Meadow Mill is an historic
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), 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.
Althou ...
in
Stockport,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...
. It is located on the south bank of the
River Tame opposite a
Tesco Extra
Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
supermarket and the
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through most of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolt ...
. The seven-storey building was built in 1880 for the spinning of cotton and wool by T & J Leigh Ltd, designated as a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
in 1975, and redeveloped into 200 apartments with a mixed-use ground floor in 2021.
History
Stockport was a major centre of
textile manufacture
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goo ...
, particularly
cotton spinning
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and
hat making from the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
until the 20th century. The cotton and
worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham ...
spinners Thomas and James Leigh, who were operating the Beehive and Hope Mills (now replaced by the motorway and Tesco) in
Portwood
Portwood is an area of Stockport, England, just east of the town centre along Great Portwood Street. The part closest to the town centre contains Meadow Mill and is mainly given over to shops (including the Peel Centre); the outer part is resident ...
by 1872,
constructed Meadow Mill during the 1870s.
By 1914, it contained 120,000
spindle
Spindle may refer to:
Textiles and manufacturing
* Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn
* Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool
Biology
* Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus '' Euony ...
s.
In 1960 the firm of T & J Leigh ceased trading, but a new company continued to spin carpet and worsted yarn until 1969.
On 10 March 1975, the mill was given a
Grade II listing by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
as a structure of special architectural or historic interest.
[ It was converted into ]industrial unit
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...
s for multiple businesses, including furniture stores, wood workshops and gyms, but by the 2010s almost half of the giant mill had become unused through lack of demand or because of deteriorating condition. It was sold to the London-based developer William George Homes in 2016 for £2.5 million, and plans drawn up for residential redevelopment, with planning approved by Stockport Council in 2017.
The following year, Majdiah Residence, a company based in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...
, bought the mill and began work on the approved conversion and renovation scheme, which includes 213 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as 24,000 sq ft of leisure and commercial space; a further 2,000 sq ft is allocated for restaurant use. Works are due to be completed by May 2021.
Description
Meadow Mill has a front elevation of seven storeys, including the basement, and a width of 41 bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...
s. It is constructed of red brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
, with the basement in blue brick
Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England.
The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere ...
below a stone band. The first and second floors are arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
d. The top floor has paired windows with round arched heads and column mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
s, with a stone parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
and brick arcaded bracket cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
above. The more ornamental central four bays have stone dressings to the windows, and outer two slightly protrude; lst and 2nd floor arcades have round-headed, stone, carved capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
s. The mill's interior structure is cast-iron lengthwise and crosswise beams with brick arches - known as fireproof construction
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 dr ...
. It is surrounded by a factory chimney
A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are t ...
to the rear and a single-storey gatehouse
A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...
. Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
has called Meadow Mill "a good example of its period".[
]
See also
* List of mills in Stockport
References
{{Buildings and structures in Stockport Borough
Buildings and structures in Stockport
Textile mills in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
Cotton mills
Former textile mills in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed buildings in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport