Building record 2887/9 - Brook Mills

Brook Mill was built in 1835 and is five storeys high. Its design utilised construction methods that increased the weight bearing capacity of its floor, in order to accommodate the extra loads generated by the silk spinning and weaving machinery. This relied upon a box beam construction, with cast iron columns for internal support. One of only three sites in Congleton where silk spinning took place in the C19th. The mill produced both silk and cotton, and used both water and steam power sources. The wheel was positioned internally. Amalgamated with the nearby Stone House green Mill by the Reade Family. One of the few remaining major sites in East Cheshire used for the production of spun silk. (1)

Visible on the OS 1st ed. 25" and 6" maps (2 & 3).

Silk throwing and weaving mills, water and later steam powered. 1785 to early C19th, extended in 1835. The two earlier four storey mills are located in an irregular fashion next to the water course, the 1835 five storey weaving mill is at an angle at the eastern end, with ancillary buildings in the yard to the south. The western four storey mill has a half round dry privy tower. The earlier mills have timber cross beams and king and queen post roofs. The 1835 mill has 2 rows of cast iron columns to box beam floors. An L shaped range of ancillary buildings extend to the south, comprising a gabled building with a wide arched opening in the west wall and an a-symmetrical pitched roof building aligned east-west. Originally built for the throwing and weaving of silk, by 1821 both water and steam were used as complementary power systems, both by day and water only at night. The 1835 mill was for powered weaving, the privy chute is a good example of of the improvements in mill worker amenities. The whole site was converted to silk spinning in 1835. The various processes of silk dressing and spinning were carried out on the ground floors, with weaving on those above. (4)

The First Edition of the Ordnance Survey 25" shows the site in its heyday as an Industrial Complex in 1875. Later maps tell the same story with little change in the structures and configuration of the buildings. (5)

<1> Calladine A & Fricker J, 1993, East Cheshire Textile Mills, p. 7, 48, 59-61, 72, 74-75, 77, 83, 87, 103, 113, 138, 162 (Book). SCH1093.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1881-2, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2474.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 702/2/10024 (Report). SCH1934.

<5> AAA Archaeological Advisors, Brook Mills Congleton, R2483 (Client Report). SCH4590.