Site Event/Activity record ECH6647 - Vale Mill, Congleton, Cheshire East: Historic Building Report

An historic building survey (level 2) was undertaken in 2018 for Vale Mill, Priesty Fields, Congleton, a former silk mill of early nineteenth century date, prior to its demolition and re-development. The building is neither nationally designated nor locally listed. Vale Mill was founded probably in the early 1820s, a boom period for the Congleton silk industry. The original mill was a narrow, rectangular, four-storey structure that was altered and extended in the mid-twentieth century, essentially leaving a shell of the former building. No trace of the original external water wheel survived, this originally was powered by a leat from the dammed Howty Brook. The twentieth century internal alteration also removed evidence of the power transmission systems of the mill. (1)