
Dean Clough in
Halifax,
Calderdale
Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England, is a group of large factory buildings built in the 1840s–60s for
Crossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1989, it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.
More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engin ...
's Carpets,
becoming one of the world's largest
carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...
factories (half a mile long with of floorspace). After years of declining production it closed in 1983, when it was bought by a consortium led by
Sir Ernest Hall which developed the Grade II listed site for various commercial and cultural uses. It is now seen as a leading example of successful
urban regeneration
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
.
Dean Clough is located on the north side of Halifax near the
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
North Bridge and the modern flyover sections of the Burdock Way relief road system. The converted mills now house about 150 large and small businesses and arts venues including Crossley Gallery and several other art galleries and the Viaduct Theatre, home base for the
Northern Broadsides
Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Barrie Rutter, who was its artistic director until resigning in 2018, followed by Conrad Nelson who was ...
theatre company.
Phoenix Radio 96.7 FM has its studios in E Mill and Prestige Flowers has offices in G Mill.
History

John Crossley, with his brother, Thomas, and James Travis first leased Dean Clough Mills in 1802. When this lease expired after twenty years John Crossley took on a new lease in his own name. After his death in 1837, at which time three hundred people were employed, his three sons, John, Joseph and Francis, continued the business as John Crossley and Sons. They formed a joint stock company in 1864, becoming one of the first limited liability companies in Britain. It was this company that built the very large mills on the site between 1841 and 1869, together with large sheds which have now been demolished. Around 1855 the alphabetical naming system was introduced for the mills. There were also other premises in Halifax, employing five thousand people by 1900. The company also operated at
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...
and had warehouses in London and Manchester. During the two world wars production changed from carpets to military supplies such as webbing, blankets and khaki yarn for uniforms. When Chairman Patrick Crossley retired in 1970 the company moved its headquarters to Kidderminster, and it was decided in 1982 to close the Dean Clough site. One of the Crossley family is still involved in carpet making on a much smaller scale at neighbouring Haley Hill.
[
Following the closure of the mills in 1983 the site was bought by a consortium led by chairman Sir Ernest Hall. As managing director, his son Jeremy, has gradually refurbished the buildings for office and cultural uses by a large number of companies.]
Dean Clough played host to the launch of the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2017 General Election by then Prime Minister Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
, the site being situated in the Labour constituency of Halifax.
Site
Mill buildings
There are a number of mill buildings, some very large, mostly named with letters of the alphabet. Most of them are in the bottom of the steep sided Hebble Valley but G Mill stands on the steep bank to the south of Dean Clough Road, reducing from nine storeys at the road to five at the top of the bank. The first mill built on the site by the Crossley family in 1841 was A mill, followed by six storey B Mill in 1844. They are likely to have originally contained spinning and some weaving equipment. The first weaving shed, Old Shed, was built in 1849. These were followed by C Mill in 1850, New Shed in 1853, E Mill in 1857, F Mill in 1858, G Mill in 1867, and H Mill in 1869. Other smaller buildings were also built on the site.
Transport infrastructure
The factory had railway sidings at North Bridge railway station
North Bridge railway station, also known as Halifax North Bridge, served on the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway in West Yorkshire, England. The North bridge itself had to be rebuilt higher by the L&YR
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail ...
close to the eastern end of the factory. This was connected by a viaduct to the Caldervale Line
The Calder Valley line (also previously known as the Caldervale line) is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes ...
at the main Halifax railway station, and entered Old Lane Tunnel alongside the mills, to connect via the Queensbury Lines
The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly ...
to Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
and Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
. Following the closure of that railway in 1955 and the demolition of North Bridge Station in 1960 Dean Clough relies on road transport on the A58, A629, A6036 and A646 roads. These roads are linked by the Burdock Way road system which was carved through Halifax in the early 1970s with high curving flyovers overlooking the mills.
Redevelopment
Sir Ernest Hall and Jonathan Silver bought the site in equal shares in 1983 and opted to develop flexibly rather than to enmesh themselves in grant aided regeneration schemes; but the two men had very different styles of working and the partnership did not last. Within a year, Hall bought Silver's share from him, and Silver left; three years later he bought Salt's Mill
Salts Mill (sometimes spelled Salt's Mill) is a former textile mill, now incorporating an art gallery, shops, restaurant, and spaces to rent in Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was commissioned and financed by Sir Titus Salt and ...
and began regenerating that building in his own way.
The large sheds on the south western part of the site were demolished to open it up and provide car parking space.[ A Travelodge and an NHS facility now use buildings at the western end. The refurbishment of G Mill has been ongoing over twenty years, working floor by floor. Stone facades have been cleaned of the industrial blackening which affected all of the area's older buildings and exterior changes have been kept to a minimum, while interiors have been adapted to new uses. This has sometimes involved removing floors and cast iron pillars and installing lifts.
The mills now provide office space for some 150 companies, art galleries, restaurants and The Viaduct Theatre.
A long model of the factory at 1:40 scale has been made out of ]Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
and is on display.
The Viaduct Theatre
The Viaduct Theatre is a 300-seater underground performance space. It has been the home base for the Northern Broadsides
Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Barrie Rutter, who was its artistic director until resigning in 2018, followed by Conrad Nelson who was ...
theatre company for more than 30 years, and also hosts visiting companies and community groups.[ ''A planned production by Talking Stock'']
See also
* Listed buildings in Halifax, West Yorkshire
References
External links
Dean Clough website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011115606/http://www.princes-regeneration.org/bestpractice/deanclough.htm , date=11 October 2008
Buildings and structures in Halifax, West Yorkshire
Art museums and galleries in West Yorkshire
Tourist attractions in Calderdale
Arts centres in England
Museums in Halifax, West Yorkshire