Hunslet Mills, April 2010

Well I found myself at home twiddling my thumbs so decided to leave the missus to deal with the crying baby and I went out for a drive. I was over the Leeds way and Hunslet is only 10 minutes away so decided i'd go have another look at the mills.
So I gets there only to find much of the hoarding and block n mesh has disappeared. Bumped into 2 lads and a lass who i'd seen squeezing through the entry and ended up walking round it with them. Only had my point and shoot as it wasn't really a dedicated trip.

Not really much to see as it's well and truly stripped but if like me you like old industrial buildings like this you'll love finding the little gems of architecture here. My mam used to work here in the 60s so I was looking forward to it.

So a few pics:

Some crude attempt at a Banksy


Retro snazzy wallpaper


Old lift shaft, with lift car still at the bottom


Stripped workspace




Chunky old steel plated, weighted, dividing doors


Upper level 4 workspace


I love how this window was bricked up, then had some handrail bolted directly to the bricks, garish approach to fine fitting


Level 5 with rustic door, many holes in the floors here


The entire staircase is made of huge layered spiralling slabs of yorkshire stone. Just check out the wear and tear on those stones.


I was impressed by this old door, huge chunks of wood then plated steel, and those hinges were over a foot long


Last but not least, a parting shot


Thanks for looking.

Al

Fascinating place I notice that the complete structure is of stone brick and steel [or maybe iron]. This was usually an early form of fire protection.Dunno what sort of mill it was if flour the risk of explosion was high which could explain it.Nice photos, the wallpaper could play havoc with yer head if beer had been drunk.

I think they were woollen mills originally. Not sure - they may have been converted to some other use.

oldscrote said:

Fascinating place I notice that the complete structure is of stone brick and steel [or maybe iron]. This was usually an early form of fire protection.Dunno what sort of mill it was if flour the risk of explosion was high which could explain it.Nice photos, the wallpaper could play havoc with yer head if beer had been drunk.

Click to expand...

Yeah, cast iron columns supporting bricked arches so every floor was in a sense fireproof. I believe they were all woollen mills, maybe textiles later. It's also had lots of reinforcing with threaded steel rods that go through the entire building bracing it together. Back in the late 1800s buildings this tall were just made with bricks with no steel shell underneath so this strengthening was necessary.

Canonite said:

Yeah, cast iron columns supporting bricked arches so every floor was in a sense fireproof. I believe they were all woollen mills, maybe textiles later. It's also had lots of reinforcing with threaded steel rods that go through the entire building bracing it together. Back in the late 1800s buildings this tall were just made with bricks with no steel shell underneath so this strengthening was necessary.

Click to expand...

The seven story mill was certainly built to a design that was considered fireproof at the time (hence steel lined internal doors), because the three mills on this site were originally flax mills and fire was a constant hazard in flax weaving. I do not know when flax weaving ceased at this complex, but the rapid increase in reliable steam propulsion for marine use meant that by the early 1900's there was surplus canvas weaving capacity in Britain. It should be remember that just as Leeds district was known as a Heavy Woollen production area, the same held for the type of cloth woven from flax - ie heavy canvases.

If the manufacturing history of this site followed that of Thomas Leuty & Co's Castleton Mill in Armley, then heavy woollen production could have commenced around 1900. Castleton Mill was also originally built as a flax mill in 1824 by my wife's family, the five story mill ( now listed) was fitted with looms for blanket cloth and heavy woollen cloth for kakhi military uniforms in 1896/99. Multistoried flax mills were ideal candidates for conversion to woollen production, and this would be the reason why the seven story Hunslet Mill's subsequent weaving history was centered on blanket cloth.

Thanks for the information Dirus, it was only after some research I found out about the fireproofing.
I've just realised i repeated my last two shots, so here's the one i missed: