at some stage.

The West Range

The northernmost three bays of the west range served as the boiler house, which has been partly converted to lavatories. The attached engine house to the south was latterly used as an engineering workshop, but the main bearing shaft with its two flywheels is extant. A 72 horsepower Petter Atomic twin cylinder diesel engine (originally delivered new to GEC in 1937) was installed here in about 1957 as a back-up for the main Crossley engine. The roof is of common rafter construction with tie beams.

The south gable wall of the engine house has a casement window and an opening through to the later engine house. This building was added in 1928 to house a single cylinder Crossley diesel, previously used in a cinema, which replaced the steam engine. It was also used to generate electricity for lighting the works and the room contains a mid 20th-century electric switchboard. The roof was replaced in 2012.

Subsidiary Features

The chimney is built of brick with a dressed and chamfered stone coping to the plinth; it carries a date stone of 1898. It is a tapering structure which originally had a moulded top, but has been reduced in height and strengthened with iron straps. To the north of the chimney, set into the access road to the site, is a steel weighbridge, manufactured by Avery of Birmingham.

Exclusions

The following structures are not of special architectural or historic interest: the various mid- to late 20th-century workshops to the north-east of the east walk; the former building containing the works office, former stables and accommodation to the north-west of the east walk; the garage located immediately to the north of the chimney; and the remains of the former west walk.