Prospect Mills, Thornton May '15

mookster · May 13, 2015

Whilst heading into Leeds myself and Landie Man spotted what looked like a promisingly large derelict structure from a distance, so after a quick about-turn we parked up and made our way inside not knowing what the place was other than some kind of mill. Further research afterwards revealed it to be Prospect Mills.

Sadly not much of the place is accessible, after it closed as a fully functioning mill it was divided up into many smaller units which also blocked off a lot of the stairs so only one building and one floor of the larger building is accessible, with the roadside building sealed up and the central part demolished. There was a big fire on the ground floor of the accessible building in 2011 which has seriously compromised the floor above - it was quite unnerving seeing charred wooden beams supporting broken flagstones balanced precariously above my head on the ground floor thats for sure!

Overall not a bad wander for an accidental discovery, it's just a shame that more isn't accessible as the unaccessible bits looked a lot more original.

A bit of history from the British Listed Buildings website.

The site was first used around 1831 by Joshua Craven as the centre of a putting-out system, and developed as a mill from around 1848. The first mill building, the large mill, was in existence by 1849 and the first warehouse, dated 1849, followed soon after. Craven continued to buy up plots of land to accommodate his growing business, and by 1851 the firm was described as a worsted manufactury employing 240 people. The business continued to expand, with the small mill built in around 1850-60, and the second warehouse fronting the road in 1855. The firm of Joshua Craven & Son continued until 1875, when the buildings were bought by Adolphus Getz of Bradford, and subsequently by others until at least 1929. The mill is now used in part for textiles and otherwise as light industrial units.