Description and History of Site:-
The site originally comprised a woollen scribbling and fulling mill driven by a water wheeel with a 14ft fall, fed from three reservoirs situated on adjoining property, supplemented prior to 1813 by a ten horse power steam engine. Three stone-built cottages and three brick-built cottages with weaving shops over, stood immediately to the west of the main mill buildings. After 1813 it was operated as a corn mill and a new corn mill added some time prior to 1865. Wharf mill was erected prior to 1803 by James Crossley as an adjunct to his existing business of woollen cloth manufacture, located next to his house at Lower Hollins in Warley where he had extensive warehouses, a press shop, dressing shops, a dyehouse and drying kiln. Following the death of James Crossley in 1806, the business passed to his three sons, Samuel and John, who remained in Warley, and William who ran the London end of the business. During 1810 the Crossley brothers were declared bankrupt, and during 1813 their trustees offered the Wharf mill for sale. It appears that the bulk of the mill site passed into the hands of John and William Crowther, corn millers and remained in their family's ownership until circa 1886, though by 1865 it had been sub-let to James Tonge and Sons who were operating both an old and a new corn mill at that time. In 1884 the mill was offered to let or lease, and in the following year its contents disposed of, the building being sold in 1886. The new owners, Messrs. Clay and Horsfall, worsted spinners, erected a new mill soon afterwards, powered by a Pollit and Wigzell horizontal tandem compound engine. Clay and Horsfall traded as an independent concern until 1961, when the death of James Reginald Clay (aged 90) led to a majority stake being taken in the business by the Tulketh Group, later forming part of the Halifax Spinners Training Group. The mill was demolished in 1981, and most of the site is now occupied by a car park.

Further Reading and References:-
West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale, SM:2-23
various trade directories and rating valuations
Leeds Mercury 9 October 1813, and Halifax Courier and Halifax Guardian newspapers.

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Key Words :- textiles woollen scribbling fulling weaving shops corn mill cotton worsted spinning

Viewing the Site :- The mill has been demolished and the site is occupied by a car park. The site of former cottages and weaving shops (SE 06336 23665) is occupied by Hammond's Landing.

Address :- Old Causeway, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX6 2AJ
Grid Ref :- SE 06374 23675
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.709461 , Long -1.904912
Local Authority :- Calderdale Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- Pre 1804 - 1981
Record Date :- 5 December 2016

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Peter Robinson