Queen Street Mill
Encyclopedia
Queen Street Mill is in Harle Syke
, a suburb to the north-east of Burnley
, Lancashire
. It was built in 1894 for The Queen Street Manufacturing Company. It closed on 12th March 1982 and was mothballed. It was taken over by Burnley Borough Council
who maintained it as a museum, and then in the 1990s passed to Lancashire Museums and is unique as the worlds only surviving steam driven weaving shed.Quarry Bank Mill. It received an Engineering Heritage Award
in November 2010. It is open for visitors and still does weaving demonstrations.
. It lies 22 miles (35 km) north of Manchester
and 26 miles (42 km) east of Preston. Harle Syke is on high ground to the south of the River Calder
near the M65
. The hamlet was built on grid-iron layout and housed seven cotton mills, or weaving sheds.
companies, Pemberton and Harling & Todd, and have not been replaced. The mill was originally equipped with 900 single shuttle Lancashire loom
s capable of producing grey cloth. When this was not enough, the company installed a further 366 looms at Primrose Mill, Harle Syke which was the room and power mill
immediately adjacent but slightly downhill. To the workers it was known as the bottom shed.
The completed cloth would be taken by horse and cart and train to finishers for bleaching and dyeing. Around 1910, the hauliers, ex-employees of the mill invested in two steam driven flat bed lorries. These were impounded in 1915 for war work, and horses briefly returned. In April 1913 quotes were sought from William Roberts to upgrade the engine which mainly included replacing the slide valve cylinders with more efficient Corliss valve cylinders. This work was carried out during the following Wakes Week
.
The financial structure of the company inhibited change, and the original equipment was not improved again or replaced but the company continued to weave when other firms had closed. Mains electricity was only introduced in 1947.
Harle Syke Strike 1915.
Weavers are paid by piecework, a good four loom weaver would be paid 24s a week slightly less than the tackler but not much. Harle Syke workers had always been paid slightly below the list; management explained that this was due to the additional carriage costs down to Burnley. In August 1915 there was a strike that lasted for several weeks triggered by this injustice. As Queen Street Mill was a workers co-operative, many workers were also shareholders and took a dividend from the profits of the mill, so they refused to join the strike. Leaflets were printed by the 'Weavers' Union' accusing them of scabbing and being 'Knobsticks'. It was resolved in December 1915 when the War Bonus came into effect and weavers were persuaded to see this as the rise they had wanted. Cotton Control was introduced in 1918 which led to a four day week.
The Fire 1918
There was a serious fire in October 1918, which did not affect the boilers or engine and the mill was operating again 10 days later, but the mill frontage was damaged and then rebuilt, though this time as a single storey building. While this was being done, looms were relocated at the bottom shed. Prudence,the engine was not damaged in the fire.After the fire the decision was taken to rename it Peace, in respect for the fallen soldiers.
The Museum 1983
By early 1982 the mill was only operating 440 looms and was no longer financially viable. It finally closed on 12th March 1982, and the mill was mothballed. The mill was rescued by Burnley Borough Council
in 1983. It was reopened in April 1986 as a working textile museum.
It passed to Lancashire County Council Museums Service
who carried out major refurbishments assisted by English Heritage
, the National Heritage Memorial Fund
and the European Regional Development Fund
. It re-opened again in 1997. The mill again produces cloth as a result of the demonstration, and the machinery is deemed a collection of national importance. It is opened to the public at least three afternoons a week between March and November.
As originally built the weaving shed was about 170 metres (557.7 ft)by 160 metres (524.9 ft), with the typical north facing roof lights (windows) giving natural light, the shed housed 990 looms. On the Queen Street side was the boiler room and engine house, and the four storey warehouse. The ground floor was the weft department, the first floor was offices, the cloth warehouse and temporary storage beams, the second floor was the winding and beaming department for beaming and drawing in, and the third floor was the preparation department for tape sizing. After the fire the ground floor of the frontage was rebuilt and used for winding and preparation, 100 looms were removed and part of the Harrison Street end of the shed became the new warehouse. Rowland Kippax who worked there however reported "there were now 1040 looms, there were nine tacklers looking after 130 looms each".
. The first was installed in 1894, and the second in 1901, when a 120 tube Greens Economiser was fitted. Now feed water is supplied by a Weir pump fitted in 1956, Both boilers were stoked manually, though secondhand Proctorautomatic stokers were fitted in 1962. Boiler No.1 had the Shovel type and the coking type were fitted to No.2 Today the manually stoked 1901 boiler is the only one used. Coal
was obtained locally from Bank Hall Pit but now with pollution controls being stricter it has to be imported. At its peak it burnt 6 tonnes a day, but now uses only 10 tonnes a month. The steam raised to 100psi in the boiler house, drives the original tandem compound horizontal stationary steam engine
. The high pressure cylinder (HP) is 16 inches (40.6 cm) and the low pressure (LP) 32 inches (81.3 cm). It uses Corliss valves. The engine drives a 14 feet (4.3 m) flywheel running at 68 rpm. The 500 hp engine was built and installed by William Roberts of Nelson in 1895.. It has never been moved from this location and runs perfectly true. Power is taken from the crankshaft by a series of directly driven line shaft
s.
The warp needs to be taken from a 300 bobbins on V-shaped frame and wound onto a beam. Four or five beams are merged to make the 2000 end beam that is needed, and they are placed in the Cylinder Tape Sizing Machine. The threads pass through the size to stiffen them and reduce friction. The size is a mixture of flour soft soap and tallow: specific to this mill. They are dried over steam-heated cylinders and wound onto the final beam, the weavers beam.
The weavers beam is now placed on the Drawing-in frame. Here each end is passed through the healds, and then through a reed. This job was done by a Reacher-in and a Loomer. The Reacher-in who would be young and usually a boy would pass each end in order to the Loomer. The mill still has two Drawing in frames. Alternatively, if the loom had already run that cloth, a short length of warp thread could be left on the healds and reed, and a Barber Colman knotter could tie in warp threads to the new beam. This process took 20 minutes, considerably faster than starting afresh. Spare healds and reeds are stored above head height for that purpose.
The loomed weavers beam would be taken into the weaving shed. One weaver would tenter 6, or 8 Lancashire Looms, which would be kept working by a Tackler. Today there are 308 looms from 1894 built by Pemberton, or Harling & Todd of Burnley. These would require 65–80 weavers and 3 tacklers. At its peak there were 990 looms. All of these are driven by overhead line shafts.
One of the commissions is a blue and white shirting that is sold exclusively to 'Old Town' of Holt, Norfolk, who produce Victorian workware. Another is weaving woollen Jewish prayer shawls. There is a large Hattersley Standard Loom
, and a treadle operated Hattersley Domestic Loom
. There is a Sulzer
, and a Saurer telescopic rapier loom that operates at 180 picks per minute. There is a collection of shuttles and machines used to make and maintain them. Also, there are machines for making reeds and healds.
Harle Syke
Harle Syke is a small village within the parish of Briercliffe, situated three miles north of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It was the home to eleven weaving firms, working out of seven mills. Queen Street Mill closed in 1982, and was converted to a textile museum, preserving it as a working mill...
, a suburb to the north-east of Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. It was built in 1894 for The Queen Street Manufacturing Company. It closed on 12th March 1982 and was mothballed. It was taken over by Burnley Borough Council
Burnley (borough)
Burnley is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a non-metropolitan district and borough. It has an area of and a population of , and is named for its largest town, Burnley. The borough is bounded by Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Rossendale — all in Lancashire...
who maintained it as a museum, and then in the 1990s passed to Lancashire Museums and is unique as the worlds only surviving steam driven weaving shed.Quarry Bank Mill. It received an Engineering Heritage Award
Engineering Heritage Awards
The Engineering Heritage Awards, formally known as the Engineering Heritage Hallmark Scheme, were established by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1984 to help recognise and promote engineering achievements, past and present...
in November 2010. It is open for visitors and still does weaving demonstrations.
Location
Queen Street Mill lies within Harle Syke, a suburb of Burnley, 4 km from the town centre, in the civil parish of Briercliffe with ExtwistleBriercliffe
Briercliffe is a civil parish in the borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Burnley....
. It lies 22 miles (35 km) north of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and 26 miles (42 km) east of Preston. Harle Syke is on high ground to the south of the River Calder
River Calder, Lancashire
The River Calder is a major tributary of the River Ribble, starting in Cliviger close to Burnley in Lancashire, England and is around 24 km / 15 miles in length. Its source is very close to that of the West Yorkshire river with the same name, and that of the River Irwell. It flows through...
near the M65
M65 motorway
The M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and ends at Colne.-History:...
. The hamlet was built on grid-iron layout and housed seven cotton mills, or weaving sheds.
History
The Queen Street Mill Manufacturing Company was established in 1894 as a workers co-operative. It was capitalised with ₤20000 in £5 shares. The first board of Directors was listed as Brierley Edmondson (weaver), William Kippax (weaver), George Lane (builder), John Nuttall (glazer), Thomas Pickles (foreman), John Taylor (weaver), Whitaker Whitaker (weaver), and James Corrin (Headteacher, Haggate School) who became the first company secretary. The company built the Queen Street Mill between 1894 and 1895. As money was scarce only one Lancashire boiler was installed, and it was six years before the second was bought. The weaving shed was single storey, and the mill frontage was three storey. All the looms were bought from BurnleyBurnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
companies, Pemberton and Harling & Todd, and have not been replaced. The mill was originally equipped with 900 single shuttle Lancashire loom
Lancashire Loom
The Lancashire Loom was a semi-automatic power loom invented by James Bullough and William Kenworthy in 1842. Although it is self-acting, it has to be stopped to recharge empty shuttles. It was the mainstay of the Lancashire cotton industry for a century....
s capable of producing grey cloth. When this was not enough, the company installed a further 366 looms at Primrose Mill, Harle Syke which was the room and power mill
Room and power mill
A room and power mill was a type of textile mill found in Lancashire region of England in the 19th century. Small businesses paid the owner rent for space for their machines, and power from the mill engine or waterwheel.-The System:...
immediately adjacent but slightly downhill. To the workers it was known as the bottom shed.
The completed cloth would be taken by horse and cart and train to finishers for bleaching and dyeing. Around 1910, the hauliers, ex-employees of the mill invested in two steam driven flat bed lorries. These were impounded in 1915 for war work, and horses briefly returned. In April 1913 quotes were sought from William Roberts to upgrade the engine which mainly included replacing the slide valve cylinders with more efficient Corliss valve cylinders. This work was carried out during the following Wakes Week
Wakes week
The wakes week is a holiday period in parts of England and Scotland.- History :Wakes were originally religious festivals that commemorated church dedications...
.
The financial structure of the company inhibited change, and the original equipment was not improved again or replaced but the company continued to weave when other firms had closed. Mains electricity was only introduced in 1947.
Harle Syke Strike 1915.
Weavers are paid by piecework, a good four loom weaver would be paid 24s a week slightly less than the tackler but not much. Harle Syke workers had always been paid slightly below the list; management explained that this was due to the additional carriage costs down to Burnley. In August 1915 there was a strike that lasted for several weeks triggered by this injustice. As Queen Street Mill was a workers co-operative, many workers were also shareholders and took a dividend from the profits of the mill, so they refused to join the strike. Leaflets were printed by the 'Weavers' Union' accusing them of scabbing and being 'Knobsticks'. It was resolved in December 1915 when the War Bonus came into effect and weavers were persuaded to see this as the rise they had wanted. Cotton Control was introduced in 1918 which led to a four day week.
The Fire 1918
There was a serious fire in October 1918, which did not affect the boilers or engine and the mill was operating again 10 days later, but the mill frontage was damaged and then rebuilt, though this time as a single storey building. While this was being done, looms were relocated at the bottom shed. Prudence,the engine was not damaged in the fire.After the fire the decision was taken to rename it Peace, in respect for the fallen soldiers.
The Museum 1983
By early 1982 the mill was only operating 440 looms and was no longer financially viable. It finally closed on 12th March 1982, and the mill was mothballed. The mill was rescued by Burnley Borough Council
Burnley (borough)
Burnley is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a non-metropolitan district and borough. It has an area of and a population of , and is named for its largest town, Burnley. The borough is bounded by Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Rossendale — all in Lancashire...
in 1983. It was reopened in April 1986 as a working textile museum.
It passed to Lancashire County Council Museums Service
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
who carried out major refurbishments assisted by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, the National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is a non-departmental public body set up under the National Heritage Act 1980 in memory of people who gave their lives for the United Kingdom....
and the European Regional Development Fund
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund is a fund allocated by the European Union.-History:During the 1960s, the European Commission occasionally tried to establish a regional fund. Only Italy ever supported this, however, and nothing came of it. Britain made it an issue for their accession in...
. It re-opened again in 1997. The mill again produces cloth as a result of the demonstration, and the machinery is deemed a collection of national importance. It is opened to the public at least three afternoons a week between March and November.
Architecture
The mill was of four storey construction, with a large single storey weaving shed. After the fire in 1918 it was remodelled into a single storey building, space being taken from the weaving sheds for a new preparation area. On closure in 1982 it was reconfigured by Burnley Council, the weaving shed was partitioned, about a third being used for rentable industrial units, and a similar area being used for visitor facilities. The 37 metres (121.4 ft) chimney and the 60m X 25m lodge lay to the south. The boiler house, the engine house and chimney are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.As originally built the weaving shed was about 170 metres (557.7 ft)by 160 metres (524.9 ft), with the typical north facing roof lights (windows) giving natural light, the shed housed 990 looms. On the Queen Street side was the boiler room and engine house, and the four storey warehouse. The ground floor was the weft department, the first floor was offices, the cloth warehouse and temporary storage beams, the second floor was the winding and beaming department for beaming and drawing in, and the third floor was the preparation department for tape sizing. After the fire the ground floor of the frontage was rebuilt and used for winding and preparation, 100 looms were removed and part of the Harrison Street end of the shed became the new warehouse. Rowland Kippax who worked there however reported "there were now 1040 looms, there were nine tacklers looking after 130 looms each".
Power
Steam is raised by two Lancashire boilers built by Tinker, Shenton & Co, HydeHyde
- Fiction :*Mr Hyde, character in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson*Mister Hyde , Marvel Comics supervillain*Steven Hyde, a character in the U.S...
. The first was installed in 1894, and the second in 1901, when a 120 tube Greens Economiser was fitted. Now feed water is supplied by a Weir pump fitted in 1956, Both boilers were stoked manually, though secondhand Proctorautomatic stokers were fitted in 1962. Boiler No.1 had the Shovel type and the coking type were fitted to No.2 Today the manually stoked 1901 boiler is the only one used. Coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
was obtained locally from Bank Hall Pit but now with pollution controls being stricter it has to be imported. At its peak it burnt 6 tonnes a day, but now uses only 10 tonnes a month. The steam raised to 100psi in the boiler house, drives the original tandem compound horizontal stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or...
. The high pressure cylinder (HP) is 16 inches (40.6 cm) and the low pressure (LP) 32 inches (81.3 cm). It uses Corliss valves. The engine drives a 14 feet (4.3 m) flywheel running at 68 rpm. The 500 hp engine was built and installed by William Roberts of Nelson in 1895.. It has never been moved from this location and runs perfectly true. Power is taken from the crankshaft by a series of directly driven line shaft
Line shaft
A line shaft is a power transmission system used extensively during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to each piece of machinery, line shafting was used to distribute power from a large central power source to machinery...
s.
Equipment
The glory of this mill is its completeness. When yarn enters a weaving mill, it is on different size cops and cheeses, and these had to be wound onto pirns to fit in the shuttles used by the looms installed. The equipment is here and used. For the weft, there are two remaining banks of pirn winders manned by one operative.The warp needs to be taken from a 300 bobbins on V-shaped frame and wound onto a beam. Four or five beams are merged to make the 2000 end beam that is needed, and they are placed in the Cylinder Tape Sizing Machine. The threads pass through the size to stiffen them and reduce friction. The size is a mixture of flour soft soap and tallow: specific to this mill. They are dried over steam-heated cylinders and wound onto the final beam, the weavers beam.
The weavers beam is now placed on the Drawing-in frame. Here each end is passed through the healds, and then through a reed. This job was done by a Reacher-in and a Loomer. The Reacher-in who would be young and usually a boy would pass each end in order to the Loomer. The mill still has two Drawing in frames. Alternatively, if the loom had already run that cloth, a short length of warp thread could be left on the healds and reed, and a Barber Colman knotter could tie in warp threads to the new beam. This process took 20 minutes, considerably faster than starting afresh. Spare healds and reeds are stored above head height for that purpose.
The loomed weavers beam would be taken into the weaving shed. One weaver would tenter 6, or 8 Lancashire Looms, which would be kept working by a Tackler. Today there are 308 looms from 1894 built by Pemberton, or Harling & Todd of Burnley. These would require 65–80 weavers and 3 tacklers. At its peak there were 990 looms. All of these are driven by overhead line shafts.
Museum Exhibits
In addition to the original machines, Lancashire museum also displays other textile machines that the own or are restoring and weaves some specialist commissions.One of the commissions is a blue and white shirting that is sold exclusively to 'Old Town' of Holt, Norfolk, who produce Victorian workware. Another is weaving woollen Jewish prayer shawls. There is a large Hattersley Standard Loom
Geo. Hattersley
Geo. Hattersley was a textile machinery manufacturer from Keighley, West Yorkshire in England, founded in 1789 and responsible for the Hattersley Standard Loom and other types of loom.- History:...
, and a treadle operated Hattersley Domestic Loom
Geo. Hattersley
Geo. Hattersley was a textile machinery manufacturer from Keighley, West Yorkshire in England, founded in 1789 and responsible for the Hattersley Standard Loom and other types of loom.- History:...
. There is a Sulzer
Sulzer (manufacturer)
Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly owned company with international subsidiaries...
, and a Saurer telescopic rapier loom that operates at 180 picks per minute. There is a collection of shuttles and machines used to make and maintain them. Also, there are machines for making reeds and healds.
Notable events/media
The weaving shed was used in a scene in the 2011 film The King's speech.See also
- Textile manufacturingTextile manufacturingTextile manufacturing is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth...
- Cotton MillCotton millA cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....