Sunny Bank Mills is a former textile mill, which specialised in

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 (from Old English ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the English county of Norfolk. T ...

cloth, set in 10 acres of land located on Town Street,

Farsley Farsley is a village in the City of Leeds, Leeds district, in West Yorkshire, England, west of Leeds city centre and east of Bradford near Pudsey. Before 1974, Farsley was part of the Municipal Borough of Pudsey, Borough of Pudsey. Before 193 ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England. Since 2010, it has been developed as a business and artistic community, with an exhibitions gallery selling fine art by local artists; a textile and local history archive; shops, cafés, artist studios; as well as outdoor spaces. It is run by the Gaunt family who took ownership in 1943. The archive was awarded Archive Community Accreditation by

West Yorkshire Archive Service West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in January 2021.

History

In 1820, a group of local clothiers set up a

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

venture in Farsley to share the cost of rent. They built a woollen scribbling and

fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...

mill, known as The Farsley Club Mill. By 1839, the mill was known as Sunny Bank Mills and run by the firm of Roberts, Ross & Co. In 1842, the mill was one of several local mills shut down temporarily by rioters. In 1881, the mill was sold to Edwin Woodhouse for £9,540, comprising two mills, weaving sheds, outbuildings, several houses, three reservoirs and land. Woodhouse had worked his way up as an apprentice to a woollen manufacturer, and later a travelling salesman, starting his own business in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and then moving to

in 1871; after purchasing Sunny Bank Mills he set up a limited company E. Woodhouse and Co. Woodhouse introduced fine worsted cloth manufacture and very quickly established the factory as a high-quality producer. By 1900, it was one of the biggest textile manufacturers in Leeds, producing fine cloth recognised globally for its quality. Woodhouse also became a town councillor and

Lord Mayor of Leeds The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council. By charter from Charles I of England, King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the gov ...

in 1905. In 1912, a large mill building was constructed. It was later used as a location for British TV series '' Heartbeat'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. In November 1943, Derek Alfred Gaunt, younger son of William Clifford Gaunt, acquired the

Ordinary shares Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Com ...

of E. Woodhouse and Co. and took over Sunny Bank with controlling interest. William Gaunt had become a multi-millionaire but had lost a lot of money in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. A holding company was formed to look after the shares surrendered by William and by 1943 there was enough money to settle William's debts and allow Derek to acquire Sunny Bank. After

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the family moved into supplying high-quality cloth to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. In 2008, the Gaunt family sold the textile business but kept the mill buildings. Cousins William and John Gaunt formed Edwin Woodhouse to run the mill. The family then began an extensive restoration project which involved providing premises for a range of businesses - numbering over 70 and employing over 350 people, in 2020. Ten historic looms were sourced from

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

, and became eight working looms available for use by the general public. The 1912 mill building was restored and a new light roof was installed. In 2017, a not-for-profit company was set up to safeguard the textile archive, overseeing the management, restoration, conservation and promotion of the archive. In 2020, "Project Boilerhouse" was launched to develop further areas of the 10 acres of land. The Weavers' Yard project was completed in November 2020 by CBM Construction and KPP architects. The oldest buildings on the site, dating to 1829, were restored and five-thousand square feet of green space was created. Since 2022 the mills have served as the new filming location for series 8 onwards of

The Great British Sewing Bee ''The Great British Sewing Bee'' is a BBC reality show that began airing on BBC Two on 2 April 2013. In the show, talented amateur sewers compete to be named "Britain's best home sewer". A spin-off of the format of ''The Great British Bake Off' ...

Gallery

In addition to artist studios and artist residency spaces, there are several exhibition venues at the Mills. Exhibitions of work for sale in the gallery and shop space last around six weeks. There is an exhibition of art students' work yearly. The gallery is part of the national "Own Art" scheme. It is also a member of the "Donut Project", aimed at encouraging culture in Leeds' suburbs. There are plans for an arts festival of Leeds' artists and a sculpture trail in 2023 as part of a city-wide celebration of culture.

References

{{coord, 53.814, -1.670, display=title Textile mills in West Yorkshire