Description and History of Site:-
Colne Mill is a corruption of Corn Mill and the site was known in the 19th century as the Old Corn Mill. There appears to also have been a fulling mill on the site since Tudor times. According to a report by Mike Shaw in the Huddersfield Examiner, 3 December 1981, work on the mill dam in 1959 revealed an ancient pentrough and stone arch beneath the existing dam which was assumed to date from this earlier period. In 1828 there is reference to John Varley as the tenant of a scribbling, carding and slubbing mill 10 yards by 9 and 3 storeys high. A, new part had been added in the previous 3 years of 12 x 10 yards x 2 storeys along with a dyehouse. By 1834 Joseph Varley was undertaking cotton doubling with jennies powered by a 8hp water wheel employing 19 people. The mill was put up for sale in 1891 when it was described as being 3 storeys, with a weaving shed and powered by a horizontal steam engine made by Robert Taylor & Sons of Marsden. During the 20th century, the Beamont family onwed and operated the mill. In 1962 Joseph Beaumont was manufacturing tweeds and ladies' cloths, employing 3,150 spindles and 44 looms. They closed in 1979, making 75 workers redundant. The next owners, Kevard Textiles, caused controversy in 1981 by partially demolishing the oldest existing part of the mill complex, a two storey building dating to the 1790s. Destroyed by fire in 2013. Now (2017) the site of an Aldi supermarket. (Abridged from the Alan Brooke reference).

Further Reading and References:-
Alan Brooke. https://undergroundhistories.wordpress.com/mills-of-the-colne-valley/

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Key Words :- woollen mill textiles cotton water steam weaving

Address :- Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, HD7 5HE
Grid Ref :- SE 07889 13892
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.621510 , Long -1.882205
Local Authority :- Kirklees 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 :- 1820s -
Record Date :- 9 September 2017

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson