Mill in Ovenden, Yorkshire, April 2008

I'd spotted this on Geograph a while back and sent the details to KingElvis as I knew he lived over that direction, to see if he'd had a look. He went over for a look and posted an excellent report on the North West Exploration Forum. So here's my attempt.

I don't know anything about the place, or even what it's called for that matter. We orginally thought it was Ladyship Mill, but that appears to be up the road. It was part of a much bigger complex until recently- Google Earth shows large weaving sheds to the north of the site, but these are now gone, leaving a vast muddy, wasteland. The mill itself is a bare shell, so this was a pretty quick explore, as there isn't masses to see in all honesty, but it had a certain character. I imagine the place will be turned into flats or something, otherwise, why leave it standing?





I imagine this was the engine house, as it was right next to the old boiler house and chimney. It's height suggested it originally housed a beam engine, as does the big iron beam. The stairs were relatively recent.







Unusual roof space - most mill roofs are flat, not gabled.


Not sure what this is all about - it wasn't for steps.


Boiler House


Looking across the wasteland

That roof is great, thanks

if they turn it into flats I bet they will be open plan & very cool

Please remember not to use specific dates thanks.

andy m,

From memory, the five sided 'tower' has no floors, and there are no signs of any internal demolition, ie no signs of floor remains on the interior walls. Is this correct? This is a typical example of a small 'fireproof' mill. There are three possible reasons for the 'tower'. Two uses require no floors in the structure, and a careful examination may reveal remains of the fixings used in either case - thus proving the correct use. The third reason requires floors, corresponding to the main flooring on each storey. I would have expected them to be of fireproof construction, and thus if demolished, leaving clear signs of this. There is a remote possibility that wooden floors could have been fitted. Again you would expect to see signs of fitment, even after removal.

!/ Tower was fitted with a cast iron spiral stair to all floors. - This has been removed for scrap.
2/ The tower housed an endless rope hoist, to allow the removal of the finished rolls of cloth from each floor.
3/ The tower contained toilets for each floor. The lack of floors is a problem for this, and the windows are rather large. All the pipework would be internal, so lack of evidence for external pipework is not a problem. Still the mill owners did not like their 'slaves' wasting time going to the toilet. Hence placing them close to the looms etc.

The workpath through the mill really depends on whether it was originally a linen or woolen mill. Much linen canvas was woven in some the early mills. Thus the hoist mechanism in the end wall of the roof, is no proof that there was not a need for an internal hoist.

Unfortunately, although I have details of many Yorkshire mills, I can find nothing on this one. Perhaps when I find the original name, it will reveal the information.

Nice one mate, did you have your doubts about the floor in the roof space?

Also thanks for putting me right about the name of the place, I just guessed.

Good pics & report! The shot in the roof is brill! Cheers

That place looks lovely, i do love the big old industrial stuff!

Thanks for sharing.

~Shepy

Everyone, thanks for your comments.

Reaperman, sorry, I've been using the old 28DL thread naming convention, will remember to use the derelict places one in future.

Kingelvis - the holes in the floor of the roofspace were a tad disconcerting. I kept to one end near the stairs and really watched where I was going.

Dirus_Strictus, thanks for your information! The tower had floors in on some higer storeys (wood I think), but not lower down. However, I didn't look to see if there was any evidence of there having been one previously. Kingelvis may have had a closer look when he went?
There is a chute through the floor of one of the upper storeys, and also a lift shaft, which I presume was a later addition. I'm not well up on the internal arrangement of mills, so yes an endless hoist may well have been it's use. If I lived anywhere near halifax, I'd go and visit a local library to research it, but I'm on the other side of the pennines! Maybe next time I'm in the area! But the lack of a name for the place is frustrating.

Nice looking place, cracking pics.

Fabulous building. A little stark on the outside, as many mills were I should think, but still interesting. The inside is much more delightful.
Wow, I can just imagine myself living in a huge 'loft conversion' in that roof space...dream on, girl!

Andy m,

This mill could be either, Lee Bank Mills or Old Lane Mills. ( note these could be one and the same buildings). I have the OS co-ordinates for all the Ovenden Mills - from the Royal Commission Survey of Historical Monuments. There are two problems with the above choice; 1/ I am finding the co-ords from a small scale OS map 2/ The Royal Commission lists the above as level C, ie demolished at time of survey. However I have found the grade C listing to be a bit iffy, ie some demolition of single storey weaving sheds, but not the then/now multi occupancy multistorey original! Will get precise co-ords and narrow it down.

dirus_strictus, it's called Old Lane Mill - your post prompted me to have a look on English Heritages Website Images of England wesite, and this turned up:

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=447661

It describes the tower as a 'latrine tower', so your suggestion about it being for toilets was correct!

Thanks for your help!

andy m said:

dirus_strictus, it's called Old Lane Mill - your post prompted me to have a look on English Heritages Website Images of England wesite, and this turned up:

Click to expand...

The EH site tells only part of the story. Thankfully our Victorian map makers liked to name as many buildings as the could - the print helped to fill the empty spaces! A study of the 1854 OS shows that this was actually called Old Lane New Mill (Woollens is written under name). There is Old Lane Old Mill (Cotton written under name) adjacent. Cotton mills on this side of the Pennines had all but disappeared by the late 1800's, they were either altered to woollen production or demolished. The old mill does not appear on the 1908 OS map, so presumably it was demolished prior to publication of the 1908 Edition. This explains the aforementioned Royal Commission code letter C on their entry for this Mill. They have included Records from both Old Lane Mills in their Report and archived files. As a further point of interest, data on mill engines abstracted from the archive, suggests that the engine in the New Mill was reciprocating. I am trying to find the details of manufacturer, rated HP and type etc.

It appears when the main road was altered, access to site was made via Lee Bank, hence the later change to Lee Bank Mills. The name seems to have reverted back to Old Lane Mills when all milling activity ended on the old mill site.

Sadly the EH photograph only reinforces my feelings/comments on Listing. The building was relatively whole in 1990, and the 2003 picture only indicates partial damage. Removal of the asbestos roof and reinstatement of structural integrity, would have been relatively simple and not that costly in the early 90's. Look at what has happened since it was Listed Grade 11* in 1994 - dereliction and structural decay. The integrity of the attic floor is seriously compromised, as some of the brick support arches have failed. This is probably due to water penetration and subsequent freezing during winter periods.

Cracking roof...
not so far from me that place.

Great pics. It looks like a beautiful old building even as a skeleton building. I agree it would make amazing open plan flats.