Mather Lane Mills

Mather Lane Mills was a complex of cotton mills built next to the Leigh arm of the Bridgewater Canal in BedfordSuburb of Leigh in Greater Manchester, one of the three ancient townships that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh., Leigh in Lancashire, England. The No 2 mill and its former warehouse are Grade II listed buildings.

The six-storey mill was designed by Bradshaw and Gass of Bolton and built in 1882. It is an important early design by the architects; its square plan, flat roof and partly internal engine house are unusual for its date. The mill has been converted for residential use. No 3 mill is now a business centre.

History

The Mather Lane Company was formed at a meeting in the Black Horse public house in Leigh. Thomas Smith, a self-educated man, was voted to the chair, and Richard Thomas Marsh became the company’s  managing director from its inception until 1920. The first mill’s working capital was £60,000 when it became operational in 1878. A second mill opened in 1883 and the third in 1891. In the 1920s the company was merged into Combined Egyptian Mills Ltd.^[1]

Architecture

The second Mather Lane Mill is a Grade II listed cotton spinning mill on the north bank of the Bridgewater Canal. It was built in 1882 to the designs of Bradshaw and Gass of Bolton and is notable for its severe classical elevations. It is an important early factory design by the architects and has features unusual for its date including a square plan, flat roof and its partly internal engine house. The mill has six storeys and a basement built in brick in English garden wall bond with panelled pilastersDecorative architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column, to articulate an extent of wall. at the corners. Three-storey carding sheds on the south side are parallel to the canal and set obliquely to main mill. Its engine house is on the north side and its tower at the north-west corner is panelled with moulded string courses. The tower rises above parapet level where there are large lunettes below a blind arcade of round-headed arches, parapet and it has a pyramidal roof.^[2]

The mill’s six by ten bays contain iron-framed windows. The east and west elevations have large windows with continuous central iron box columns rising through the first to fourth floors. The north and south elevations have single-light windows. Inside the ceilings are supported by iron girders on Tuscan columns.^[2]

Mill No 3, also known as Brooklands Mill, was constructed on the opposite (south) side of the Bridgewater Canal. It is of five storeys with a water tower, engine house and chimney. The mill was powered by a 1,200 h.p. cross-compound steam engine supplied by J & E Wood of Bolton.^[3] The mill is now a business centre occupied by several companies.

Warehouse

The mill’s former warehouse on the opposite side of Mather Lane is also grade II listed. It was built around 1882, probably also to designs by Bradshaw and Gass. It is a plain brick structure with three storeys overlooking the canal. It has hoists and taking-in bays on the front and canal elevations.^[4]