The Former Ropewalk 75 Metres North West Of Millbrook House

This is a former twine works, including an engine room and coal store, dating from the late 19th century, with 20th-century alterations and extensions. It is located 75 metres north west of Millbrook House. The building has an irregular L-plan, with the main twine walk running east-west, and a wing extending southwards at the east end.

The front elevation, facing south, is a single-storeyed twine walk with 30 bays, featuring an arcaded open front. A small roof dormer is situated at the east end. A single-storeyed engine room and coal store extend southwards at the east end.

The interior has a low ground floor with an arcaded space, where posts support deep crossbeams and joists. The floor was used for finishing twine, a mechanized process using horizontal line shafting at the eastern end, which drove grooved driving drums – some of which remain. Trolley-mounted drums for tensioning twine are located at the west end, running on rails that remain in place. Hand winches to operate the trolleys are mounted at the eastern end of the walk. Between the trolleys and the winches are horizontal boards fixed to vertical posts, with metal spikes, and angled planks, or peg boards, attached on edge, all original to the building. Iron troughs towards the eastern end were used for washing and sizing processes. A timber partition separates the walk from an office. A timber staircase leads to an attic floor which contains two twine walks. The roof structure utilizes collar beam trusses with queen struts. A wheeled mechanism, known as a “twisting head,” was positioned at the eastern end of each walk, below a dormer, and one remains. Staggered vertical posts support horizontal rakes with loops of wire on their upper surfaces. Tensioned horizontal cables run between these rakes and a bearer or cross, which carries lengths of yarn along the walk to a horizontal frame or spreader.

The works is believed to have developed between 1886 and 1902, with further extensions by 1928, and ceased operation in 1968. The complex is considered to be the most complete example of its type in England, illustrating the manufacturing processes and structures of a regionally important late 19th-century industry.