Description and History of Site:-
Around 1790 a very small cotton spinning mill was built by the beck above Cononley in Nethergill. The machinery was driven by a water wheel fed from a small mill pond.
In 1791 the rent for the mill was paid to the Wainman estate.

In the 1790's the cotton industry brought a welcome increase in wages which had a roll-on effect with agricultural wages doubling to between 2s and 2s 6d (10p and 12.5p) per day.
The mill would have supplied hand loom weavers both in Lancashire and locally. By the time this mill closed the cotton industry was in decline in Yorkshire but cotton spinning remained profitable in Lancashire and was supplying hand loom weavers there.
During the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-1815 Cononley hand loom weavers wove both worsted and cotton cloth. In the 1803 Muster Roll for Cononley, this being the record required to be kept showing the men available for military service, should Napoleons armies invade Britain, several cotton spinners were named who must have worked at this mill. They are Henry Harrison and Peter, Samuel and William Watson. The Watsons were the owners of the cotton mill in Nethergill.
Also named as cotton weavers were Thomas Binns and Holmes Hill. Insured by William Watson in 1796 for a total of £300, made up of £100 for the mill, £30 for the mill work, £140 for the mill machinery and £30 for the stock.
The mill was not registered under the Factory Act of 1802, probably due to the small mill not employing the 20 people and 3 apprentices required for registration.

In 1810 the equipment at the mill was advertised for sale in the Leeds Intelligencer as; To Be Sold on February 2nd at 1.00pm, one Throw, one Grindstone, one Picking Engine, one Pair of Vice, three Battling Flakes, one Drawing Frame, one Bobbing Fly Frame, five Carding Engines, one Wood Clock, three Mules with 120 spindles each.

Eventually the mill was converted into a house, known in 1891 as 'Old Mill Cottage'. By the early 1900's the name had changed to 'Gill Cottage'.

Further Reading and References:-
Ingle G Yorkshire Cotton 1997
The History of Cononley-An Airedale Village. Gulliver David, Hodgson Trevor, Kiln Hill 2000. p84, p88, p89
With thanks to David Gulliver of Cononley Local History Association for advising on the location of the old mill.

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Key Words :- textile mill water wheel powered cotton spinning

Address :- Cononley, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD20 8NT
Grid Ref :- SD 98681 46894
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.918187 , Long -2.021569
Local Authority :- Craven District Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Site refurbished to residential housing
Site Dates :- 1790 - 1810
Record Date :- 17 April 2018

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