Most of the first mills built in Keighley were built for the production of cotton. By 1878 there were 70 mills in Keighley but as late as 1847 Hope and Cabbage Mills were still spinning cotton.
Even back then woman were making their way, Ann Illingworth, Miss Rachael Leach, and Mrs. Betty Hudson built and operated textile mills.

Butterworth Panic 1826. We have been unable to find very much on this subject, but what we have ascertained is that the banking problems we have seen of late are not new. The Bradford Woolcombers strike and the attitude of Keighley manufactures to  Union workers brought financial disaster. The Financial collapse of Butterworth's had a devastating effect on Keighley. More than sixty banks stopped payments. Messers. Butterworths were the first to go under, hence the description Butterworth Panic.
The Ropers of Damems Mill  went from rags to riches. Thomas Parker of Dam Side Mill was in debt to the tune of £1380.16s. Thomas Corlass went one morning to his Hope Mill and asked the engine tenter to rake out the fire and stop the engine. Ian Dewhirst tells us that one bankrupt said " I went into business with £700 in good money and now after struggling hard for a number of years I am a ruined man". William Wilkinson who built a worsted  mill in South Street lost £14000.00 and died in the workhouse.

MILLS
Acres Mill King Street. Built by Berry Smith. Started life as a machine shop, Berry Smith converted it. Hartley Merrall haworth-village.org.uk

Thanks to Allan Smith for the photo

Airworth Mills, (nicked named screw mill) rebuilt in 1808 Financed by Samuel Blakey.  John Greenwood was one of many that took rooms here. John later moved to Cabbage Croft. H Clapham & Son

Bank place  William Lund,

Beckstones Mill

Brandy mill 1832  William Robinson took on the mill which was somewhere in the Greengate area. In 1842 he moved to Strong Close Mill

Bridgehouse Mill, Haworth.

Browend Mill, Goose Eye. J Brigg

Calversyke Mill.
Briggs Sold to Joseph King 1893

Cabbage Mill. Cabbage Croft, Long Croft

1

2

Photo 1 Sketch of Cabbage Mill Photos 2 and 3 very kindly provided by Allan Smith, 2 shows the mill as the area is being demolished, 3 the top of Longcroft, Cabbage on the right and you can just see the Yellow signs of Morrison's and the left

Craven Mills Trip about 1960

Built by Rachel Leech sister of Thomas who lived at West Riddlesden Hall, the mill was named after the Manager. The original mill and house was pulled down and a new splendid mill built by David Cowling and for a time was known as Cowling Mill, later it was sold to Clayton of Low Mill. thecravenimage.co.uk it had a look out tower built round it's chimney. Miss Leach got into dispute with Low Mill over the diversion of the water

Dam Side  Betty Hudson built a small mill which was replaced in 1802 by a larger mill, A plaque on the mill gave the date  1789, original built for cotton, but later changed over to worsted. Betty's daughter married Thomas Parker who managed the mill for her until 1806.Parker had a cotton mill at Arncliffe, where he lived. When Betty went to live with her daughter John Greenwood took over the running of the mill along with William and Lister Ellis. The mill later became known as the the Barracks, it was turned into cottages to house mill workers who were mostly hand combers in the employment of Greenwood who now owned the building.


Damems mill  Built by the Ropers. They might have been another mill here before this one, the railways station was built in 1847 to serve the mill, it once had its own sidings.  The Ropers went to the wall in 1817 one of four mills owned by the  Wright Brothers, the mill came in to the hands of the Greenwoods. William Haggas used the mill until 1868 while he was waiting for his new mill near Crossroads. 

Eastwood Mill, owned by Ickringill of Balcony House, Oakworth Rd.  He had his own brass band. When the mill caught fire in 1956, it was owned by Robert C Franklin. Eight workers died in the fire, their escape thwarted by a locked door at the bottom of the fire escape. thisisbradford.co.uk It was this disaster that resulted in the Factories Act being further amended in 1959 giving the fire brigades the power to inspect factories for fire safety, finally in 1961 the Act was re-written to consolidate all the changes. The fire certificates were also updated to include not only means of escape but also provision for fighting fire and structural fire separation.
4th June 1889 An inquest was held at The Queen's Hotel, Keighley on the death of Alfred LUMMIS a yarn scourer, who died from injuries received at Eastwood Mills
Ebor Mill, Haworth.
  Hiram Craven sold to Edwin Merrall. Photo haworth-village.org.uk
keighley.plus.com

Fleece Mills, 

	This photo shows the entrance from Cavendish Street. Photos provided by Allen Smith Keighley's biggest mill built 1820 by William Sugden, boasting gas lighting and it's own fire engine. Mr J W Midgley, spinner, Fleece Mills, Keighley has sent a big parcel of wool weighing 10lbs. to be a knitted by the schoolchildren into comforts for soldiers haworth-village.org.uk  Mr Foulds was a director of the Keighley Fleece Mills Co Ltd for 44 years, from 1885, and chairman for 39 years until his death in 1929. Mr. Charles Coulton Wrathall of Langdale, Thornhill Road, Steeton He was for several years in business on his own account at Fleece Mills, Keighley.

Fell lane mill  Joshua Robinson, (this might have been Holme Mill)

Griffe Mill, Stanbury. Built by William for cotton weaving. Hollings. Hollings & Ross in one half, Thomas Lister the other half. Photo haworth-village.org.uk Built in the early 19th century, closed in 1929. A cobbled road now under feet of soil used to lead down from the Stanbury side, a rough  track then went up to the Oldfield side, in the time of the mill there was a way to avoid the hills down in the valley, now a foot path that pretty much follows the river. I seem to remember someone telling me years ago that the road was called Clay Lane or Road. 

Guard house (see Calversyke Mill) John Brigg,

Goose Eye Mill
John Bottomley of Holme House, Richard Shackleton of Green Top and Thomas Shackleton of Truewell Hole, ( was later to be called hall, but was never a hall)



keighley.plus.com

Greengate Thos Thompson .

Greengate Mill: Benjamin Marriner  & William Heald Yarn Makers

Greengate Mill (far) 1784 Rowland Watson, Abraham Smith, Joseph Blakey, John Blakey and James Greenwood spinning cotton.

Greengate Mill (west) The land it was built on belonged to John Blakley who sold the land to Stell in 1761. The field was called Dam Close. Abraham Smith from Kildwick bought it plus land on the south of the beck from a Mr. Booth. It was this land on the south that Marriner built his house. William Marriner married Ann Flesher in 1792, Ann was the Niece of Abraham who had left the mill to his wife, on his wife's death the mill went to Ann, so Marriner was now a partner here too. John Blakey and Lister Ellis had partnerships and sold to Marriners.

Greengate Mill (East) Built by John Craven of Guardhouse 1791 on land bought from the Crown which had once belonged to Stell. John died in 1808 and he left the mill to is daughter and her husband William Corlass. Later A & J Hey and then Thomas Iveson who was succeeded by J Mitchell who married a daughter of John Craven. 

Grove Mill, Ingrow.

Built by Ann Illingworth 1797, mother of the Illingworths in partnership with Marriner, and rented to John & Robert Clough in 1822,  who refitted the mill for worsted spinning, and built a warehouse and a dwelling for himself on the mill site.  later  Illingworth sold to Robert  Clough  in 1831 John Clough lived at the mill house. Photo keighley.plus.com  Fire Photos Keighley.plus.com  msnusers.com The original Grove Mills was built between 1794 and 1797 for William Illingworth and William Marriner as a cotton spinning mill.  A new mill was built on the site in 1836, still using the same water power as the original mill. Power looms were later installed.

Hattersley's George. Loom Makers (for silk, worsted, cotton & flax)  hattersley.co.uk  thisisbradford.co.uk

Taken from the Keighley News Outbreak of war ended strike By Ian Dewhirst This graphic illustration of workers at loom-makers and ironfounders Messrs George Hattersley and Sons Ltd has been supplied by Mr. Ronnie Shuttleworth, of Fell Lane, Keighley, whose father and uncle, William and Albert Shuttleworth, are in the group. He thinks the date would be about 1912. The notice on the door reads: "Applicants for employment in this establishment should apply to the Board of Trade Labour Exchange". Workmen like these were soon to become involved in the long and bitter Keighley engineers' strike, which lasted for more than three months in the summer of 1914 and was only ended by the outbreak of the Great War.

George Hattersley and Sons managed to keep a fairly low profile in the press coverage of the strike, issuing a statement that May explaining that they were "not members of any Masters' Federation and shall only deal direct with our own strikers. A large majority of our men have intimated to us that they have no grievance and are anxious to resume work. If they do so they may feel assured of our support." However, as two months later their windows at North Brook Works and Cabbage Mills were among those of several firms to be broken by strikers, this seems to have suggested a rosy view of the situation.

Newsholme Higher and Newsholme Lower Mills. Robert Hall of Church Farm. When  Newsholme Higher Mill closed.  later it was to be used for the manufacture of bobbins — hence the popular name of the Bobbin Mill.

Hey gardens, Butterfield Brothers,( Frederick & Henry Isaac) Henry Isaac Butterfield who lived at Cliff Castle was one of the brothers.

Higher Providence Mill, Oakworth. Bought by James Haggas for his sons, William and John. 1825,  sold  to Hiram Craven.who went into partnership with William Sugden.   James Mitchell had it for a few years until it was bought by George Hattersley and Sons in around 1860. Only the chimney remains.

Holme Mill built in 1816 by Thomas Binns

Holme Mills has been making paper tubes since 1892, when John Stell moved his Keighley business into this "substantially-built worsted mill, with very valuable water power" beside the North Beck.
A disastrous fire  described as "the most spectacular blaze in the district for many years" occurred early in 1945

Holme House Mill Richard Horsfall. W Lund

Hope Mill, South Street. Built on the Greengate estate and was one of the first steam powered cotton mills to be built in Keighley by Thomas & John Corlass in 1800. J Mitchell of Eastwood Square for worsted spinning. Later bought by Thomas and John Carlass who rebuilt the mill.  1851 John Feather. Then bought by B Bedford.

Hope st James Cousin ,

Hollings Mill, Haworth. Merrall's. Mrs Merrall ( mother of the Merrall Brothers) lived at Low Hollings. Now a dwelling.

Holme mill  Mills & Hargreaves

Holme Mill, Lower, Bobbin Mill


Ingrow Corn Mill. dates from around the early 1800's. The mill was later extended and a chimney added in 1841, the chimney was pulled down in 1918. There has been a building on the site since 1612, one of the first in Ingrow, has gradually been surrounded by housing.  Lodge Calvert a joiner was using the mill, he changed over to spinning. Gutted by fire 1998. 

Ingrow Low Mill
Manufactured paper. This small paper mill was demolished and replaced probably in the 1860s by Ingrow Mills, a worsted mill.

Ingrow mill John Clough ,

King street  Berry Smith ,

Knowles Mill, South Street (formerly Heatons of Keighley)

Lees Syke Mill, (Merralls) Cross Roads. Photo of fire haworth-village.org.uk

Lower Holme Mill. Later called the Bobbin Mill


Lower Providence Mills, Oakworth. Built in 1806,  by Mr. Leach, for John Sugden and James Hey.  Later known as Jonas Sugden and Ross. Jonas was a  Methodist preacher Bought by George Hattersley and Sons shortly after Higher Providence Mill. Demolished 1984 apart from the chimney and cottages.

Low mill

Building started by Thomas Ramsden of Halifax and completed by Clayton and Walshman from Lancashire 1780, the land belonging to the Cavendish family. Claytons built a new mill in 1789. Clayton William & Son Cotton Spinners. John Craven bought the freehold. Clayton lived in a house here at Low Mill where he died in 1827. By 1788 there was a warehouse and a steam engine which was used to pump water back into the dam. By the early 19th century  Low Mill House which  housed the mill master,  overlooked extensive gardens. In 1829 the three private fire engines serving Low Mill were made available for public use, with a fire bell fitted at the mill in 1846. Low Mill was bought by John Craven c.1840 and converted to worsted manufacture,  sheds and warehousing were added thereafter.

Low Bridge Mill
Photo taken from  brad.ac.uk Built by James Fox around 1800, about 1810 taken over by John Ellison who  took over the Crown Hotel. Look for the three carved stone heads built into the chimney. malcolmhanson.co.uk

Low Street Mill (now EMU)

keighley.plus.com

Lumb Foot Mill, Stanbury. Wright Brothers. James Wright lived at The Whins. Now in ruins.

Marriner's Mill at Greengates  Mariner B. & W.  had it's own brass band which was formed in the 1840's. Edward D.A. Marriner of Greengates Mill, Keighley - magistrate, councillor and, in 1885, Mayor of Keighley. There was a family feud between Benjamin's two sons, Edward & William, which led to a division of the mill Marriners' Yarns

Mytholmes Mill, Oakworth. Merralls.

North Brook Mill, Beck Street 1782 John Greenwood Cotton spinning by water power, the original mill was only small about he size of four cottages. Hattersley bought the mill around 1800.
1854 A young man named* James Smith, residing at Keighley, has met with an Appalling Death. He had been an apprentice with Messrs. Hattersley, machine- makers of Keighley, but had latterly been leading an idle life and wandering about the country. Being destitute and without lodgings, he lay down to sleep between two limekilns. One of them was partly empty, but still emitted a sulphurous stench and smoke, and the other was burning and rod. At two o'clock a person, passing by saw the youth near the empty pit, and having warned him of his danger passed on. Another person, named Wakefield, approached the kiln about half-past six o'clock, and found the body on the top of the burning lime. He immediately aroused a workman who resided hard by, and the remains were drawn off with an iron drag! The legs and bowels were entirely consumed, the flesh burnt" from the ribs, the eyes from their sockets, the hair and scalp from the skull, and the arm upon which he had fallen was entirely gone. A mass of charred and blackened matter alone remained, scarcely distinguishable as the vestiges of a human being. It is supposed that he had been partly suffocated by the fumes issuing from the nearly empty kiln, and that when rolling over in half unconscious agony he had dropped into the one adjoining. His cap lay upon the brink, and from that alone his name and occupation have been traced.

Oakworth Mill. (Lane Ends Mills) Oakworth. Built by James Mitchell 1837  bought by James Haggas in 1860

Plumpers Mill, South Street. Four stories high, built by Mr. Wilkinson, Bairstows Corn Mill was later built here.

Ponden Mill, Stanbury
Robert Heaton of Ponden Hall. Ponden Band was around in 1854. They played at the celebrations in Haworth at the end of the Crimean war.

Prince-Smith & Stells Silver Band (Keighley) Active in the 1950s
March 7 Joseph BATESON a young man of Close Street was seriously burned while engaged in japanning at Prince Smith and Sons, Keighley

Prospect Mill

One of four mills owned by the  Wright Brothers. 1920 Messrs Hey and Co at Keighley Parish Feast, they treated their employees to a nine-day tour of the Great War battlefields in Belgium and France in a charabanc.

Providence Mill viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk

Rag Mill (Paper Mill) at Goose Eye


Sandywood Mill Once a house owned by John Oldridge then converted in to a mill, which reverted back to a house in the early 1800's. It had been used for the Bowling Green Club and also a ladies boarding school, it stood in a very fashionable part of town.

Springfield Mill Oakworth Road.  Built in 1870s by  James Collingham, bought in 1879  by  Messrs Smith and McLaren.  When Walter SB McLaren withdrew from the partnership, Sir Swire Smith carried the business. Wolseys' hosiery manufacturer Wolsey Ltd  until the 1960s, then Johns Craft, and now used by the  Keighley Furniture Project    ngfl.ac.uk  dobsongasket.com

Spring head  Bailey Thomas, Worsted Spinners. W Haggas

Spring Head Mill, Oakworth Joseph Greenwood after his death taken over by Mr. Merrall

Strong Close


Stubbing house, Screw Mill (also known as Airworth, but Airworth might have been a differnt building), Built by Samuel Blakey 1787. 

Turkey Mill Goose Eye.
Paper mill established in 1797,  originally water powered cotton mill. In 1822 John Town took over the Turkey Mill. paper production ceased in 1932 and the mill became used for worsted manufacture.
On Saturday morning, two boys, chimney-sweepers, were engaged, to sweep the flues, in the Turkey Paper Mill, near Keighley. One of the boys, named Henry (unreadable) Ja??son, proceeded to clear them of their contents, but after staying a considerable time longer than was necessary, and, after being repeatedly called, the other boy went in search of him, but had not proceeded far before he was obliged to retire with nearly the loss of his life.
After being three hours in the flue, the unfortunate boy was extricated a corpse, from suffocation. The little sufferer was fourteen years of age. He retold a few days before his death, most affecting narrative of his adventures; he said his father was a stone mason, in comfortable circumstance's, but apprenticed him to a chimney sweeper a few years ago. His master disposed of him to Peter Hall, of Keighley, who, he said, used him most inhumanely, often beating him, and allowing him nothing but the soot bags to lie upon


Vale Mill, Oakworth. Built around 1785 by James Greenwood he was employing orphaned girls from as young as five, assigned to him from the Foundling Hospital in London.
Bought by Jonas Sugden in 1844.
The mill was owned for many years by Rouse Bros. of Halifax. Dances held in the canteen were  popular.

Walkers Mill (Old Fulling) Was replaced by Walk Mill

Walk Mill, The Walk
Was   owned by Stell but taken by the Crown and sold in 1776 to John Craven.  Baines's Directory and Gazetteer Directory of 1822 Craven & Briggs. 
Grade II listed building laying  virtually empty for over a decade. Since its last days as a working mill, a handful of  companies, including architects, printers and widget assemblers, have rented space there. 

Wire Mill, Ingrow. Built around 1780 by John Walker.

Wood mill, Laycock, John Shackleton sold in 1810  . Thomas Waterhouse,

************

* The following is extracted from the Returns sent in 1834 to the Factory Inspectors, hut Returns do not seem to have been sent from all the mills in Keighley.

Mill occupied by Berry & Smith, built in 1810, 20 horse power in 1834; by by N. Constantino, built in 1811, 18 horse power; by Calvert & Clapham, built in 1813, 20 horse power; by Richard Robinson, erected about 1817, 5 horse power; by Benjamin and William Marriner, applied to worsted in 1818, 30 horse power; by William Sugden, (Fleece Mill,) built in 1820, 42 horse power; by William Sugden, (Damems) applied to worsted in 1824, 14 horse power; by Lund & Sugden, built in 1824, 12 horse power; by David Illiugworth, applied to worsted in 1828, 10 horse power; by William Lund, built in 1830, ^power not stated;) by William Smith & Sons, built in 1830, 16 horse power; by Thomas Waterhousc, built in 1831, 5 horse power; by Hartley & Merrall (date not stated) 20 horse power.

showing that the business, growing as it was, had become concentrated in fewer hands; 17 of these mills were used for spinning ; 14 for spinning and weaving ; and 8 for weaving only. The 17 mills for spinning were worked by 230 horse power (of which 149 consisted of steam and 81 of water) turning 28,642 spindles and employing 1,013 hands; the 14 mills for spinning and weaving possessed 322 horse power, (198 steam, and 124 water,) working 27,844 spindles, 1,484 looms, and employing 2,581 hands; and the 8 weaving factories had 61 steam power and 18 water (together 79) with 835 looms and 863 hands. Owing to the absurd restriction before noticed under the head of Halifax, the number of mills, the amount of horse power, and number of hands at present employed in Keighley, cannot be ascertained, else there is no doubt a great growth would be observed.

Keighley stands proudly distinguished among the towns of the worsted district; for in all seasons, even when trade in other stuff-producing localities has been at a very low ebb, the manufacturers here, as a body, may be said to have pursued the even tenor of their way. Hence the workpeople have been well employed, and with two or three trifling exceptions, mainly arising from the two-loom system, there have been no strikes or turnouts among them.

Most of goods manufactured in the parish are plain Orleans and cobourgs. The fancy department is not much cultivated here; a few 'drawboys,' once so wide-famed, are still made in the parish; but the thoughts of the bulk of the manufacturers of Keighley are steadily fixed on producing a good marketable piece at the lowest price. A considerable quantity of worsted yarn is also spun here for export.*

WAGES OF WOOL-COMBERS.—We understand that the master- manufacturers of Keighley have reduced the wages of their wool- combers one farthing per Ib., with the understanding that they shall be advanced again as soon as any perceptible improvement in trade will justify such a step. The prices of weaving were also reduced at the same time from 6d. to 3d. per cut. We are sorry that the manufacturers should have thought it necessary or advisable to reduce the wages of their servants, because a reduction even to this small extent inflicts a hardship upon the poor weaver or comber ranch greater than the advantage derived by the consumer, or even the manufacturer himself; and the demand for goods is seldom increased by the fall in prices,-— Leeds Intelligencer.  

The worsted manufacture is carried on extensively, and there are two establishments for cotton spinning, one erected about 1780, by the celebrated Sir Richard Arkwright, father of the cotton trade. A great part of the machinery used in the factories, is made in the town; and there are two paper mills, and several large corn mills. The worsted stuffs of the place are chiefly sent to the Bradford market, and are forwarded by the merchants to their various destinations. (taken from  The Annals of Yorkshire from the Earliest Period to the Present Time)  

Martis, 2 die Martii; Anno 11° Georgii IV ti Regis, 1830.From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 85: 2 March 1830', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 85: 1830, pp. 118-124.  
Petitions against Renewal of East India Charter.
A Petition of Ironmasters, proprietors of the principal ironworks in Shropshire;-and, of Land-owners, Clergy, Merchants, Manufacturers and other Inhabitants of Keighley, in the west riding of the county of York,-were presented, and read; praying, That the House will be pleased to take into its most serious consideration the propriety of altogether removing the restrictions which, by virtue of the Charter of the East India Company, are operating to the injury of the general trade of the country.From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 85: 2 March 1830', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 85: 1830, pp. 118-124. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16186&strquery=mill keighley 

Mill Life oxenhope.webspace.fish.co.uk

Weaving maggieblanck.com What life was like before and during the industrial revolution.

Life on a hill farm oxenhope.webspace.fish.co.uk

Other Industries

Albert Steele: Stanbury's New Laithe Reservoir, navvy thisisbradford.co.uk

Speak's Work Wear


Keighley Gas Works

Happy days of good horses and good pals From: Frank H Yardley, Queens Road, Ingrow, Keighley.

George Green (Foundry Engineers) Ltd

Shoemakers, Bootmakers,

Cobblers and related occupations 1851

Keighley National Shell Factory in Dalton Lane thisisbradford.co.uk

Life maggieblanck.com An over view of life and trades.

Keighley's coal mining industry.
Mines were worked in the area for at least five centuries with the last one closing in 1932. There is a book called Keighley Coal Written by Mike Gill  thisisbradford.co.uk  Stanbury Coal and Lead Mine
For centuries coal had been mined on the Morton side of the River Aire. Seventeenth century records describe the mining of coal on the East Riddlesden estate by the Murgatroyds and, as late as the nineteen twenties the Brigg family were mining at Morton Banks. The Starkies took little interest in their Keighley property and Leach may also have obtained the lease to the East Riddlesden coal mines which his family had later.

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