Tannery

This was an 18thC business run by the brothers Elias and Peter Lomas. It was located where Brook House is today, on Wellington Road. The mill was water powered. The process also uses a lot of water, and tanneries were notorious for polluting their local watercourses.

Peter Lomas went on to build the first Waterhouse mill on the site behind the tannery. It is not known whether they kept the tannery going once the cotton mill was running.

Turner Heath mill

This mill was located behind Turner Heath House, in Bollington Road, when Philip Antrobus lived there in the 1820s. Just a part of a wall remains. Little evidence has been found regarding its purpose, though it is possible that silk weaving was carried on there. Nothing is known of its history.

Home weaving

There are a number of cottages in Bollington that were clearly built with a garret (attic) floor to be used for home working, usually weaving. There are some examples in Water Street, as well as the cottages at the bottom of Beeston Brow. Silk weaving was carried on at cottages in Clarke Lane.

Fulling mill / Waulk mill

Fulling and waulking are processes applied to wool. This mill almost certainly pre-dates the cotton industry in Bollington. While there is evidence that there was a fulling mill in the valley of the river Dean, there is none to show where it was! The most likely location is somewhere up Ingersley Vale, near to the houses there which carry the name of Waulk Mill. There is a high probability that the two processes were carried out in the same or adjacent premises.

Neaves Hat factory

This was located in Higher mill, just one of the many businesses that have been located there over the years.

Radions Ltd

A technology business in the 1920s, Radions were based in Lowerhouse mill, and had space in Higher mill. See their page.

Acknowledgements

Our thanks go to those who researched and discovered the history that is presented in these pages. Please read the full acknowledgement of their remarkable achievement. Unless otherwise noted, the historical pictures are from the Civic Society picture collection at the  Discovery Centre  and also available online.

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