Description and History of Site:-
A traditional wooden bobbin manufacturer supplying the textile trade, producing bobbins and tubes of every type for cotton, worsted and silk cloth production. The company also produced Railway Keys and Treenails (an advert from 1876 claims), along with their patented drawer knobs. The company also operated as a timber merchant and operated a nearby large wood yard equipped with two cranes, located between Mill Lane and Queen Street. The company were also sole agents in Yorkshire and Lancashire for Norfolk's patent Drying Stoves for seasoning timber.

John Dixon and Sons were located in a former cotton, later worsted, mill building (see WYK00853) in the centre of the village of Steeton, near Keighley.
The bobbin mills power was provided by the engine manufacturer Pollit and Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge in 1921 and comprised of a Horizontal Tandem Compounded steam engine, consisting of a high pressure cylinder of 18 inches diameter (457mm) and a low pressure cylinder of 32 inches (812mm), both with a stroke of 48 inches (1219mm) and produced 400 i.h.p. This was coupled to a 16 foot diameter (4.8m) flywheel using three flat drive belts. The high pressure cylinder used Corliss valves whilst the low pressure one used slide valves. Control was achieved using a Whitehead governor. The condenser was a Pollit and Wigzell horizontal model located adjacent to the crank with drive from the cross-head. Steam was supplied at 120 p.s.i. by a Lancashire boiler. The engine reputedly replaced an earlier beam engine in the same engine house. Further information about the engine HERE: http://ellisdesign.jalbum.net/Stationary%20Engines%20-%201/Textile%20Mills/John%20Dixon/slides/05-69-09.html Company adverts claim the date of their founding as 1795 but the Dixon family moved from nearby Glusburn and established their bobbin mill at Steeton in 1844, converting the former textile mill into a woodworking factory. It is not known where the company operated between their 1795 founding and subsequent move to Steeton.
The company consisted of John Dixon (b.1795 -), William Dixon and Thomas. O. Dixon (- d.1874) and was a major employer within the village.
Dixon and Sons produced their wooden bobbins until cardboard and stiff paper tubes eventually replaced wood and in January 1983 the last traditional wooden bobbin maker in Yorkshire, some say the world, finally closed their doors.
After the mills demolition in 1985 the bell from the mills clock tower was moved to the village green where it still stands (2021) on display. The clock itself was relocated to the village school and is still in position on its gable end (2021).

Further Reading and References:-
History of Steeton, John Clough Jnr. 1886. pp50-51
Through the Mill, Ian Beesley, Dalesman Books 1987 p71
Keighley News 22 November 2012, Ian Dewhirst.
http://ellisdesign.jalbum.net/Stationary%20Engines%20-%201/Textile%20Mills/John%20Dixon/slides/05-69-09.html

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Key Words :- textile bobbins steam engine

Viewing the Site :- Public footpath alongside the site.

Address :- High Street, Steeton with Eastburn, Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire
Grid Ref :- SE 03295 44192
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.893895 , Long -1.951347
Local Authority :- City of Bradford
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to residential housing
Site Dates :- - 1985
Record Date :- 16 May 2021

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Andrew Garford