Spinning Block, Turnbridge Mills (Hirst's Mill)

Summary

A cotton mill spinning block built in 1871-1873 to designs by John Kirk and Sons, now (2025) in commercial use.

Reasons for Designation

The Spinning Block at Turnbridge Mills (Hirst’s Mill), Huddersfield, built in 1871-1873 to designs by John Kirk and Sons, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for the good quality of its design and form, with decorative detailing including ashlar lintel bands and projecting sill bands to the main body of the building, and Italianate-style windows to the projecting stair tower;
* for the legibility of its interior layout and the fireproof structure, which retains cast-iron columns, cast-iron beams and segmental brick jack-arches;
* as a good example of a C19 stone-built cotton mill in West Yorkshire, an area more commonly associated with the wool and worsted industries.

Group value:

* for its strong functional, visual and historical relationship with the chimney at SE 14942 16846 (Grade II), and visual group value with John L Brierley’s Mill to the south side of Quay Street (Grade II) and the scheduled Turn Bridge across the Huddersfield Broad Canal.

History

Turnbridge Mills (Hirst’s Mill) was built in 1871-1873 on the north side of Quay Street, Huddersfield. It was designed by architects John Kirk and Sons of Huddersfield and Dewsbury, and was built for brothers Reuben Hirst (1829-1910) and William Hirst (1831-1909), cotton spinners and doublers. Hirst’s Mill was one of two mills which together formed a complex known as Turnbridge Mills, located on the west side of the Huddersfield Broad Canal (Sir John Ramsden’s Canal). John L Brierley’s Mill (Brierley’s Mill), was built on the south side of Quay Street in 1846 (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1231214, Grade II). Hirst’s Mill was first shown on the Ordnance Survey (OS) Town Plan (1:500) of 1890 (surveyed 1888), and was erected on the site of the former Turn Bridge Foundry and Turn Bridge Kiln, which are shown on the OS Town Plan (1:1056) of 1851 (surveyed 1848).

On 1 July 1871, tenders for the construction of a cotton mill, warehouse, scotching room, boiler house, engine house and chimney at Turnbridge were advertised in the Huddersfield Chronicle. The architect was named as John Kirk and Sons. On the 31 May 1873 it was reported in the Huddersfield Examiner (Weekly) that the Hirst brother’s new cotton mill had been built by contractor Abraham Graham and Sons, joiner William Sykes of Folly Hall, and plasterer Ephraim Longbottom. Tomlinson and Rowe of Chapel Hill were responsible for the fireproof work. A ‘new immense beam engine’ described as the ‘largest in Huddersfield’ (48 inch cylinder, 7 foot stroke, 29 strokes a minute, ‘The Templar’ 500-600hp) had been built by Robert Gledhill of Bradley Mills. The boilers were by Richard Pollitt of Bolton. The beam engine was subsequently McNaughted (the process of improving the efficiency of a beam engine) by Schofield and Taylor, in about 1904.

Prior to the construction of their own mill, newspaper reports in the Huddersfield Chronicle from the mid-C19 suggest that William and Reuben Hirst were one of several occupants of the mill to the south side of Quay Street. In 1868, they were mentioned in a newspaper report in the Huddersfield Chronicle in relation to a fire. Fires were not uncommon in cotton mills, and outbreaks of fire in Hirst’s new mill were also reported in newspaper articles across the late C19 and early C20. In 1886, 14 years after they established Hirst’s Mill, Reuben and William Hirst dissolved their partnership by mutual consent. William Hirst subsequently continued in business as William Hirst and Son. In 1925, Hirst’s Mill was purchased by John L Brierley Ltd, which brought both mills under the same ownership, although they continued to operate independently from each other. Hirst’s Mill ceased textile production in the early C21 and is now (2025) in various business uses.

Hirst’s Mill is shown on the Ordnance Survey (OS) Town Plan (1:500) of 1890 (surveyed 1888), as three main ranges arranged around an inner courtyard area, with an entranceway on Quay Street, where there was a weighing machine. The Mill comprised a large, six-storey spinning block to the north-east of the site, with ancillary buildings attached to the north-west corner; a linear range directly to the north of Quay Street with (from left to right) the offices, a four-storey mill building, engine house, boiler house, economiser house and the chimney (chimney at SE 14942 16846, NHLE entry 1409815, Grade II); and a further four-storey mill building to the west of the site, which had two connected ranges, one running north-south and one east-west.

There were a number of alterations and extensions to Hirst’s Mill across the late C19 and C20. The Ordnance Survey 25-inch map of 1907 (revised 1905) shows that an extension (of two storeys) had been added to the south-west corner of the spinning block, which probably functioned as offices. Aerial survey photographs of the site from 1949 indicates that a privy tower was also added to the west side of the spinning block, adjacent the stair tower. By 1960, the Ordnance Survey 1:1250 map (surveyed 1959) shows that the boiler house had been extended northwards to meet the spinning block, and there was a much smaller structure in the position of the economiser house. The extension to the south-west corner of the spinning block was also further extended to the east, and the ancillary building to the north-west was extended to the south. The courtyard area between the spinning block and the range to Quay Street was also covered over with a canopy. A long, thin structure to the west side of the north-south range of the mill building to the west of the site had also been removed, and new ancillary structures erected in the south-west corner of the courtyard (also since removed).

The other major changes to the site in the late C20 included the introduction of a new full-height projecting lift tower on the north side of the spinning block and a large, two-storey warehouse, also to the north of the spinning block. The lift tower was built after 1960, and the warehouse was erected in 1979-1980. A further large two-storey warehouse was also added to the north of this in 1994-1995. The north-south range of the mill building to the west of the site was reduced in height from four to two storeys, and the east-west range of the mill building was demolished and a new office block erected in its place in 1988. In addition to this, the economiser house was also rebuilt, a new roof was fitted over the boiler house, and the area to the north of the Quay Street range was partially infilled with extensions. The boilers, beam engine and mill machinery have been removed.

John Kirk (1817-1886) established an architectural practice in John William Street, Huddersfield in 1850. A branch in Dewsbury opened ten years later under the management of his son Albert Holmes Kirk (1840-1920). Two further sons, James Sheard Kirk (1842-1911) and Frederick Kirk (c 1860-1914), also joined the firm. They undertook general commissions mainly based in the West Yorkshire textile towns, including: The Almshouses, 1-6 Wilshaw Road, Wilshaw (NHLE entries 1300263, 1313689, 1134630, Grade II), Dalton Grange, 19 Bradley Mills Road, Huddersfield (NHLE entry 1427283, Grade II), and the Church of St Mary, Wilshaw Road (NHLE entry 1134671, Grade II). John Kirk and Sons also designed Newsome Mills, Ruth Street, Huddersfield (NHLE entry1232037, Grade II).

Details

A cotton mill spinning block built in 1871-1873 to designs by John Kirk and Sons, now (2025) in commercial use.

STYLE: utilitarian with Italianate influences.

MATERIALS: coursed, dressed sandstone with slate roofs.

PLAN: rectangular with projecting stair tower at south end of west elevation and smaller projecting tower to south elevation.

EXTERIOR: The Spinning Block is a tall building of six storeys (with an additional basement storey at canal level on the east), each storey gradually diminishing in height from ground to sixth floor, with regular elevations of eleven bays to the north and south elevations, six bays on the east side facing the canal, and four bays to the west elevation, which also has the full-height stair-tower attached to its south-west corner. The windows throughout are predominantly of a uniform design, vertical rectangular openings, generally with five and six pane timber window frames, although some have louvred panes and others have been replaced with uPVC units or modified to form doorways. A number of windows have had ventilation apparatus* inserted (*not of special interest and excluded from the listing). Each storey of the main block is defined by a thin projecting ashlar stone band at the sill level of the windows whose lintels are incorporated into a flush ashlar stone band which links the windows across each façade. In the centre of the south elevation is a shallow projecting tower with the stone floor bands of the main façade continued across it. It has slim windows on its east face and slim windows in the bay to its west. Its cornice is set higher than the bracketed eaves cornice of the main block, and there is an attic stage in stone with a plain cornice. Near the top stage of this tower is a panel inscribed with the initials of Reuben & William Hirst.  The base of the tower has a wide opening for a lift door with stone jambs and an I-beam lintel.

The stair tower at the south-west corner has, on the right of the south elevation, windows of the same pattern as the main building but thin windows on the left, corresponding to the stages of the staircase inside. The west windows are more ornate, and form pairs in arched Italianate stone frames with central square mullions and moulded bracketed sills. The stair tower has a thin cornice matching that of the main block and a cast-iron water tank with pitched roof. On its north side, in the angle between the stair tower and the main block, is a later privy tower* (*not of special interest and excluded from the listing).

The roof of the Spinning Block is multi-pitched, hipped to each of the main elevations, with three parallel pitched roofs running east west and two shorter pitched roofs running north-south. There are roof lights to the northern section of two of the east-west roofs.

INTERIORS: the block is of a fireproof construction with two rows of cast-iron columns, cast-iron beams and transverse segmental brick arches up to fourth-floor level. The cast-iron columns continue up to fifth-floor level, although the roof structure is timber at this level and is not fireproofed.

At ground-floor level the columns are cylindrical in form with a moulded capital and a plain base, and a square-section bolting head for power transmission systems. The bolting heads could support power transmission on all four faces. The walls are of pier and panel construction, with thick brick piers to the north and south walls supporting the ends of the beams, and thinner panels containing the windows. The floor is finished with a concrete screed.

At fifth-floor level, the columns are of a cylindrical form with a square-section bolting head for power transmission systems. The capitals have brackets and a shoe which fits around the timber beam. The multi-pitched roof is supported on three-span timber king-post trusses. There are retractable lift doors to the projecting tower to the south wall and the late-C20 lift tower* (*not of special interest and excluded from the listing) to the north elevation.

The stair tower has a central shaft which is rounded in shape on the western side and has a wide square-headed opening to its eastern face. The shaft is of brick and the opening has a stone surround (now painted). The shaft was probably originally used for a fire sprinkler system, supplied with water from the iron tank on the roof of the staircase tower, although it has since been fitted with a lift mechanism and retractable lift doors to the openings on each floor. On the fifth floor, part of the mechanism within the shaft bears the name: ‘Fred Ellison and Co Ltd Bradford’. The floors within the staircase tower are of stone flags, and a stone staircase winds around the shaft up to each level. The inner face of the stairwell is of brick (now painted), and there is a series of storage areas in the north-west and south-west angles of the stair tower which are closed with timber doors. On the north side of the stair tower is the privy tower* (not of special interest and excluded from the listing), accessed from the stair tower landings, where the toilets are situated.

The following additions* to the Spinning Block are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing: C20 infill extensions and canopy attached to the south elevation of the former spinning block; the C20 extension to the south-west corner; the privy tower and the single-storey ancillary building attached to the west elevation; and the C20 lift tower and warehouses attached to the north of the building.

Also excluded from the listing are the following attachments*: covered bridges and walkway, timber-clad projections, ventilators and extractors, and a fire escape attached to the north side.

The following other buildings* on the mill site are also excluded from the listing: the two-storey ancillary building attached to the north-west of the single-storey ancillary building; the former mill buildings to the west of the site; and the linear range to the north of Quay Street.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Area) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest, however, any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.

Sources

Books and journals
Linstrum, D, West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture (1978), 380
Giles, C, Goodall, I, Yorkshire Textile Mills The Buildings of the Yorkshire Textile Industry 1770-1930 (1992),
Harman, R, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England. Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (2017), 349, 362
Watkins, G, Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain: The National Photographic Collection, volume 1: Yorkshire (2000), 130

Websites
Underground Histories, The website of Huddersfield Historian Alan Brooke, accessed 16 December 2024 from https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/
Huddersfield Exposed, accessed 16 December 2024 from https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Welcome
Britain from Above, image references: EAW025240-6, 1949., accessed 16 December 2024 from https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en

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