The Old Woollen Mill, Holcombe Road, Helmshore, Lancashire

Photograph taken 14 October 1999 © Mr David H Swain ARPS. Source Historic England Archive ref: 185678

This mill was built by the Turner family in 1789. It was built as a woollen fulling mill. It was one of the first textile mills built in Lancashire during the Industrial Revolution. It led the way for Lancashire in the textile industry, first in wool and then in cotton.

Location

Lancashire Helmshore

Period

Georgian (1714 - 1836)

Themes

The machines to the right of this picture are carding machines. These used spiked drums in which the cotton was rotated. This process aligned the fibres, which were then placed in buckets as lengths or 'slivers'. The slivers were combined on a doubling frame, which is the machine that most of these women are working on.

The Old Woollen Mill, Holcombe Road, Helmshore, Lancashire

Location

Period

Themes

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