Tonedale Mills (East complex)

An integrated multi-component textile factory, now partially used as a small industrial estate, with some structures empty at the time of inspection in August 2000. The complex dates from the late 18th century and was continuously enlarged and remodelled between about 1800 and about 1920, with late 20th-century alterations and changes of use to individual components. The buildings are constructed of rubble stone, some rendered, with slate and 20th-century sheet roof coverings.

Site Layout

The complex forms the eastern half of the extensive manufacturing site at Tonedale Works, which is divided into two parts by a watercourse called the Back Stream, flowing from south to north. It comprises a central L-shaped early 19th-century spinning mill and warehouse range, with an irregular L-plan office and cloth finishing complex to the north-east. This incorporates a small late 18th-century mill (now warehouse) to the west of the spinning mill, a former beam engine house, and later 19th-century power house and chimney, mechanics, engineers and carpenters shops, and wool cleaning complex.

Spinning Mill and Warehouse

The early 19th-century multi-phase mill and warehouse were originally water-powered, and the enclosed wheel chamber survives. The mill portion is aligned north-south, rising four storeys with attics. The eight-bay southern part is of fireproof construction, including a full-height stair tower to bay eight, mostly rebuilt in 1821 following extensive fire damage. The northern section beyond the stair tower has eleven bays of conventional wooden floor and roof construction.

The east elevation of the fireproof range has windows of varying height, originally with openings to alternate bays, though many openings are now blocked and others contain three-light frames, some with glazing bars. Taking-in doors have been inserted in bay five. The northern section has alternate three- and four-light windows to the east elevation, with the later smaller openings blocked at first and third floor levels. The west elevation and end walls are of rubble stone construction. The west elevation of both phases shows more extensive survival of the early pattern of openings, suggesting similar functions and machinery for both parts. The fireproof section has a full-height three-bay extension, and lower lean-to extensions at the junction of the two phases.

Inside the eight-bay fireproof section, wide transverse brick vaults spring from cast-iron beams supported mid-span by pairs of cast-iron columns in each bay. The floor beams are connected by longitudinal iron rods and jointed vertically by bolted vertical end flanges. The roof is carried on two-piece lap-jointed cast-iron trusses of arched, open-web form, each with an apex circle. The trusses support other cast-iron components: two tiers of purlins and rafters rising from wall plates. The upper faces of the trusses and rafters are toothed to carry laths. The stair tower bay contains a stone stair with cast-iron newels and balusters, separated from the body of the mill by a masonry cross wall. The wheel chamber of the original mill, adapted to serve the enlarged and rebuilt complex, housed a later 30-foot diameter wheel replaced around 1904 by a water turbine. The in-situ cast-iron trough and masonry wheel pit breast survive. The northern eleven bays are of timber floor construction, with two-piece floor beams supported by central cast-iron columns. The M-profile roof has pegged timber trusses, later adapted to asymmetrical form.

The warehouse portion, known latterly as the wool rooms, extends eastwards from the south end of the mill to the west wall of Tonedale House. It runs 14 bays, three storeys and attics. The eastern part has five wide, four-light windows with glazing bars; five bays to the west are of fireproof construction with smaller, multi-pane frames to window openings. Twin single-storeyed extensions on the north elevation formerly served as loading bay and store.

Inside the timber-floored part, timber posts with top pads support the floor beams. The fireproof part has brick-vaulted ceilings and tiled floors, with the iron floor beams—the flanges of which have bolt holes for line-shafting—supported by cast-iron columns. The original M-profile roof is now adapted to mansard form, enclosing pegged trusses of the earlier roof slopes.

Office and Cloth Finishing Complex

The late 19th- and early 20th-century office and cloth finishing complex incorporates an early 19th-century multi-storeyed mill, with inspection and pattern rooms and company boardroom. The north-west part is formed by a single-storeyed office range of rubble stone construction, partially rendered, with sloped gables and tall chimneys with moulded caps. The west elevation has an advanced gable to the right with paired sash windows, three matching windows to the left and one to the right. The north elevation has a rendered two-bay link to an earlier rubble-stone stepped range, with a wide advanced gable, a set-back three-bay part with gable to the left, and a further set-back wide storeyed gable to the far left. Twin-gabled wings extend from the left-hand end. The gables have decorative pierced bargeboards, ashlar surrounds to openings and tall quoined chimneys.

The offices retain fine interiors with half-glazed and fully panelled doors, half-glazed corridor screens, shouldered doorcases with pulvinated cornice heads, dado wall panelling and tilework, original hearths and surrounds, semi-circular headed corridor doorways with moulded architraves, and a geometrically-patterned encaustic tile corridor floor. The complex incorporates a small counting house and strong room with panelled safe door. The principal interior is a little-altered company boardroom with original joinery components throughout.

To the left and rear of the offices lies the cloth finishing complex. Its long north front rises two storeys with an advanced three-bay gable to the centre and flanking set-back ranges to left and right, the latter with a lean-to frontage extension with an almost wholly glazed roof. Openings have quoined surrounds and shallow keyed segmental arch heads. A blocked taking-in door in the gable has an oculus above. The east elevation has a narrower advanced gable to the centre, with the deep verges detailed as an open pediment. An oculus sits at the gable apex. The hipped roof replicates details of nearby Tonedale House. To the side and rear, a north-light shed forms a single-storeyed finishing area, with inserted late 20th-century inspection windows to the north wall. The interior contains in-situ hydraulic presses and belt-driven rotary presses with associated line shafting.

Former Mill or Warehouse

To the west of the finishing complex stands a former mill or warehouse of five bays, three storeys with attics, built of stone rubble with brick dressings, later widened and heightened. Timber floors rest on substantial floor beams without intermediate supports. Mid-19th-century queen post roof trusses with extended collars support short king posts. The building was latterly used as a finished cloth store.

Beam Engine House

To the rear of the north part of the central spinning mill complex stands the former beam engine house of about 1850, now a workshop. This represents the first phase of steam power on the site and powered both parts of the spinning mill and a now-demolished storeyed workshop or loomshop to the north. It is a narrow, two-storeyed brick structure aligned north-south, with later 19th-century roof structure and eaves and verge detailing. Tall semi-circular brick arch headed openings in the gables have new inserts into former sash frames. West side wall doorways—one central, one to the north end—the former taller with a split overlight, gave access to engine beds. Blind semi-circular headed openings sit at either end, that to the south full height. Side wall off-centre square ashlar surrounds mark mountings for the former entablature on which the engine beam pivoted. A first floor doorway in the east side wall, at the head of a flight of stone steps, gives access to the former beam floor, now workshop area. Four heavy roof tie beams with pairs of lifting rings—that to the south end with four rings—indicate the engine cylinder position.

Power House, Chimney and Workshops

Further west lies an elongated range comprised of power house, chimney, engineers, mechanics and carpenters shops, and wool cleaning complex. The power house includes boiler house, economiser house, fan engine house, and turbine house for generating electricity, with in-situ Lancashire boilers, diesel engine and Billis Morgan type steam engine. A triple-gabled east frontage to the boiler house has each gable with a wide semi-circular arched doorway with multi-pane overlight. Cast and wrought-iron roof trusses support the roof. A flat-roofed, slightly set-back north bay has a narrow arched doorway with overlight and eight tall arched openings to the north side wall. This housed supply pumps for boiler water and an extant fire alarm system. A double-gabled range to the rear of the boiler house with overboarded semi-circular arched windows and ground floor doorway formerly served as the economiser house to pre-heat boiler water. At the south end of the economiser house, a lean-to fan engine house with in-situ fan and fan housing serves the adjacent brick chimney, which has a square base supporting a tapering octagonal stack with sub-cornice and elaborate moulded oversailing cap.

To the south of the power house on the east side, a single-storeyed range comprises the mechanics, engineers and carpenters shops, latterly used for maintenance but originally an important source of patterns, castings and machined components for both buildings and mill machinery. A narrow red brick range on the same alignment as the boiler house frontage has blind arched openings to the front and south end, designated as tank iron store, with blacksmiths and mechanics shops to the rear. Further south, a small set-back lean-to office for the works engineer precedes a storeyed stone-fronted two-bay carpenters shop, with double doors to both floors in the left-hand bay and a wide twelve-pane workshop window to the left. The mechanics shop contains in-situ metal-working machinery with belt drives from line shafting originally powered by a small waterwheel, the remains of which are located in the wheelpit to the rear of the carpenters shop.

Wool Cleaning Complex

The wool cleaning complex extends from the south end of the carpenters shop, with a 13-bay north-light roof and red brick east wall with segmental arch headed openings housing deeply recessed frames. Facing this to the east stands a two-storey building of red brick at ground floor level and a weather-boarded louvred upper floor, possibly an earlier dry house adapted to wool cleaning usage during the later 19th century. The upper floor has an open timber bay storage structure.

Historical Significance

This is a multi-phase and multi-function 19th-century wool textile mill site forming the eastern part of the Tonedale Mills complex. The site retains a full complement of buildings which housed the wool preparation and yarn spinning processes required in the manufacture of woollen and worsted cloths, together with survivals representing successive phases of water, steam and electrical power generation. In addition, there are specialist buildings for metal and woodworking processes required for the manufacture of both building and machinery components needed in an extensive, geographically dispersed manufacturing complex. Tonedale Mills is thought to be the largest and most comprehensively representative textile manufacturing site in the South-West, with a range of surviving structures unparalleled in England.