Ilex Mill is a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

built in 1856 by Peter Whitehead in

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Borough of Rossendale, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles (24 km) north of Manchester, 22 miles (35 km) east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston and 45 miles (70 km) south east of Lanca ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. It reached its peak of production in 1895 when it had 50,000 spindles and 748 looms. However, by 1899 the building had been sold to Messrs Hoyle, Parker and Company who turned the premises into a shoe factory. The building was once again used for textile production in the 1930s, and by 1954 two associated companies, James Rothwell and Fabricade Ltd occupied the building, working alongside one another. Fabricade made bed spreads and bathroom sets there until 1981, when they shut the plant down with the loss of 60 jobs. The building was put on the market for £85,000. The Council developed plans to turn the mill into a new Town Hall for the

Borough of Rossendale Rossendale () is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Bacup and its largest town is Rawtenstall. It also includes the tow ...

which had been formed in 1974. The plans, which also involved the Rawtenstall Civic Society, the

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

and the local Chamber of Commerce. They included Council administrative offices, a chamber for Council meetings and members facilities, as well as a police custody facilities, a community hall and tourist information office. The remaining space had yet to be allocated. The project received £4m from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national urban renewal, regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agency, regional development agencies on a regions of England, region ...

. It was proposed that the renovation would be completed with minimum demolition and preservings as much as possible of the internal open space. However these plans came to nothing, and after a brief period when the building was used to deliver training sessions, the building stood empty for 15 years. By 2003 the building was sold to PJ Livesey Living Space after two years of negotiation.

References

{{Coord, 53.7006, -2.2825, display=title, region:GB_scale:10000 Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Cotton mills in Lancashire Buildings and structures in the Borough of Rossendale Rawtenstall