Low Mill
{{Short description| Disused mill in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{for|the building in North Yorkshire|Low Mill, Markington}}
{{Infobox mill building
| name = Low Mill
| image = Low Mills, Keighley.jpg
| caption = Low Mill, Keighley; north east face, looking south west
| textile_type = Cotton
Worsted
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| location = Gresley Road, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England
| altitude =
| map_type = West Yorkshire
| owner =
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| coordinates = {{coord|53.866|-1.901|display=inline, title}}
| start_date = 1776
| completion_date = 1780
| renovation_date =
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| current_status = Derelict
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|embedded={{infobox designation list
|embed=yes
|designation1 = Grade II*
|designation1_date = 12 February 1979
|designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1200162|short=yes}}
}}
}}
Low Mill is a former textile mill in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. It was the first industrial building in Keighley, and the first mill in Yorkshire to spin cotton, however, it later changed to being a worsted mill. The mill is now derelict and is a grade II* listed building, one of two in the town of Keighley. Its state of dereliction has led Historic England to place it on their 'at risk' register.
History
Building of the mill was started in 1776 by Thomas Ramsden, but it was completed in 1780 by the Clayton Brothers.{{cite news |last1=Knights |first1=David |title=Low Mill in Keighley on sale for £250,000 |url=https://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/15643129.low-mill-in-keighley-on-sale-for-250000/ |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=Keighley News |date=9 November 2017}} It was opened in 1780, and was the first industrial building in Keighley, whilst also being the first purpose built cotton-spinning mill in Yorkshire.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=W J |title=A Brief guide to the industrial heritage of West Yorkshire |date=1989 |publisher=Industrial Archaeology |location=Ironbridge, Telford [England] |isbn=0-9508448-3-7 |page=2}}{{sfn|EOP|2016|p=11}} Initially, the mill was powered by a waterwheel, using the adjacent River Worth, but the opening of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1773, greatly increased importation of coal into Keighley, and the mill eventually became steam powered.{{cite journal |last1=Gill |first1=M C |title=Keighley Coal: a history of coal mining in the Keighley District |journal=British Mining |date=2004 |issue=74 |page=7 |publisher=Northern Mines Research Society |location=Sheffield |issn=0308-2199}}
To generate enough water pressure to power the mill-wheel, a large dam covering {{convert|2|acre}} was built which was fed by a mill-race (goit). A weir, some {{convert|200|yard}} upstream, near to where North Beck enters the river, was built to feed the mill-race.{{cite news |last1=Shand |first1=Alistair |title=MEMORY LANE: Proud history of a now-derelict Keighley cotton mill |url=https://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/18956588.memory-lane-proud-history-now-derelict-keighley-cotton-mill/ |access-date=1 March 2021 |work=Keighley News |date=21 December 2020}} This proved problematic for other mills downstream, most notably Dalton Mills further downstream, who had a long-standing argument over the amount of water being diverted into Low Mill.{{sfn|EOP|2016|p=12}}
The cotton-spinning equipment was built under the direction of Sir Richard Arkwright,{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Chris |title=Steel workshop could be built next to Grade-II listed mill in West Yorkshire |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/steel-workshop-could-be-built-next-grade-ii-listed-mill-west-yorkshire-3068926?itm_source=parsely-api |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=15 December 2020}} and a clutch of employees from Keighley travelled in 1780 to Arkwright's mill in Cromford, Derbyshire, for instruction on using the machines.{{cite book |last1=Hodgson |first1=John |title=Textile manufacture, and other industries in Keighley |date=1879 |publisher=A Hey |location=Keighley |pages=212–213|oclc=18499486}} The mill was the only one in Yorkshire to use the patented Arkwright water frames under licence, but inflated charges deterred others from using Arkwright's machines.{{sfn|Ingle|1997|p=161}} Between 1780 and 1787, the owners paid £4,200 to Arkwright and his partner in royalties for using the machines.{{sfn|Ingle|1997|p=168}} At some point in the 19th century, the mill was converted to the manufacture of worsted, but its greatest employment year was in 1803, when over 200 workers had jobs at the mill; this made Low Mill the largest mill in Keighley in terms of employment.{{sfn|Ingle|1997|p=170}}
Details
The mill was built on a north–south axis and had three storeys.{{cite web |title=Low Mill, Keighley |url=https://www.catalogue.wyjs.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=HER%2F26%2F12 |website=catalogue.wyjs.org.uk |access-date=17 December 2020}} Originally, the mill building was part of a larger site, however, the rest of the site has been levelled, with only the listed Low Mill structure left standing.{{sfn|EOP|2016|p=11}} The area of derelict land which the mill sits in covers {{convert|0.8|acre}}, and the combined mill floor-space is {{convert|579|m2|order=flip}}.{{sfn|EOP|2016|p=54}} Low Mill is a grade II* listed building.{{NHLE|desc=Mill buildings at Low Mills|num=1200162|grade=II*|access-date=1 March 2021}} A steam engine was built in the mill {{circa|1785}}, not for processing cotton, but for returning discharged water from the mill race into the dam above the mill.{{sfn|Ingle|1997|p=169}}
Since 2015, the site has been listed on the Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.{{cite web |title=Heritage at Risk Register, Yorkshire |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/har-2015-registers/yo-har-register2015/ |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=1 March 2021 |page=87 |format=PDF}} Sometime during the 21st century, the historic water features in and around the mill have been concreted over, with Historic England describing the concreting as "..[an] act of heritage crime."{{cite news |editor-last=Mitchinson|editor-first=James|title=Heritage crime as waterway concreted over at mill |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=1 March 2021 |page=10|issn=0963-1496}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book |last1=Ingle |first1=George |title=Yorkshire cotton : the Yorkshire cotton industry, 1780-1835 |date=1997 |publisher=Carnegie Pub |location=Preston |isbn=1-85936-028-9}}
- {{cite report|title=Engines of Prosperity: new uses for old mills |website=historicengland.org.uk|date=2016|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/engines-of-prosperity-new-uses-old-mills/engines-of-prosperity-new-uses-old-mills-fullreport/|format=PDF|access-date=1 March 2021|ref={{harvid|EOP|2016}} }}
Category:Cotton mills in Yorkshire
Category:Textile museums in the United Kingdom
Category:Grade II* listed watermills
Category:Grade II* listed buildings in West Yorkshire