Royal Mill, which is located on the corner of Redhill Street and Henry Street,

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester, England, next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has been called "the world's first ind ...

, in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, is an early-20th-century cotton mill, one of the last of "an internationally important group of cotton-spinning mills" sited in East Manchester. Royal Mill was constructed in 1912 on part of the site of the earlier McConnel & Kennedy mills, established in 1798. It was originally called New Old Mill and was renamed following a royal visit by King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

and Queen

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

in 1942. A plaque commemorates the occasion. The Ancoats mills collectively comprise "the best and most-complete surviving examples of early large-scale factories concentrated in one area".

Location

Redhill Street in Manchester was home to two large spinning companies, A&G Murray Ltd and McConnells. Historically this area of Manchester had used the waters of the

Shooters Brook Shooter may refer to: People * Rod Beck (1968–2007), American baseball pitcher nicknamed "Shooter" * Shooter Jennings (born 1979), country music singer * Evan McPherson (born 1999), American football placekicker nicknamed "Shooter" * Adrian Sh ...

to power the waterwheels on Salvins Factory and the New Islington Mill. The

Rochdale Canal The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...

runs alongside the street and the mill. Originally used for transport, the canal had provided water to Murrays and McConnells for the condensers of their

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

History

McConnells had joined Fine Spinners and Doublers Association Ltd in 1898. In 1910 it was investing again, and rebuilt two mills and was experimenting with electricity.

The building

The New Old Mill like the Paragon Mill was built in the

Edwardian Baroque Edwardian architecture usually refers to a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to 1914 is commonly included in this style. It can al ...

style by H. S. Porter using

Accrington brick Accrington bricks, or Nori, are a type of iron-hard engineering brick, produced in Altham near Accrington, Lancashire, England from 1887 to 2008 and again from 2015. They were famed for their strength, and were used for the foundations of the B ...

and

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

. It had

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

columns supporting by transverse steel beams and

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

floors. Initially both were built as 5-storey, though eventually 6-storey, nine bay mills. The machines were electrically group driven. The electricity supply was provided by the corporation and a new substation was built in 1915.

Listing

The mill has been a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building since 11 November 1988. Royal Mill, and its companion Paragon Mill, are "six-storey and nine bay buildings designed to house electrically-powered mules, the first generation of those purpose built for electricity." After decades of neglect and decay, a restoration scheme costing £65 million was announced by ING Real Estate in 2003, which would see the building converted for use as flats, offices and shops. The work received an award from the

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for those working in the Built Environment, Construction, Land, Property and Real Estate. The RICS was founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental ...

in 2007, and began to be occupied in 2008. Some of the original features have been retained, including the exposed brickwork and items of mill machinery.

References

Bibliography