Description and History of Site:-
The site is now part of the Calderdale Council household waste disposal facility. The early mill described here was probably built over and the site considerably enlarged after 1827.
In 1793 the mill was water powered, but also had a pumping engine built by Booth & Co to return water to the mill dam to be recycled over the wheel.
In 1799 the old mill was three storeys and measured 54 feet by 27 feet and was driven by a water wheel. The new milll was five storeys and measured 89 feet by 31 feet within the walls and had a steam engine. The cotton spinning machinery consisted of 8 mules with 228 to 250 spindles each and 20 frames with 1,200 spindles. When the new mill was offered for sale in 1812 the 16 hp steam engine was said to be by Boulton & Watt. The site with the old mill was to let in 1793 when new buildings were still under construction. Potential tenants had to apply to William Mitchell & Co at the mill. Until 1797 the partnership consisted of Luke Staveley of Halifax, John Mitchell Jnr. from Ovenden, William Mitchell from Boothtown and William Whitfield from Northowram. The partnership was then dissolved and William Mitchell and William Whitfield continued.
The mill was for sale or to let again in 1812 when it might have been occupied by Thomas Smith as Crompton noted that he was running 2,500 mule spindles and 1,080 throstle spindles in 1811. G. Ingle
James Akroyd junior (1785-1836) established himself at Old Lane Old Mill (later known as Lee Bank Mills), following his withdrawal from the partnership of James Akroyd and Sons, worsted manufacturers in 1811, which had comprised his father, James Akroyd senior (1753-1830), himself, and his two brothers, Jonathan and Thomas, and operated from premises at Brookhouse, Bowling Dyke and Copley. James was an innovative manufacturer, keen to introduce new types of worsted cloth weaving into the Halifax area. Edward Baines records that James Akroyd was using power looms at Old Lane in 1822, and was also the first to introduce powered Jacquard weaving of worsteds there in March 1827. As his business grew, between 1825 and 1828, James Akroyd erected the six-storey fireproof Old Lane (new) Mill q.v., on a site immediately to the west of his existing premises utilising finance provided by the Halifax banking family of Rawson.
The owner of Old Lane Old Mill was William Henry Rawson whose business interests lay in woollen textile manufacture as well as banking; when Akroyd died in 1836, the next known occupant was James Heginbottom a cotton spinner and doubler, whose tenure ended in 1867 at the expiration of his lease from Rawson. Heginbottom appears to have occupied a six-storey mill running north-south, erected some years previously, and consequent upon his vacation, W.H. Rawson took the opportunity to add a second block, seven storeys high to the designs of Halifax architect Samuel Utley. By this date the premises had become known as Lee Bank Mills.
The next tenants were Messrs Bowman Brothers, cotton spinners and doublers. In 1882 a serious fire destroyed the top five storeys of the new mill, but the efficient action of several teams of fire-fighters prevented damage to the old mill. The new mill was soon rebuilt. Messrs. Bowman ceased business in 1945 and their interests passed into the hands of others; the buildings at Old Lane survived until the 1970s. P.W. Robinson

Further Reading and References:-
Ingle, G. Yorkshire cotton. Carnegie, 1997, p.148/9
E. Webster, 'Edward Akroyd (1810-1887) Also a Brief History of James Akroyd and Son', Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society, Halifax, 1987, pp. 19-22.
D.T. Jenkins, The West Riding Wool Textile Industry 1770-1835, A Study of Fixed Capital Formation, Pasold, Edlington, Wiltshire, 1975, p. 133.
Northowram Valuation 1837.
Various editions of the Halifax Courier and Halifax Guardian 1867, 1868, 1882 and 1945.

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Key Words :- textile mill cotton spinning woollens water steam

Viewing the Site :- Site visible from Old Lane and Lee Bank

Address :- Old Lane, Ovenden, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 6LY
Grid Ref :- SE 08646 26218
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.732285 , Long -1.870421
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 :- 1793 -
Record Date :- 3 August 2017

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © George Ingle