Description

SE 02 NE DEAN CLOUGH
679/4/423B DEAN CLOUGH
07-APR-82 F Mill and F Mill Annex

(Formerly listed as:
OLD LANE
DEAN CLOUGH
DEAN CLOUGH MILLS: F BLOCK,1858.)
(Formerly listed as:
OLD LANE
DEAN CLOUGH
1858 BLOCK)

GV II
Mill, 1858, by Roger Ives for John Crossley & Sons.
'F' Mill and 'F' Mill Annex are aligned approximately east-west, backing onto Old Lane to the north and overlooking an area formerly occupied by weaving sheds to the south.

The eastern end of 'F' Mill abuts the western end of 'B' Mill. A bend in Old Lane is followed by the north side of 'F' Mill, giving it a waisted profile, and the rising ground to the north and west means that the 6 storeys to the south are reduced to 2 at the north-west corner. It is constructed of hammer dressed gritstone with ashlar dressings, and a modillion cornice and raised parapet with pilaster strips runs round the entire building. The pitched roof is an early C21 metal replacement.

The south elevation of 'F' Mill has 6 storeys, and a central projecting toilet block rising above the parapet. There are 18 window bays to either side of the tower, each with an off-centre line of taking-in doors, now windows. The tower has projecting string courses at each floor, with paired round arch windows on each side. The modillion cornice is broken on each face and a pair of oeil de beuf windows sit beneath a large round arch above the cornice line at the front. Above the keystone to this arch is a tablet engraved A.D.1858, and above again the cornice supports a low parapet. To the left of the tower are two inserted entrances and to the left again an external glass and steel lift tower. Inserted steel balconies extend from the lift tower to the toilet tower on alternate floors. To the left of the lift is a double height, two-bay opening, now enclosed as entrances and windows. To the left end of the building is a double height two-bay round arched opening with rusticated ashlar dressings, now enclosed, that is partly behind the end of 'F' Mill Annex. 12 bays to the right of the toilet tower is a similar round arched opening with original double doors.

The north elevation on to Old Lane has 38 window bays in all, 16 to the east of the bend in the rear wall, and 22 to the west. There is a line of taking-in doors, now windows, 3 bays to the west of the bend in the wall. There are 24 blocked openings from the east at basement level, reducing in size as the ground rises to the west, beyond which there are only two floors of windows. At the west end the final 4 ground floor window bays are blocked. The east end abuts 'B' Mill with a gable end, but projects further north, with two windows at first floor and blocked openings below. At the west end the cornice and parapet continue, with a projecting corner pier at the north-west corner. There are altered and blocked openings over nine bays, and a drop in ground level from north to south is obscured by other buildings including 'F' Annex.

The interior of 'F' Mill has been converted to office use and retains cast iron columns and floor beams supporting brick arch floors, with two rows of columns increasing to three in the widest part of the building to the west.

'F' Annex is composed of several different structures and phases, all in gritstone. Two main elements are visible from the south; to the right (east) a nine window, six storey building with a late C20 north light roof, and to the left (west) a 7 window, five storey building with a slate hipped roof. The eastern building has a later single storey flat roofed extension projecting from the right hand 5 bays with a central entrance. The east side elevation has a row of taking in doors with steel lintels, now windows and some altered, and an altered opening to the ground floor. A narrow gap between the Annex and 'F' Mill where 'F' Mill extends behind the Annex is bridged at 5th floor level. The ground floor of the western building has a series of former ground floor entrances, now altered to form windows. To the north and west the buildings are abutted by later constructions. Internally 'F' Annex has been converted to form an hotel.
HISTORY: John Crossley leased a water-powered mill at Dean Clough from the Waterhouse family in 1822, but he and his brothers had been carrying out worsted spinning and dyeing there since 1802. The mill stood at the eastern end of a mill dam formed from a leat from the Hebble Brook which runs to the south of the site. From 1841 onwards the Crossley family began building a series of engine powered spinning mills and weaving sheds at Dean Clough, used in the manufacture of carpets for which they became famous.

'F' Mill was completed in 1858 and marked a return in the development of the site to the western end of the valley. It was designed by Roger Ives, a Halifax architect who began designing for Dean Clough in the 1850s, his first building being 'D' Mill, followed by 'E' Mill. Like the earlier 'A' and 'B' Mills to which it was attached, 'F' Mill was excavated out of the valley side overlooking the weaving sheds that had been built over the former mill dam to the south. Its earlier power source is uncertain, but by 1900 it was powered by an engine housed in the north-eastern corner of the 'Gripper Shed' which replaced an earlier weaving shed.

To the west of 'F' Mill is a group of attached buildings known as the 'F' Mill Annex. The part of this immediately to the west of 'F' Mill predates it, being in existence by 1855 and serving as a boiler house attached to the weaving shed to the south, with upper floors used for warehousing. The section further to the west dates to later in the C19 and was also a warehouse. Both of these were originally lower, and had extra storeys added after a fire in 1904. A small section to the rear of the warehouse is also late C19, while to the rear of the former boiler house a former yard area was enclosed probably in the early C20. The former boiler house and the building to the rear were re-roofed in the late C20.

Further mills, sheds and other associated buildings were constructed through the C19, and continuing development in the C20 finally ended in 1982 when final carpet production ceased after a gradual run-down following the merger of John Crossley & Sons with Carpet Trade Holdings and the Carpet Trades Manufacturing Company of Kidderminster. Both 'F' Mill and 'F' Mill Annex have been converted to other uses as offices and an hotel.

Reasons for Designation
'F' Mill and 'F' Mill Annex at Dean Clough, Halifax, are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Industrial complex: It is part of the integrated complex of mill structures at Dean Clough for the manufacture of carpets in the C19 and C20
* Architecture: 'F' Mill is architecturally accomplished as one of the distinctive buildings designed by Roger Ives. 'F' Mill Annex, while plain, is a good example of mill architecture
* Historic interest: the 'F' Mill complex is an important component of the development of the Crossley works at Dean Clough
* Intactness: although converted to other uses, original features survive, including cast iron columns, brick arch floors, taking in doors and hoists

Listing NGR: SE0889825874

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26536267

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings