Monument record 2887/23 - Forge Mill, Congleton: Nineteenth Century Silk Mill Complex

<1> Calladine A & Fricker J, 1993, East Cheshire Textile Mills, p. 74, 75, 85, 96, 162 (Book). SCH1093.

One of only three sites in Congleton at which silk production was based in the early to mid C19th. Occupied by Peter Wilde and Co. A shed was used for the silk spinning processes is positioned at the back of the site.

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

On 1st ed. OS 25" & 6" Maps (see also source 3).

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

<4> Nexus Heritage, 2016, Land at Forge Mill, Forge Lane, Congleton, Cheshire (13/2623C): Archaeological Assessment, R4129 (Client Report). SCH8407.

A desk-based assessment was undertaken in 2016 for an area including the site of Forge Mill in advance of a residential development. Occupation at the site for the purposes of manufacture appears to have originated with Crossledge (Crosslidge, Crosslatch) Forge. The date of construction for the forge is not known, but a Land Tax Return for Congleton confirms that it was in the ownership of Hugh Ford by 1768 until his death in 1814. The use of the site as a forge may have a considerable antiquity which pre-dates the post-medieval period, but this is conjecture.

The first reliable map evidence for the existance of the forge is the Moorhouse map of 1818 and the Greenwood map of 1819. The Moorhouse map shows the forge and its two pools. Swires’ and Hutchin’s map of 1830 and Bryant’s map of 1831 shows the road/track leading to the forge (and Swires and Hutchins also show a building at the end of the track which must be the forge). At some point the old forge was demolished and the ponds infilled. The site of the forge appears to be alongside Forge Lane, to the east, about 150m to the south of the entrance to the Forge Mill site. The Congleton Tithe Map of 1845 shows the site relating to Forge Mill now extending over five particular land parcels, all owned and occupied by Robert Thompson & Co. These include Forge Silk Factory & Premises (173), Eight Dwellings (174), Croft (172a), Garden (172) and Reservoir & Garden (175). The open area to the south of the mill was owned by Sir Charles Peter Shakerley, occupied by George Cookson and identified as Big Smithy Meadow and Shaws, suggesting that the field was named in association with the forge which once occupied the Site. Shaw can mean a thicket of woodland.

The Crosslach forge was offered for let in 1822, but the water-powered site does not appear to have attracted a tenant and in 1824 the site of the forge was offered for sale in the Macclesfield Courier. The site is again flagged as for sale, due to bankruptcy (of Messrs Thomas and Archibald Templeton), in the Macclesfield Courier in December 1840. In this note the 'capital silk spinning concern situated at the Forge' is listed as comprising 'two recently built spinning mills, six dwelling homes, smith's & joiner's shops, and other offices, two steam engines, one of 26 horse power and the other of 10 horse power, boilers, heavy gearing and fixtures.' Also, 'The principal mill is four stories high, 96 feet long by 30 feet wide and 46 feet high and being well supplie by a constant stream of excellent water..'.

The mill then had a succession of owners - Robert Thompson & Co, James and Joseph Holdforth and, from 1860, Peter Wild (of Wild & Bradwell). A plan of the silk mill was drawn up in 1865 by Charlton & Co. (solicitors), as part of sale particulars. It is well-executed and detailed and depicts the four-storey mill building divided into various rooms – Carding Room, Dressing Room, Doubling Room, Waste Room, Arch, Shop Chimney and Staircase. It is likely that the carding room was on the first floor, or higher and that the ground floor element of the eastern wing of the mill building was occupied by a steam engine. To the south of the mill is a range of warehouses, adjacent to which is a leat leading from/to the River Dane. To the west of the mill there a further range of buildings identified as an engine house, a boiler house and a boiling house beyond which is a shrubbery. This building complex was used to treat boiler water to soften it by removing mineral content and improving the efficiency and life-span of the machinery. A large rectangular pool lies to the south-west of the engine house and a culvert leads form the pool to the engine house. To the south-west of the pool there is a feature noted as Track of Water Pipes. To the north of the mill is a terrace of two-storey cottages, to which there leads a watercourse from the River Dane and to the east there is a garden. It is likely that the larger cottage to the south-western end of the terrace was occupied by the manager. Some hand annotation in pencil on the 1865 plan appears to suggest the presence of a building to the rear (east) of the Engine House from which a wall, or leat, or pipe extends to the north.

Forge Mill continued to spin silk into the mid twentieth century, notably parachute silk during World War II. Peter Wild continued to run the mill until 1952 when the firm downsized. From 1966 the main activity on site is recorded as engineering. A survey of the mill in 1973 by the Congleton History Society records the following 'much of the original mill has been demolished or drastically altered…'.

<5> L-P Archaeology, 2017, Archaeological Excavation Report: Forge Mill Congleton, R4096 (Client Report). SCH8406.

Following on from the desk-based assessment in 2016, an archaeological excavation was undertaken in 2016 and 2017 at Forge Mill to investigate the potential remains of the former silk mill. The results of this work have provided insights into the construction techniques employed in the buildings of the mill complex, also detail on the organisation of machinery in the mill Carding Room. Examination of the the gas tank provided information on the technology enabling its operation. Additionally the excavation of terraced cottages and associated outbuildings produced a small but interesting assemblage of domestic waste. The botanical and faunal remains suggest a higher status of living than expected with evidence for consumption of red deer, grapes and figs. The pottery assemblage has allowed for dating of features and deposits.