Century Mill, Farnworth

Century Mill

The mill before 1951
Location in Greater Manchester
Cotton
Spinning (ring mill)
Location	Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, England
Further ownership	Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930s) Courtaulds (1964)
Coordinates	53.5454°N 2.4112°W / 53.5454; -2.4112
Power
Date	1902
Engine maker	Hick Hargraves & Co. Ltd.
Engine type	Cross compound
Valve Gear	Corliss
rpm	59
Installed horse power (ihp)	1500
Flywheel diameter	27ft
No. of ropes	45
Boiler configuration
Pressure	190
Ring Frames path	40's counts
References

Century Mill, Farnworth is a former cotton spinning mill in Farnworth, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England which was built in the early 20th century for ring spinning. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964. The 6,674.00-square-metre (71,838.3 sq ft) building is still in use for various other purposes in 2016.

History

Century mill was built early in the 20th century, spinning 40's counts on ring frames for general-purpose work.

The cotton industry peaked in 1912 when it produced 8 billion yards of cloth. The Great War of 1914–1918 halted the supply of raw cotton, and the British government encouraged its colonies to build mills to spin and weave cotton. The war over, Lancashire never regained its markets and the independent mills were struggling. The Bank of England set up the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 to attempt to rationalise and save the industry. Century Mill, Farnworth was one of 104 mills bought by the LCC, and one of the 53 mills that survived through to 1950. In 2016 it was still standing and in use for non-textile purposes. Century Mill was under demolition during 2023 and 2024 to make way for a new housing estate. By October 2024 the landmark chimney was the only part of the mill remaining, however this was finally demolished by November 2024.

Architecture

Power

The mill had a 1500 hp cross compound engine by Hick, Hargreaves & Co. Ltd. built in 1902 which operated at 190psi. The cylinders were 26"HP, 54"LP on a 5 ft (1.5 m) stroke. The 27 ft (8.2 m) flywheel drove 45 ropes at 59rpm.

Equipment

• Ring frames

Owners

• Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930s–1964)
• Courtaulds (1964–

See also

• Textile manufacturing

Bibliography

• Dunkerley, Philip (2009). "Dunkerley-Tuson Family Website, The Regent Cotton Mill, Failsworth". Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
• LCC (1951). The mills and organisation of the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Limited. Blackfriars House, Manchester: Lancashire Cotton Corporation Limited.
• Roberts, A S (1921), "Arthur Robert's Engine List", Arthur Roberts Black Book., One guy from Barlick-Book Transcription, archived from the original on 23 July 2011, retrieved 11 January 2009

External links

• www.cottontown.org
• www.spinningtheweb.org.uk
• Story of a half-timer Catherine Walton who started at Century mill aged 12 in 1917