Textile Mills

The textile industry formed a crucial element of England’s economic base from the medieval period onwards, whilst the mechanisation of the production processes and the introduction of the factory-based system in the 18th and 19th centuries resulted in distinctive types of vernacular and industrial buildings, townscapes and landscapes across the country.

The commanding architecture of textile mills has become a key characteristic of industrial towns, imparting a powerful sense of place that in some cases has been enhanced by appropriate adaptation of redundant buildings for new uses, creatively adapting to the challenges that often need to be addressed when securing the long-term future of these monumental structures in a post-industrial age.