archaeological desk-based assessment reportplandocs.tameside.gov.uk/anitepublicdocs/00229300.pdf ·...

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�© CfAA: Castle Street Mill and Tame Foundry, Castle Street, Stalybridge

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Archaeological Desk-based

Assessment Report

Castle Street Mill and Tame Foundry,

Castle Street,

Stalybridge

Client: Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd

Technical Report: Ian Miller

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Report No: 2016/59

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Site Location: The study area occupies a square plot of former industrial land

located between Castle Street and the River Tame in Stalybridge, Tameside, Greater Manchester.

NGR: SJ 96216 98484 Project: Proposed development of Castle Street Mill and Tame Foundry,

Castle Street, Stalybridge, Tameside Internal Ref: SA/2016/59 Prepared for: Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd Document Title: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment: Castle Street Mill and

Tame Foundry, Castle Street, Stalybridge. Document Type: Desk-based Assessment. Version: Version 1.0 Prepared by: Ian Miller Signed: Position: Assistant Director of Archaeology Date: December 2016 Copyright: Copyright for this document remains with the Centre for Applied

Archaeology, University of Salford. Contact: Salford Archaeology, Centre for Applied Archaeology, LG 19 – 25

Peel Building, University of Salford, the Crescent, Salford, M5 4WU.

Telephone: 0161 295 4467 Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: This document has been prepared by the Centre for Applied Archaeology, University of Salford for the titled project or named part thereof and should not be used or relied upon for any other project without an independent check being undertaken to assess its suitability and the prior written consent and authority obtained from the Centre for Applied Archaeology. The University of Salford accepts no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this document being used for a purpose other than those for which it was commissioned. Other persons/parties using or relying on this document for other such purposes agrees, and will by such use or reliance be taken to confirm their agreement to indemnify the University of Salford for all loss or damage resulting therefrom. The University of Salford accepts no liability or responsibility for this document to any other party/persons than by whom it was commissioned.

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Contents �

Summary 1 1. Introduction 2 2. Method Statement 4 3. The Setting 5 4. Archaeological and Historical Background 7 5. Gazetteer of Sites 18 6. Significance of the Remains 22 7. Impact of the Development 25 8. Further Investigation 26 9. Sources 27 10. Archive 29 11. Acknowledgments 30 Appendix 1: Figures 31 Appendix 2: HER Data 40 �

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Page | 1 © CfAA: Castle Street Mill and Tame Foundry, Castle Street, Stalybridge

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Summary

In November 2016, Salford Archaeology was commissioned by Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of a plot of former industrial land off Castle Street in Stalybridge, Tameside (centred on NGR SJ96216 98484), in order to inform and support a planning application for a residential development. The proposed development area occupies approximately 0.49ha, and was occupied from the early 19th century by part of a large textile mill complex known as Castle Street Mill and the adjacent Tame Foundry.

Stalybridge developed a reputation as an important centre for the manufacture of high-quality hosiery goods in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and Castle Street Mill played a prominent role in the local hosiery industry before it became established on a factory basis elsewhere in the country. This is reflected in the statutory designation of the surviving elements of the former mill complex, comprising a four-storey range and a derelict engine house, as Grade II listed buildings. The four-storey range formed the western side of the original mill complex, and lies beyond the boundary of the proposed development, although the engine house sits within the application area. The remainder of the site has been cleared of all other buildings, as was used most recently for car-parking purposes.

The assessment aimed to identify, as far as possible, the nature, extent and significance of the below-ground archaeological resource, so as to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving remains. The built heritage and the potential impacts of development of the setting of the listed buildings have been subject to detailed assessment as a separate heritage appraisal, and are not addressed in this report.

The desk-based assessment has concluded that the proposed development site has considerable potential to contain buried remains of high local, and potentially regional, importance. In particular, any surviving buried remains of an early 19th-century steam engine that powered part of the mill complex, together with below-ground structural elements of the 19th-century iron foundry, would merit archaeological recording to mitigate their ultimate loss during the proposed construction programme.

The scope and extent of any further archaeological investigation in advance of the proposed development will be decided by the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service in their capacity as archaeological advisor to Tameside Council. It may be anticipated, however, that a programme of evaluation trenching will be required in the first instance to establish the presence of absence of buried archaeological remains. Pending the results obtained from the initial trenching, more detailed archaeological excavation may be required in advance of development.

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Page | 2 © CfAA: Desk-Based Assessment: Castle Street Mills, Stalybridge, Tameside

1. Introduction

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1.1 Planning Background

In November 2016, Salford Archaeology was commissioned by Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of the site of the former Castle Street Mill and Tame Foundry, situated on Castle Street in Stalybridge, Tameside (referred to herein as the Site Area).

The aim of the archaeological assessment was to identify as far as possible the nature, extent and significance of the archaeological resource in the Site Area so as to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving remains. This information was required in order to inform and support a planning application for the proposed redevelopment of the site.

1.2 Government and Local Planning Policies

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The significance of the archaeological resource identified within this report has been assessed as recommended in National Planning Policy Framework (Department for Local Communities, March 2012).

NPPF sets out the Government’s planning policies and outlines the presumption in favour of sustainable development, which is defined by three principles: economic, social and environmental. Of the 12 core planning principles underpinning decision making, conserving ‘heritage assets in a manner appropriate to the quality of life of this and future generations’ is one.

Section 12 specifically deals with this historic environment (paragraphs 126-41), and local planning authorities should consider:

• The desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation;

• The wider social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits that conservation of the historic environment can bring;

• The desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness; and

• Opportunities to draw on the contribution made by the historic environment to the character of a place.

Paragraph 128 states that local planning authorities, when determining applications, should require the applicant to describe the significance of any affected heritage assets. This should be sufficient so as to understand the potential impact on their significance and this should be done using the appropriate expertise where necessary.

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Paragraph 135 indicates that the effect of the proposal on non-designated heritage assets (designated assets are covered in paragraphs 132-34) should be taken into account. Paragraph 141 requires developers to record and advance understanding of heritage assets to be lost, in a manner appropriate to their importance and impact.

1.2.2 Local Development Framework

NPPF outlines the need for local planning policies to create local plans and frameworks to implement NPPF at a local level. Tameside adopted a Core Strategy in 2015, which is scheduled until 2030. The heritage strategy is outlined in Topic Paper 6: Historic Environment, which summarises the approach the local authority will take in determining planning applications that may affect the historic environment.

Policy EM 1 (C) Historic Environment states:

Plans, strategies, proposals and schemes should protect, conserve and enhance the historic environment, supporting conservation-led regeneration in areas rich in historic interest. In particular, the regeneration potential of Pennine textile mill-town heritage that exists in east Lancashire and Greater Manchester, the textile mill-town heritage of East Cheshire and the traditional architecture or rural villages of Cumbria, Cheshire and Lancashire should be recognised.

Tameside Council is advised on archaeological matters by the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS), which has been consulted during the preparation of the present assessment.

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2. Method Statement

2.1 Research

The assessment considers the potential impact of the proposed development upon any buried archaeological remains within the Site Area, and comprises a desk-based study and site inspection. The production of the assessment followed the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) standard and guidance for undertaking archaeological desk-based assessments (Standard and Guidance for Historic Environment Desk-based Assessments, 2014).

The desk-based assessment made use of the following sources:

• Published and unpublished cartographic, documentary and photographic sources;

• The Greater Manchester Historic Environment Record, maintained by the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service;

• Information held by Tameside Archives in Ashton-under-Lyne;

• Salford Archaeology’s extensive library of archaeological work carried out in the vicinity of the Site Area.

The aim of the research was to provide the relevant historical and archaeological background relating to the development of the site. The available sequence of historical mapping was the principal source of information, as this provides evidence for the development of the Site Area since the late 18th century.

2.2 Site Inspection

The aim of the site inspection was to relate the findings of the desk-based study to the existing land use of the Site Area, in order to identify any evidence for surviving below-ground remains.

2.3 The Document The following presents the historical and archaeological evidence for the study area. A gazetteer (Chapter 5) is presented of heritage assets and sites of potential archaeological interest identified within the Site Area and this information, along with map regression (Appendix 1), is used to assess the significance of the remains (Chapter 6) and impact of the development (Chapter 7). A strategy for further investigation is outlined in Chapter 8, based on the assessment presented in the previous chapters.

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3. The Setting

3.1 Location, Topography and Land use

The Site Area (centred on NGR SJ 96216 98484) lies on the south-western edge of Stalybridge town centre, and some 2.6km to the east of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside. The Site Area is broadly square-shaped, and bounded to the north by the River Tame, to the east by Back Melbourne Street, to the south by Castle Street, and to the west by Pattern House (Plate 1).

Plate 1: Aerial view taken in 2011 during the construction of Pattern House, showing the Site Area boundary and the Grade II listed spinning block in the foreground

3.2 Geology and Topography

The underlying solid geology of the Site Area, as mapped by the British Geological Survey at 1:50000, is comprised of Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation comprising Mudstone, Siltstone and Sandstone. The overlying drift geology is comprised of Glaciofluvial Sheet Deposits, Devensian sand and gravel (http://www.bgs.ac.uk).

The Site Area occupies land with a slight incline to the south, the south standing at 113 above Ordnance Datum (aOD) and the north 111m aOD. The land is currently vacant.

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3.3 Designations

The Site Area contains a former engine house for the Castle Street Mill complex, which is afforded statutory protection as a Grade II listed building. The other surviving elements of this important early 19th-century textile mill include a four-storey spinning block that formed the western side of the complex, and was refurbished for residential use in 2011-12. This is similarly afforded statutory protection as a Grade II listed building, but lies beyond the boundary of the Site Area, and separated visually from the engine house by a new residential block that was built in c 2008. There are another ten Grade II listed buildings within a 200m radius of the Site Area, which also lies within the Stalybridge Town Centre Conservation Area (Plate 2).

Table 1: The designated heritage assets associated with the Site Area

Plate 2: The Stalybridge Town Centre Conservation Area, with arrow marking the Site Area

HER Number Site Name Designation NGR

2190.1.0 Post Office Grade II SJ 9637 9852

11140.2.0 Congregational Church Sunday School (former)

Grade II SJ 9633 9852

11131.1.0 Thorn House Grade II SJ 9626 9863

1031.1.0 War Memorial Grade II SJ 9634 9856

1033.1.0 Holy Trinity Church Grade II SJ 9640 9843

1034.1.0 Victoria Bridge Grade II SJ 9635 9854

1035.1.0 Victoria Market Grade II SJ 9640 9847

1036.1.0 Stalybridge Public Library Grade II SJ 9638 9850

3368.1.0 Castle Street Mill (Longlands Mill)

Grade II SJ 9612 9846

5895.1.0 Stalybridge Town Hall (former) Grade II SJ 9637 9858

11140.1.0 Congregational Chapel (site of) Grade II SJ 9633 9850

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4. Historical Background �

The historical and archaeological background presented below is based on cartographic and documentary research, and provides a framework to the present study, working chronologically through the periods listed in Table 2. Each section details evidence of archaeological remains and the potential for their recovery. Key sites are summarized in the Gazetteer of Sites (Chapter 5).

Period Date Range

Palaeolithic Pre-10000 BC

Mesolithic 10000 – 3500 BC

Neolithic 3500 – 2200 BC

Bronze Age 2300 – 700 BC

Prehistoric

Iron Age 700 BC – AD 43

Romano-British AD 43 – AD 410

Early Medieval AD 410 – AD 1066

Late Medieval AD 1066 – AD 1540

Post-Medieval AD 1540 – AD 1750

Industrial Period AD 1750 – 1914

Modern Post- 1914

Table 2: Summary of British archaeological periods and date ranges

4.1 Prehistoric Period

4.1.1 Archaeological Evidence

There is little conclusive physical archaeological evidence from the Stalybridge area relating to the prehistoric period. The evidence that is available is derived from the higher ground encompassing the principles centres of settlement in Tameside, and indicates a preference for prehistoric settlement to be focused on promontories overlooking water courses. The site of Buckton Castle is one such site, which may have been significant in prehistory. The earliest firm evidence for inhabitation within the area comes from worked flint scatters around Buckton Moor and Slatepit Moor, some of which are believed to date from the Mesolithic. There is also some evidence of Neolithic activity in the area, based on the discovery of a flint arrow head discovered by chance near Buckton Castle.

4.1.2 Archaeological Potential

There are no known prehistoric remains or finds from within or near the Site Area. The potential for below-ground archaeological remains is considered to be very low, not least due to the intensive development of the site from the early 19th-century onwards.

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4.2 Roman Period


Very little physical evidence for any Roman occupation has been recovered from Tameside, although there are hints of human activity in the area during this period. A fragment of Black Burnished Ware pottery, probably dating to the second century, was found beneath the surface of Moor Edge Road near to Castle Farm, to the north of the Site Area. A Roman coin has also been found in Dukinfield, to the west of Stalybridge, close to the projected line of a Roman road. It is thought that this road connected a military site at Astbury with the Roman fort at Castleshaw (Richardson 1987). There is currently little other evidence of Roman activity within the area.


There are no known Roman finds from within the Site Area, and the potential for buried archaeological remains relating to his period is considered to be very low, not least due to development of the area from the early 19th century onwards.

4.3 Medieval Period


Little is known of the pre-Norman Conquest history of Tameside, but at the time of Domesday Survey in 1086 it was within the Macclesfield Hundred. Buckton Castle is the most prominent landmark associated with this period in the area, it remains now as an oval ditch and bank.

There is very little archaeological evidence in the region as a whole that represents the period, but where there is little physical evidence, place-names provide some insight into an areas’ history. The settlement at Stalybridge was originally named Stavelegh, which derives from the Old English staef leah, meaning ‘wood where the staves are got’ (this possibly meaning a strip of wood, such as those used to make wooden barrels, or a staff or walking stick). The medieval lords of the manor took de Stavelegh as their family name, later becoming Stayley or Staley.

By the 14th century, the area was a typical medieval landscape comprising small fields with scattered farms, halls and occasional small hamlets with at Stayley a major hall as the manorial centre. A 16th-century estate map shows the landscape with its fields and farms (Nevell and Walker 1998, 10).

4.3.2 Archaeological Potential There are no known remains relating to the medieval period within the Site Area, and for below-ground archaeological remains is considered to be very low.

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4.4 Post-medieval and Industrial Periods


The economy of Stalybridge remained dependent upon agriculture throughout the medieval period, and this mostly unchanged until the 18th century. Until the early 18th century, the population of Stalybridge numbered no more than 140, with the majority of local people earning their living as farmers or spinning wool. It was also during the early part of this century that Stayley became Stalybridge, when the town expanded to the River Tame with the construction of a bridge in 1707, and ‘bridge’ was added to the name.

By the middle of the century there were several water-powered woollen mills along the River Tame and, in 1776, one of the earliest cotton mills in Lancashire was established at Rassbottom in Stalybridge (Williams with Farnie 1992, 26). The first steam-powered cotton mill in the expanding town was established on Wood Street in 1796 and, by 1803, there were eight cotton mills in operation. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal to the south of the Site Area was completed in 1811, which stimulated the pace of industrialisation. By 1814, there were 12 mills, a total that had increased to 16 by 1818. This growth in industry was mirrored in the number of people living in Stalybridge; in 1823 there were 5,500, by 1851 there were 20,760 people.

Stalybridge developed a reputation as an important centre for the manufacture of high-quality hosiery goods in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The area also became an early centre for integrated textile-manufacturing firms, where powered spinning and weaving was carried out on a single site.

The town retained its strong position in the textile industry into the early 20th century, and the population reached its peak in 1901 with 27,623 people. Within the following 30 years, however, trade started to dwindle along with the population and seven mills closed.


The Site Area has considerable potential to contain significant archaeological remains originating from its 19th-century industrial.

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4.5 Development of the Site Area

4.5.1 Castle Street Mill

The Site Area occupies land between the River Tame and Huddersfield Narrow Canal, on the north side of Castle Street. The site incorporates the eastern half of the former Castle Street Mill complex, known subsequently as Longlands Mill, and the footprint of the adjacent Tame Foundry.

The origins of Castle Street Mill can be traced to 1805, when local textile manufacturer George Cheetham obtained 3330 square yards of undeveloped land on Castle Street Meadow to establish a new textile mill (Haynes 1990, 19-20). The first component of the mill complex is thought to have been a relatively small building of non-fireproof construction that was placed parallel to the River Tame, in the north-western part of the Cheetham’s land holding (and beyond the western boundary of the Site Area). It seems that the mill was intended as a steam-powered mule-spinning factory, with surviving document indicating that it was powered by a 20hp beam engine supplied by the leading engineering firm of Boulton & Watt (BWA 3547/5/381). This is likely to have been installed in a separate engine house, placed against the eastern gable of the mill (Plate 3), and seems to have been put into production in 1807. A ‘census’ of cotton mills carried out in 1811 includes an entry for Castle Street Mill, and accredits Cheetham with operating 11,520 mule spindles (Daniels 1930).

The mill was evidently a financial success, as a new mill was added to the site in 1819, placed at a right angle to the original mill. This new mill comprised two buildings that were of an improved ‘fireproof’ design, comprising a cast-iron frame with iron columns and beams that supported brick jack-arches (Williams 2001). The largest of the two new mill blocks was four-storeys high, plus an attic, and was powered by a 36hp beam engine that was placed at the north-western end of the building (Plate 3).

Further expansion of the mill site was enabled in 1821, when George Cheetham obtained a lease for land to the east of their existing mills, incorporating the Site Area. Whilst the lease stipulated that this portion of Castle Mill Meadow was to remain open and unbuilt upon, it was developed in 1827 as the site of another new spinning block, which went into production during the following year (PP XX 1833, Dl, p 43). The new mill was placed along the southern bank of the River Tame, and was powered by a 20hp marine engine. This was again supplied by Boulton & Watt, and was housed at the western end of the new spinning block, occupying the north-western corner of the Site Area (Plate 3).

These three phases of initial development created a large mill complex that essentially conformed to an L-shaped plan, with the longest range extending along the river bank. This layout is captured on a Map of the Town of Stalybridge, produced in 1839-46 (Plate 4). This plan also shows a small L-shaped range abutting the south-facing elevation of the 1827-8 spinning block; this building was replaced in the later nineteenth century by another new spinning block.

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1805-7 Mill 1805-7 Engine House

1819-21 Mill 1819-21 Engine House

1827-8 Mill 1827-8 Engine Houses

Mid-1840s Block Mid-1840s Engine House

Late 1840s Mill /Weaving Shed Late 1840s Engine House (Extant)

1866-90 Buildings

Plate 3: Site Area boundary superimposed on a plan of the Castle Street Mill complex, showing its chronological development (Base plan taken from Williams 2001)

Plate 4: Castle Street Mills shown on a Map of the Town of Stalybridge, 1839-46. The early elements of

the Tame Foundry are also depicted, and marked by the red arrow (reproduced from Matrix Archaeology 2003)

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A slightly different configuration of buildings is shown on another, broadly contemporary plan of the area (Plate 5). Whilst the plan is undated, it is likely to have been produced during the 1830s or early 1840s, but certainly before the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway was opened to Stalybridge in 1845. This map shows the main blocks along the bank of the River Tame, together with the range of 1819-21 that was erected along the western boundary of the site. A block aligned parallel with the 1819-21 range is also shown, creating an enclosed courtyard at the western end of the mill complex. Curiously, the small L-shaped range that is depicted on the 1839-46 map is not shown, and nor is the Tame Foundry.

Plate 5: Castle Street Mill site shown on a plan of Stalybridge that is undated, but was probably

produced during the 1830s or early 1840s (DDS/1464)

The next available detailed plans of the mill are provided by Thomas Hill’s survey of 1850 (Figure 2), and the Ordnance Survey 1:10560 map that was published in the same year. These both show that the Site Area had been developed fully. The Ordnance Survey annotates the ‘Tame Foundry (Iron and Brass)’, and depicts the works as a group of buildings arranged around an enclosed central courtyard (Section 4.5.2 below). The Castle Street Mill is also shown to have expanded into the Site Area, with a large north/south-aligned range erected across the centre of the site, and a parallel range abutting the western side of the foundry buildings (Plate 3, Buildings O, L and N). These buildings were subject to an archaeological survey in 2003 (Matrix Archaeology 2003). The building across the centre of the Site Area (referred to in the 2003 report as Building O) measured 37.55 x 18.28m, and took the form of a single-storey shed, with a pair of north/south pitched roofs. It appeared to have originated as a stand-alone structure. The east and west walls contained walk-in windows, all of which had been infilled, and seemed to extended northwards originally, possibly to encapsulate in plan the attached engine house at the northern end. The south wall contained segmented arched windows with sandstone lintels.

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It was concluded in 2003 that the building probably represented the ‘new mill’ of three storeys documented in 1844, which was reduced subsequently to a single-storey to form a weaving shed (Matrix Archaeology 2003, 27). Power for the mill was provided by the engine house at the northern end.

The multi-storey block along the eastern edge of the mill complex (Building L), abutting the Tame Foundry buildings, was three storeys high and was both the widest and the latest of the mills on the site. The building surveyed in 2003 may well have replaced the building captured on the mid-19th-century mapping, but it was suggested that the original mill was powered by the engine house at the northern end of Building O via a below-ground transmission shaft, although this awaits confirmation (op cit, 26).

The 60in: 1 mile Ordnance Survey amp of 1890 (Figure 4) annotates the whole complex as ‘Castle Street Mills (Cotton)’, and on the 1906-7 map as ‘Castle Street Mills (Cotton Waste)’. On the 1932 map, the western part of the site is identified as 'Castle Street Mills (Doubling)', and the eastern as ‘Castle Street Mill (Cotton Waste)’. However, the mill closed in 1961 and, on the 1966 Ordnance Survey map, both halves are separately named as Engineering Works. Much of the western part of the mill complex was redeveloped in the 21st century, when the Pattern Building was erected; this new residential block was completed in 2011.

4.5.2 The Tame Foundry

The eastern part of the Site Area was occupied by Tame Foundry. It is not known precisely when the foundry was established, although it is likely to have been during the mid-1830s. It is shown on the Stalybridge town map of 1839-46 (Plate 4) as a large block along the northern edge of the site, with a narrow range aligned north/south along the eastern boundary, creating an overall L-shaped plan.

An entry in a trade directory for 1841 list William Millburn as a brass and iron founder on Castle Street (Pigot and Slater 1841, 141), which is corroborated by a reference dating to 1848 that similarly identifies Millburn as an iron and brass founder at the Tame Foundry, Castle Street (Hill 1907, 64). The Ordnance Survey map of 1850 shows the site as arranged around a central enclosed courtyard, accessed via Castle Street, with a boiler house on the west side.

A rate book of c 1859 indicates that the foundry was still occupied by William Millburn, and identifies the various component buildings of the foundry, including rooms above the entrance from Castle Street that were used as offices. Of particular interest is a plan that was drawn up to accompany the written record (Plate 6). This identifies the large block parallel and adjacent to the River Tame as a single-storey foundry, together with two adjacent structures. The main foundry building was abutted on its southern side by a single-storey boiler house, with a two-storey smithy situated adjacent to one of the other foundry buildings along the eastern side of the works (Plate 6). Other components of the foundry comprises a two-storey stable block, a single-storey filing room and two-storey offices and pattern rooms.

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Plate 6: Plan of Tame Foundry c.1859 (reproduced from Matrix Archaeology 2003)

Foundry Buildings Smithy

Boiler House

After the death of William Millburn in 1866, the Tame Foundry was acquired by John Cheetham, the owner of Castle Street Mill. It appears that the foundry became an integral part of the mill site thereafter, and may have provided structural cast-iron and steel components used in rebuilding works at Castle Street Mill after that date. The foundry retained its enclosed courtyard arrangement, which is shown on the 1875 edition of Ordnance Survey mapping, although the building is not named.

The 1890 Ordnance Survey map shows that the northern half of the foundry yard had been infilled. The same arrangement is shown on the 1932 map. The range fronting Castle Street and the large block in the northern half of the site are still shown on the 1966 map. All the foundry buildings have since been demolished, although wall foundations are visible on the modern ground surface.

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4.6 Site Visit

A site visit was carried out in December 2016, and confirmed that the only extant building is the former engine house (Plates 7-9). This is evidently a multi-phase structure, with sandstone walling forming the lower part of the building, and upper brick-built courses representing a later rebuilding. The Hick Hargreaves collection at Bolton Archives contains a drawing of 1844, which appears to represent this engine house. The drawing shows a double beam engine with an entablature beam carried on four massive cast-iron columns (Matrix Archaeology 2003). The building is in a derelict condition, with vegetation growing on the parapet. A mound of material immediately to the south of the engine house is likely to have derived from the demolition of adjacent buildings.

Much of the surrounding ground is topped with hardcore, which formed a surface for the recent use of the site as a car park. This appears to have been laid directly on top of the demolition rubble generated from the clearance of the buildings in the early 21st century, and the wall foundations for some of the former foundry buildings are visible along the edges of the Site Area. The north-eastern part of the site retains a concrete surface, which presumably formed an internal floor for the 20th-century engineering works (Plate 8).

Several trial pits have evidently been excavated across the site in recent years, although the data generated from these investigations has yet to be located.

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Plate 7: View from Back Melbourne Street, looking north-west across the Site Area

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Plate 8: View looking south-west across the Site Area, with new residential block to the rear

Plate 9: The east-facing elevation of the derelict engine house

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Plate 10: View looking east along the northern part of the Site Area

Plate 11: View looking west along the southern part of the Site Area

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5. Gazetteer of Sites �

The following gazetteer provides a list of the non-designated heritage assets identified within the boundary of the Site Area, with locations shown on Figure 8 (Appendix 1). This has been compiled from Greater Manchester Historic Environment Record (HER) data, coupled with a study of the historical map sequence. A buffer zone was also applied to within the Site Area of 250m, and these entries are listed in Appendix 2. Site Number: 1 Site Name: Castle Street Mill (Building J) NGR: SJ 96198 98512 Designation: None Site Type: Mill (Site of) Period: 1827-8 Description: The mill located within the Site Area was part of the third phase of

construction of Castle Street Mill, which commenced in 1827 and was working by 1828. The first building was located on the northern side of the site next to the River Tame, the structure identified as building J on Williams (2001) plan of the mill site (Plate 3). Drawings by Boulton & Watt (Matrix 2003) show a side lever boat engine of 20hp installed when the mill building was constructed. The drawings hinted at there being a second, similar engine located in the engine house. The 1875 edition of Ordnance Survey mapping shows the building as one continuous range from the western area of the Castle Street Mill complex, through the site and incorporated into the north building of Tame Foundry (Site 6), which was acquired by the Castle Street Mill owners in 1866. The footprint of the mill block remained unchanged until the 1922 OS map, which shows it to have been combined with another mill block (Site 2) that was aligned north/south across the Site Area. By the 1965 OS map, the mill was is use as an engineering works, and were eventually demolished in the early 21st century.

Assessment: The site of the 1827-28 mill lies within the Site Area, and buried remains are likely to survive in-situ. Of particular interest archaeologically are the foundations of the steam engine that powered the mill, which was housed in a separate building attached to the western end of the mill block. There is good potential for buried structural remains of this engine house to survive in-situ, and these remains may be damaged or destroyed by construction work for the proposed development.

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Site Number: 2 Site Name: Castle Street Mill (Building L ) NGR: SJ 96215 98493 Designation: None Site Type: Mill (Site of) Period: Nineteenth century Description: The 1839-46 map shows a north/south-aligned building abutting the

1827-8 mill block (Site 1), extending across the Site Area towards Castle Street. The building appears to have been remodelled or extended by the time of the 1850 Ordnance Survey map, which shows an enlarged building footprint. It has been suggested the mill was powered by the extant engine house (Site 5), situated a short distance to the west, and that this was achieved by a below-ground driveshaft. The mill was demolished in the early 21st century.

Assessment: The site of the mill lies within the Site Area, and buried remains are likely to survive in-situ. Of particular interest is the power-transmission system, and confirmation of the mill was powered by an underground drive shaft from the engine house situated to the west. These remains may be damaged or destroyed by construction work for the proposed development.

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Site Number: 3 Site Name: Castle Street Mill (Building N) NGR: SJ 96222 98459 Designation: None Site Type: Mill (Site of) Period: Nineteenth century Description: Located in the south-east part of the mill complex, against the boundary

with Tame Foundry (Site 6), there is a structure first identified on the 1850 OS map. The 1875 OS shows that there was now a larger building on the site, incorporated into Site 2 and another mill building to the west (Site 4) to form a larger structure which extended to the western part of the mill complex, and beyond the Site Area boundary.

Assessment: The site of the mill lies within the Site Area, and buried remains are likely to survive in-situ. These remains may be damaged or destroyed by construction work for the proposed development.

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Site Number: 4 Site Name: Castle Street Mill (Building O) NGR: SJ 96198 98466 Designation: None Site Type: Mill (Site of) Period: Nineteenth century Description: A stand-alone rectangular building, first shown on the 1850 OS map, as

a large rectangular structure on the western side of the Site Area. It was described as being three-storeys high, later reduced to a single storey and believed to have formed a weaving shed. On the 1875 OS map the building has been incorporated into Site 3, and buildings to the west that lie beyond the boundary of the Site Area. The 1898 OS depicts a rectangular building attached on the western side at the northern end, adjacent to the engine house (Site 5). The 1909 OS map shows that within the northern section of the building was a chimney, although this is not shown on any further mapping.

Assessment: The site of the mill lies within the Site Area, and buried remains are likely to survive in-situ. These remains may be damaged or destroyed by construction work for the proposed development.

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Site Number: 5 Site Name: Castle Street Mill Engine House NGR: SJ 96191 98486 Designation: Grade II listed building (ID No 1338882) Site Type: Engine House Period: Mid-nineteenth century Description: The last surviving element of the Castle Street Mill complex within the

Site Area. The building is not shown on the 1839-46 Stalybridge town map, although drawings within the Hick Hargreaves collection dating to 1844 appear to depict this engine house. This engine house was most likely used to drive the buildings within the Site Area. Following the conversion of the adjacent mill block (Site 4) to a weaving shed, and its associated reduction in height to a single storey, the engine house is likely to have been modified to drive the new weaving shed.

Assessment: This building survives extant, and is afforded statutory protection as a Grade II listed building, although it is in poor condition. .

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Site Number: 6 Site Name: Tame Foundry NGR: SJ 96236 98488 Designation: None Site Type: Iron Foundry (Site of) Period: Nineteenth century Description: Located to the east of Castle Street Mill, but had a shared boundary

wall. Probably established in the mid-1830s, the foundry is visible on the 1839-46 town map as a large ‘L’-shaped building along the northern and eastern boundary of the Site Area. The 1850 OS map shows that the site had been developed and comprised a range of buildings around an enclosed central courtyard. A chimney associated with the foundry areas is shown on the Ordnance Survey mapping in the north-western part of the Site Area. The owner, William Milburn, died in 1866 and the Tame Foundry was acquired by Castle Street Mills. By 1965, the foundry had been converted for use as an engineering works. The building was demolished in stages during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Assessment: The site of the foundry lies within the Site Area, and buried remains are likely to survive in-situ. Of particular interest are the three foundry buildings identified on a plan of c 1859, which formed the north-western part of the site, together with a two-storey smithy that lay along the eastern boundary of the site. These remains may be damaged or destroyed by construction work for the proposed development.

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6. Significance of the Remains �

6.1 The Policy Context of Heritage Assets

The archaeological resource of an area can encompass a range of assets, including below ground remains, earthworks, and standing buildings and other structures. Some of these remains may have statutory protection, as Scheduled Monuments or Listed Buildings. Others do not but may nevertheless be of archaeological significance. Under both national and local planning policy, as outlined below, both statutory and non-statutory remains are to be considered within the planning process.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, March 2012) sets out the Secretary of State’s policy on planning and includes a section on the conservation of the historic environment (including historic, archaeological, architectural and artistic heritage assets, NPPF paras 126-141), and its wider economic, environmental and social benefits. The NPPF emphasises the significance of an individual heritage asset within the historic environment and the value that it holds for this and future generations in order to minimise or avoid conflict between the heritage asset’s conservation and any aspect of the planning proposals. The NPPF draws a distinction between designated heritage assets of national importance and heritage assets that are not designated but which are of heritage interest and are thus of a material planning consideration (paras 134 and 135). In the case of the former, the presumption should be in favour of conservation; in the case of the latter, where this is warranted by its significance, the developer is required to record and understand the significance of the heritage asset before it is lost, in a way that is proportionate to the nature and level of the asset’s significance, by the use of survey, photography, excavation or other methods.

The NPPF states that non-designated assets of archaeological interest that are demonstrably of equivalent significance to scheduled monuments should be considered in the same manner as designated sites (NPPF para 139). Regarding this policy a lack of formal designation does not itself indicate a lower level of significance; in this instance the lack of designation reflects that the site was previously unknown and therefore never considered for formal designation. Wherever possible, development should be located and designed so as to avoid damage to archaeological remains, ensuring that they are preserved in-situ. Where this is not possible, or appropriate, the developer will be required to make suitable provision to ensure that the archaeological information is not lost, and in many cases to secure the preservation of the remains.

The Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS) act as archaeological curator for the Greater Manchester Region and provide archaeological advice to Tameside Council.

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6.2 Assessment Methodology and Significance Criteria

The most commonly accepted methodology for assessing archaeological significance is the Secretary of State’s criteria for the scheduling of ancient monuments, outlined in Annex 1 of Scheduled Monuments: identifying, protecting, conserving and investigating nationally important archaeological sites under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (DCMS March 2010). These criteria have all been utilised in this assessment and are listed below:

• Period • Rarity • Documentation • Group Value • Survival/Condition • Fragility/Vulnerability • Diversity • Potential

6.3 Baseline Significance Conditions for the land within the Site Area

Period

The Site Area remained undeveloped until the early 19th century, and it is therefore likely that any buried archaeological remains that do survive in-situ will date from this period. The potential for archaeological remains deriving from any earlier periods is considered to be very low.

Rarity

Few early 19th-century iron and brass foundries have been investigated archaeologically, and any surviving remains of the Tame Foundry would have a high rarity value. Similarly, any physical remains for the marine-type steam engine that powered the 1827-28 mill would also have a high rarity value

Documentation

The development of the Site Area can be traced reasonably well through documentary sources from the early 19th century onwards. Further detail, including more precise dating of the construction of buildings within the Site Area, might be gained from documentary sources, but this is unlikely to modify the outcome of this report.

Group Value

The potential buried archaeological remains in the Site Area have a group value with the surviving elements of the former Castle Street Mills, including the engine house in the centre of the Site Area, and the early 19th-century multi-storey block situated to the west.

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Survival / Condition

The extent to which any remains survive and their condition is presently unknown.

Fragility/Vulnerability

See below (Section 7.1) The Identification and Evaluation of the Key Impacts on the Archaeology.

Diversity

The sites of potential archaeological interest within the Site Area are not significant due to diversity.

Potential

There is a very low potential for early remains, ie remains dating to the prehistoric, Romano-British, medieval and post-medieval periods, as there is no known activity within the Site Area itself. However, there is considerable potential for buried remains of the 19th-century industrial use of the site.

6.4 Significance

Based on the information gained from the desk-based research, it can be concluded that the site as a whole is of archaeological interest. In particular, any surviving foundations for the Boulton & Watt marine-type steam engine that powered the 1827-28 mill block could be of regional importance, pending the extent and condition of surviving remains. Buried remains of the Tame Foundry, particularly the actual foundry areas and the smithy in the north-western part of the Site Area, are likely to be of high local importance.

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7. Impact of Development��

7.1 Impact of Development on Below-Ground remains

The proposal involves the construction of a residential development, which will involve substantial earth-moving and landscaping works. As such, construction work would result in the removal and destruction of any below-ground remains that do survive in situ.

The present assessment has concluded that any buried archaeological remains that exist in the Site Area are likely to be of Regional and High Local Significance, pending the extent of survival of below-ground remains.

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8. Further Investigation �

8.1 Heritage Assets

Where the loss of the whole or a material part of a heritage asset’s significance is justified by a development, the developer should be required to record that asset and advance understanding of its significance, and to make this evidence publicly accessible (NPPF para 141).

None of the known below-ground archaeological remains identified within the Site Area are considered to be of national importance that would merit preservation in-situ (excluding the extant former engine house; Site 5). However, heritage assets of lesser archaeological significance are likely to survive as buried remains, which would merit preservation by record prior to any damage or disturbance caused by redevelopment.

8.2 Further Investigation

Where appropriate because of their significance, mitigation will need to be undertaken through an archaeological record (NPPF 2012, paras 141). The scope and extent of any further archaeological investigation in advance of the proposed development will be decided by the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service in their capacity as archaeological advisor to Tameside Council. It may be anticipated, however, that a programme of evaluation trenching will be required in the first instance to establish the presence of absence of buried archaeological remains. This would be targeted on the footprint of the marine-type steam engine, the putative power-transmission system from the extant engine house to the mill block to the east, and the iron founding areas and smithy within the Tame Foundry. Pending the results obtained from the initial trenching, more detailed archaeological excavation may be required in advance of development.

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9. Sources

9.1 Maps and Primary Sources

Hill, T, 1850 Plan of Stalybridge

Ordnance Town Plan, 1:1056, Published 1850

Ordnance Survey 1:2500, Published 1875





Tameside Archives

DDS/1464 Plan of Part of the Town of Stalybridge, showing the Roads on the Lancashire and Cheshire sides leading over the Bridge called the New Bridge over the River Tame, undated

IC/STA/12 Details of Mr Wm Millbum Tame Foundry for rating purposes, c 1859

British Parliamentary Papers (BPP)

PP (HC) 1833 [450] XX, D1, Factory Inquiry Commission, First Report, Employment of Children in Factories

9.2 Secondary Sources

Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, 2014 Standard and Guidance for Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessments

Daniels, GW, 1930 Samuel Crompton’s Census of the Cotton Industry in 1811, Econ Hist, 2, 107-10

Department for Communities & Local Government, March 2012. National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

Haynes, I, 1990 Stalybridge Cotton Mill, Swinton

Hill, S, 1907 Bygone Stalybridge, Leeds

King, C, and Nevell. M, 2004 Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Tamside: An Archaeological Assessment of a Textile Village, Unpublished report, UMAU

Matrix Archaeology Ltd, 2003 Longlands Mill, Stalybridge, Tameside: A Brief Historical and Archaeological Guide, Unpublished report.

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Matrix Archaeology Ltd with UMAU. 2003. Longlands Mill, Stalybridge, Tameside: Archaeological Survey,Unpublished report.

Nevell, MD, and Walker, JSF, 1998 A History and Archaeology of Tameside. Volume 6. Lands and Lordships in Tameside: Tameside in Transition 1348-1642, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council with the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit.

Williams, M, 2001 Castle Street Mills, Stalybridge, unpublished report, English Heritage

Williams, M, with Farnie, D, 1992 Cotton Mills of Greater Manchester, Preston

9.3 Web Sources

Geology of Britain Viewer http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html Accessed 01.12.2016

www.stalybridge.com - Stalybridge History accessed 05.12.2016

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10. Archive �

The archive comprises a historical map regression, historical photographs and historical research notes. This archive is currently held by the Centre for Applied Archaeology and a copy of this report will be forwarded to Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd. A copy of this report will be deposited with the Greater Manchester Historic Environment Record held by the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS).

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11. Acknowledgments

Salford Archaeology would like to thank Creative Heritage Consultants Ltd for commissioning the archaeological desk-based assessment on behalf of Inspiredspaces Tameside Ltd. Salford Archaeology is also grateful to John Hughes of Tameside Council for his support and for facilitating access to the proposed development site. Thanks are also due to Norman Redhead of the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS) for his support and advice. Salford Archaeology is also grateful to Lesley Dunkley, also of GMAAS, for supplying background data from the Greater Manchester Historic Environment Record (HER).

The report was compiled by Ian Miller, with assistance from Sarah–Jayne Murphy.

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Appendix 1: Figures

Figure 1: The Site Area boundary superimposed on modern aerial imaging

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Figure 2: Figure 2: Extract from the Thomas Hill’s survey of 1850, marking the Site Area boundary

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Figure 3: Extract from the Ordnance Survey map of 1875, marking the Site Area boundary

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Figure 8: Gazetteer map, showing the sites as described in the Gazetteer and their location on a modern map.

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Figure 9:Modern map with the HER sites.

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Appendix 2: HER Data �

HER (PRN) ID

Name Site Type Location Description

2197.1.0 78-84 Market Street Shop SJ 9629 9857 Nos. 78-84 Market Street were built in 1895 and are a group of four shop units contained within a single building. The façade is richly decorated and treated as a whole rather than as a composite of four parts. Three buildings now unoccupied, damaged by fire c.1986-8. Appears to have been renovated and is now in use again, with an Indian restaurant taking up the ground floor of the whole building.

2179.1.0 Palace Cinema (former)

Cinema SJ 9608 9864 Originally known as the Empire Picture Palace, this cinema was opened in 1913. The plain, functional main body of the building contrasts with the highly decorative front façade, which includes a short colonnade at first-floor level. The elaborate design of the cinema façade is a common occurrence, intended to portray an escapist image which would encourage the patronage of customers.

2184.1.0 Stalybridge Fire Station (former)

Tower, Fire Station, Shop

SJ 9620 9865 One of the earliest purpose-built stations in Tameside, on the corner of Waterloo and King Street. This building was begun in 1903 and opened in 1905. It comprised a three-bay fire-engine room with stables, a hose tower, and recreation and home quarters. The original fire engines were steam-powered and were pulled by horses. A fire fighting force existed in Stalybridge in the late eighteenth century. In the early nineteenth century the Stalybridge Fire Brigade was funded by the local mill-owners, but in the late 1820s came under the control of local government. Although now a car showroom, the building still retains the wide fire-engine room doorways and the tall hose tower.

2196.1.0 71 Market Street, (Shop)

Shop SJ 9623 9855 Where shop fronts were distinguished from domestic houses this was normally by a larger ground-floor window, perhaps displaying some of the goods on sale as with this building. It does not retain its original window frame but it would have comprised a number of small panes, typically of crown glass. Extant but unoccupied

3370.1.0 Clock Tower Mill (Grosvenor Street Mill) (former)

Tower, Textile Mill, Cotton Mill, Weaving Mill

SJ 9610 9830 Marked on maps 1851 & 1906 as a cotton mill and as disused on 1932. The spinning mill is mid-C19, single storey and has been recently modernized. 14x1 bays. Modern asbestos gable roof. Small rectangular windows with stone sills and lintels. A mid-C19 brick-built weaving shed with 8 roof ridges stands nearby. The single-storey office building of 7x1 bays at the entrance to the site was added later. The clock tower was added in 1914. The function of an additional single-storey building, late C19/early C20, with a hipped slate roof and 1x5 bays, is unclear.

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Grosvenor Street Mills: built in 1805 for cotton spinning. Mill added in 1819 which was 1st to be gas lit. 3rd mill added in 1824/5, and warehouses added in 1828. Most buildings on this site were pulled down in 1929. John Leech, formerly a partner in the firm of Lees, Cheetham and Co at Rassbottom, acquired the land for the first mill on this site in July 1805 and the building was completed the following year; this was probably the one fronting the south side of Grosvenor Street, later known as 'Old Mill'. It was powered by a Boulton and Watt steam engine of 14hp and in 1811 Leech had 9,600 mule spindles installed there. In 1818/19 Leech built a second factory at Grosvenor Street for both spinning and weaving – the earliest direct evidence of power-loom weaving at a particular Stalybridge mill. Leech also became the first to introduce gas-lighting to the town's cotton mills following the construction of a gas-making plant in 1818. Large crowds are said to have gathered to witness the spectacle of the brightly lit mill during the hours of darkness! Another mill was built for both spinning and weaving in 1824/25 and a warehouse erected in 1828 was used for spinning and weaving from 1832 onwards. After this rapid expansion Leech's mills were vying with Harrison's for the distinction of being the largest in the town. In 1833 they were employing a motive power of 158hp from six steam engines and finding work for about 1,300 people, more than half of them in power-loom weaving. John Leech had died in 1822 and was succeeded by his son, also named John. Until 1835 he was in partnership with a Mr Vaudrey, but after this he took sole control of Grosvenor Street Mills and continued to expand them. About mid-century the Ashton building firm of Edward Sigley and Son erected a large mill for John Leech, by which time Leech's mills consisted of a large complex of multi-storey spinning blocks, weaving sheds and numerous other buildings. The spinning side of operations seems to have increased little after 1850 but extensive weaving sheds had been added by 1872, covering the site of Leech's former residence (he had moved to Gorse Hall). By the time of John Leech's death in 1861, his mills were easily the largest in Stalybridge and employed about 1,850 people. He had already taken his sons into partnership and the business was carried on by them. After 1872 (at the latest) there seem to have been no major structural alterations to Grosvenor Street Mills, which in 1884 contained 1,855 looms and 102,000 spindles. Considering its range of products, it is likely that the firm of John Leech and Sons must have run into serious difficulties in the 1920s; Grosvenor Street Mills were purchased by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation soon after its formation in 1929. They were quickly shut down. Most of the buildings were demolished in 1934, but a small portion, the 'Clock Tower Mill', was left standing and was occupied by the Clock Tower Mill Co, yarn merchants, reelers and doublers. After the [Second World] war the firm of Harry S Studholme Ltd was in occupation as supplier of 'yarn of every description' but after 1955 all connection with the cotton industry seems to have ceased.

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Listed Buildings

2190.1.0 Post Office on Trinity Street

Post Office SJ 9637 9852 This building, which opened in 1901, illustrates the use of architectural embellishment for the larger post offices. Its Jacobean style echoes that of the adjacent and contemporary public library, designed by Medland Taylor. Post Office. 1899-1900, by HM Office of Works. Late C20 alterations. Ashlar and red brick, with plain tile roofs. Renaissance Revival style. 2 storeys plus basement and attics. 3 bays. Office range to front, sorting office and service range to rear, L-plan. Plinth, sill band, intermediate and eaves cornices, coped gables and parapets. Main windows have stone mullions and transoms. Between floors, an enriched cartouche reading POST OFFICE with the royal monogram. INTERIOR: Front office has egg-and-dart cornices to ceiling and cross beams, and single pilasters. Late C20 counters and screen. First-floor offices have cornices and original doors. Basement has strong room with steel door. Sorting office has steel truss roof with tie rods, and numerous wall ventilators.

11140.2.0 Congregational Church Sunday School (former)

Sunday School SJ 9633 9852 Sunday school with facilities for adult classes. 1904-5. The school collaborated with the Mechanics' Institute and adult classes were addressed by various notable figures. John Bright endowed the library. Coursed rubble with sandstone dressings and Welsh slate roof. Storeyed with 1st floor hall and meeting rooms, classrooms below. Entrance and stair hall towards street. Stone mullion and transom windows, pedimented porch with moulded doorway surround. Shaped parapet with central gable with coping, kneelers and finials. Buttresses with concave gables. Interior has plain fittings generally but with elaborate stairs with turned balusters and panelled newells. Demolished (Tameside listed buildings c.2000) NOT demolished – the earlier Congregational church to the south was demolished in the early 21st century following a fire [see HER 11140.1.0], but the former Sunday school is still extant and was Listed in 1990: Sunday school with facilities for adult classes. 1904-5. The school collaborated with the Mechanics' Institute and adult classes were addressed by various notable figures; John Bright endowed the library. Coursed rubble with sandstone dressings: Welsh slate roof. Storeyed with 1st floor hall and meeting rooms and classrooms below; entrance and stair hall towards street (E); aligned E–W Trinity Street front: 2:4:2 range, the windows with stone mullions and transoms: pedimented porch with moulded doorway surround. Shaped parapet and central gable with coping, kneelers and finials. Buttresses with concave gables. Main block taller; riverside elevation: all windows with mullions and transoms with alternative window bays under gables. Similar treatment to S. Central cupola with louvred belcote openings under pediment. Interior: plain, the plan intact, with rather more elaborate stairs with turned balusters and panelled newells. Included primarily for its group value and historical interest.

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11131.1.0 Thorn House Apartment, Office, Electricity Sub Station

SJ 9626 9863 Electricity generating company offices and generating station. 1903-4 with C20 alterations. Red brick and ashlar sandstone dressings, Welsh slate roof with roof glazing and full-length ridge louvre to the generating station. V-plan complex of a linear office range fronting the street and a T-plan generating station to the rear, attached at the north-west corner of the main range. Free Baroque style. Street frontage has imposing symmetrical elevation, 1:4:1:4:1 bays rising from shallow plinth to 2- storeys and attics with advanced pedimented bays to ends. Central entrance bay with open pediment flanked by giant pilasters which support a segmental pediment at eaves level. Shallow parapet above projecting eaves and modillion cornice. 6 over 6 pane sashes flanking doorway below wedge lintel with attenuated keyblocks. Attic dormers with segmental roofs with undivided 2-pane casements. Advanced gables with coupled ground-floor sashes with Gibbsian surrounds and semicircular headed windows to 1st floor with flanking Ionic columns supporting open pediments. Generating station to rear has 5 bays, lunette windows at heads of arches of blind ground-floor arcade of small pilasters. Interior not inspected. Electricity generating company offices and generating station. 1903-4, with C20 alterations. Constructed by W.H. George. Red brick with ashlar sandstone dressings, Welsh slated roof coverings, and with roof glazing and a full-length ridge louvre to the generating station. 'V'-plan complex comprising a linear office range to the street frontage, and a 'T'-plan generating station to the rear, attached at the north-west corner of the main range. Free Baroque style. Street frontage range: imposing symmetrical elevation, 1:4:1:4:1 bays, rising from a shallow plinth, two storeys and attics, with advanced pedimented bays to ends. Central entrance bay with open pediment, flanked by giant pilasters which support a segmental pediment at eaves level. Shallow parapet above projecting eaves and modillion cornice. Flanking the doorway are 6 over 6 pane sashes below wedge lintels with attenuated keyblocks. Attic dormers with segmental roofs with undivided 2-pane casements. Advanced gables with coupled ground-floor sashes with Gibbsian surrounds, and semi-circular headed windows to first floor, with flanking Ionic columns supporting open pediments. Generating station to rear, 5 bays, with lunette windows at heads of arches of blind ground-floor arcade of small pilasters.

1031.1.0 War Memorial War Memorial SJ 9634 9856 C.1920, FV Blundstone, sculptor. Bronze statuary group on ashlar plinths. Walls which are segmental in plan are terminated on either side of Trinity Street in piers with statues. The segmental walls carry polished granite plaques bearing the rolls of honour and are terminated in carved stone lions on square piers. Square piers with swept abutments, crests of arms and moulded bases carry winged angelic figures supporting dying, battle-clad figures; to the west a soldier and the east a sailor. The segmental walls carry polished granite plaques bearing rolls of honour and are terminated in carved stone lions on square piers.

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1033.1.0 Holy Trinity Church Church, Anglican SJ 9640 9843 1851-2 E.H.Shellard. snecked stone with slate roof. Nave, chancel, aisles, clerestory, west tower and north porch. Projecting plinth. Parapet above moulded band with gargoyles and moulded copings. 6-bay clerestory windows have rectilinear tracery and hoodmould. 5-light east window. Raked gable parapets with cross finials. The 3-stage tower has angled buttresses, a weathered plinth, a west door with crocketed ogee hoodmould, a 3-light transomed west window, clock apertures in the second stage, two 2-light belfry openings in the third stage with crocketer ogee hoodmoulds and is castellated. Octagonal columns with moulded capital support the nave arcade. West gallery. Arch-braced roof trusses.

1034.1.0 Victoria Bridge Road Bridge SJ 9635 9854 Road bridge. Dated 1867, 2 wrought iron girder spans on central rock-faced stone pier with cast iron parapet walls. 2 flat spans. The parapet walls are cast with the words ‘Henry Bayley Son and Co. Albion Iron Works Miles Platting’ on the base and have cast iron balusters (turned type). A central post bears the coat of arms, the date and an ornate lamp standard.

1035.1.0 Victoria Market Tower, Market Hall SJ 9640 9847 Market Hall. 1866. Brick with stone dressings and corrugated asbestos roof. 3 aisles, 7 x 13 bays. Stone plinth with branded rustication, stone band, bracketed eaves cornice and pierced parapet. The central bay is advanced and has rusticated quoins, a coved round-arched opening with keystone, fanlight and carved side panels, and giant pilasters which rise above the parapet to support a modillioned pediment. Above rises a polychromatic brick tower with clasping pilasters which carries clock faces and a steeply pitched fish-scale slate roof with ornate cast iron crowning railings, canopy and finial. The other bays have blind round-headed arches on flat brick pilasters. Central entrances and arched windows to side elevations.

1036.1.0 Stalybridge Public Library

Library, Art Gallery, Community Centre

SJ 9638 9850 1897-1901, by J. Medland Taylor. Hammer-dressed stone ground floor, brick first floor and clay tile roof. Total of 6 bays and 2 storeys. Jacobean revival. Projecting plinth, continuous sill bands and first floor cornice, eaves cornice, irregular quoins and coped gables with ball finials. Bay 1 projects as a gabled wing, bay 3 has a single-storey porch and bay 5 a projecting chimney stack with canted sides. The porch has cast iron gates within a round-headed arch on bulbous Ionic columns which is flanked by taller Ionic columns supporting the entablature. The entablature is inscribed ‘Astley Cheetham Public Library’ above 3 basket-headed arches: it has a cornice which breaks forward above smaller Ionic columns. Windows have 2 or 3 light mullions and transoms, and 3 first floor windows break through the eaves line and have shaped gables. Bow window on right return. Interior: central atrium surrounded by elliptical keystone arches on rusticated columns giving access to the peripheral rooms one of which is a hall-like edifice with hammer-beam roof trusses. Moulded plaster ceilings and timber screens.

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3368.1.0 Castle Street Mill (Longland’s Mill)

Textile Mill, Cotton Mill, Spinning Mill, Engine House

SJ 9612 9846 Built in 1805 by George Cheetham. 2nd mill added in 1820 and 3rd in 1827. No further extensions afterwards. Listed 1990. The eastern courtyard of the mill is not listed and comprises an irregular complex containing several apparently later buildings. Marked on maps 1851 & 1906 as a cotton mill & as a cotton waste mill on map 1932. Spinning mill No.1: "1820" datestone, brick build, of 4 storeys & 23x4 bays. Gable slate roof. Stone sills and lintels to the windows. Prominent attic windows. Ground-floor windows are embellished. No.2: early C19, 4 storeys, 19x4 & 4x4 bays. Brick-built with a gable slate roof. Windows are as No.1 mill. Mid-C19 engine house to the E of No.1 mill, possibly related to the weaving shed. Very interesting large stone gate pier to the entrance of the site. The mill complex includes one range which has been identified as the original factory of 1805 and as such is one of the oldest surviving cotton mills in Greater Manchester. This first factory was powered by a 20hp Boulton and Watt engine. Site also known as Cheetham's Mill. By the middle of the 19th century, a total of eight steam engines had been installed at Longlands, including two marine-type engines. The tall, central double-beam engine house, probably erected in the 1840s, was intended to provide rotary power for most of the eastern portion of the site. An unusual feature of this mill is the cast-iron window sills at ground-floor level. Of particular interest in one of the buildings are Baltic timber marks, encountered on floor joists. These indicate that the timber was derived from the Baltic states, commonly seen within buildings of late 18th and 19th century date. Former cotton spinning mill (for hosiery yarn), now in various uses. Founded by George Cheetham; first factory 1805 with builds of 1820-21, 1827 later alterations. The site's development is well documented; surviving ranges fit the evidence on stylistic grounds and all the ranges were in place on the 1850 O.S. map.

5894.1.0 Stalybridge Town Hall (former)

Town Hall SJ 9637 9858 The first horse-driven [horse drawn] tramway in Tameside operated from the] Town Hall in 1881, going through Ashton to Audenshaw. The Town Hall itself is a Grade 2 Listed Building. Former town hall. 1831 with large additions of 1882. Ashlar with slate roof. Originally 3 x 5 bays with 3 storeys (formerly)including a market hall on the ground floor) but later extended on both sides the Market Street wing filling a triangular plot and having 2 and 3 storeys and 16 bays. Built in 1831; earliest building in Tameside to become town hall. Was first intended as a market hall but during design stage came to incorporate commitee rooms and a ballroom. Almost all of the building and extensions added in 1882 were demolished in recent years. Extension contained court rooms, council chambers, police office & cells and other office space. Only surviving element is 1831 Market St façade of original market hall. This is a classical portico composed of 2 Tuscan columns supporting an entablature and low pediment. Original building also had 2nd pediment above portico. Now gardens.

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11140.1.0 Congregational Chapel (site of)

Nonconformist Chapel

SJ 9633 9850 Formed part of the RCHME survey. Decorated Gothic with large gabled front divided by buttresses and twin-arched outer porch with date of 1861. By Poulton and Woodman. Replaced 1835 chapel. Built between 1859-62. Snecked rock-faced millstone grit rubble with freestone dressings. Decorative Welsh slate roof with crested ridge tiles. Nave and aisles under common roof, integral Narthex and stairs to galleries, organ chamber and various offices east of the rostrum. Early Decorated style. Buttresses. The interior is largely intact except for the 1871 organ and some furnishings. Complex hammerbeam roof with tie rods supported on cast-iron columns (barley-sugar to galleries) now partly obscured by false ceiliing. Organ with intact decoration. The listing schedule includes the churchyard walls, gates and gatepiers. The church itself is no longer extant, having been demolished in the late 1990s or early 21st century, seemingly following a fire. However, it is currently still included in the National Heritage List for England; see associated Designation record (DGM4117) for details. The former Sunday school immediately to the north survives and is Grade II Listed [see HER 11140.2.0]

Monuments

5794.1.0 Bayley’s Mill/Hope Mill (site of)

Industrial Site, Textile Mill

SJ 9614 9863 A cotton spinning mill, in use from c.1800 until 1857. The site is now occupied by a Job Centre. This mill was built by Neddy Hall on the eastern side of Queen Street about 1800. In 1803, shortly after Hall's death, it contained 9,000 spindles and was being leased from his executors by Joseph and William Bayley. Joseph Bayley had 10,500 mule-spindles at the Queen Street mill in 1811 but died in 1814 after an accident in which his arm was torn off in a blowing machine. Joseph was succeeded at the mill by his brother James, who remained in occupation until at least 1838, running this mill along with the much larger Albion Mills from 1824 onwards. After 1857 there is no indication of this factory being used in the cotton industry and the building was demolished around 1900, when the new Waterloo Road was constructed across the site.

5797.1.0 Adshead’s Mill (site of)

Industrial Site, Cotton Mill

SJ 9620 9854 A cotton spinning mill, in use from c.1795 until 1818. This factory was established by James and Edward Adshead, who, no later than 1791, were operating some of the first mule-frames to be set to work in Stalybridge. These early mules were hand-operated and it is not known whether they were installed in this building or elsewhere. By 1795, however, this factory was in existence, for at that early date a steam engine is first mentioned in land tax returns, probably only the second to be installed in a Stalybridge cotton mill. The building, which consisted of three or four floors plus a cellar, may well have been an adapted structure. The Adhseads occupied this factory until 1803 or 1804 and then leased it to Thomas Evans, who after a few years became the owner; by 1814 he in turn had leased it to John Kershaw. Kershaw was still a cotton spinner here two years later but he probably left about 1818, after which the mill may not have been used in the cotton industry again. The building appears to have been demolished and the site built over by 1850.

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6213.1.0 Castle Iron works (Textile Machinery) (site of)

Iron Works, Factory

SJ 9647 9835 In Stalybridge Taylor Lang & Co ran the large complex known as the Castle Iron Works, established in the mid-C19 between Back Grosvenor Street and the Huddersfield Canal. The works produced a variety of machines for the textile trade, including cotton waste cleaners, scutchers and mule spindles.

5795.1.0 Queen Street Mill (site of)

Cotton Mill SJ 9614 9868 A cotton spinning mill, in use from 1803 until 1881. Site now a car park, mill demolished. In July 1803 the firm of Boulton and Watt at Birmingham prepared drawings for a 14hp steam engine to power a new cotton mill at Queen Street, Rassbottom, and in that or the following year the engine was installed and the factory was completed. Initially the concern was run by Thomas Lees in partnership with John Brierley, who had previously occupied parts of Garside's and the old 'Soot-poke' factory, and in 1811 the firm of Lees and Brierley were spinners of fine twist and weft with 9,600 mule spindles. In May 1823 Queen Street Mill was destroyed by fire. The building could not be saved, and efforts were concentrated on saving Bayley's on the other side of the narrow street, some of the window frames of which were repeatedly set alight. The work of rebuilding the Queen Street mill must have commenced very soon after the fire, for the new structure was advertised to let for immediate entry in January 1824. The principal portion of the new mill measured 29 by 13 yards and was of 5 storeys plus an attic. The engine appears to have escaped the fire, being advertised with the mill in 1824, and it was still doing service here as late as 1855. The first tenant of the rebuilt mill was Joseph Saville, but he went bankrupt in the latter part of 1825, a time of crisis in the cotton trade. He was succeeded by the partnership of John Booth and Edward Hilton. Hilton was still in occupation in 1855 when Queen Street Mill was to let, but it is not known who, if anyone, took over. In 1868 the mill was again to let and Edward Swift and Co moved in for cotton doubling, the building probably being considered too narrow for the longer mule-frames then in use. In 1874 the Bankwood Spinning and Doubling Co Ltd was incorporated to purchase Bankwood Mill at Broadbottom and the Queen Street mill along with the machinery. In about 1881 the mill was acquired by the London and North-Western Railway Company, which had a line passing nearby and wanted the site for extensions. The railway extensions were never built and Queen Street Mill was still standing in 1906, although it was later demolished.

3470.1.0 Harrop Street Mill (site of)

Textile Mill, Spinning Mill, Chimney

SJ 9600 9858 Marked on the map as a cotton mill 1906. Late C19 spinning mill. Brick built, of 4 storeys and 8x4 bays. Unusual plan. Possible remains of shaft boxes in the S-facing wall. Slate roof. Large stone-arched loading doors are visible to the E and the W side of the mill. Both of these are now blocked. Brick-built sprinkler tower. Tall rectangular windows with stone lintels and sills. Wide brick-arched windows on the ground floor. A lowered brick chimney is attached to the N side of the mill. There has been some demolition on the site. Steam-powered cotton spinning mill from the late C19. No longer extant. The mill buildings had been demolished by 2006.

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3580.1.0 Castle Mill (site of) Feed Mill, Cotton Waste, Cotton Mill, Spinning Mill

SJ 9608 9837 This site was started in 1815 as a steam-powered cotton spinning mill. It was built by James & Ralph Hall near the Huddersfield Canal. The site remained in the family until the mill closed. The original building was a 6-storey stone-built block. Extended in 1824, the new section was built in brick. It is believed to have closed in 1883. At one time this textile mill site was called "Leach Street Mill". The site is named on the 1850 and 1891/2 OS maps as 'Castle Mills (Cotton)'. 1891/2 map suggests that the two principal buildings in the mill were a narrow factory on the east, running parallel to the canal, and a broader mill to the west of this, aligned roughly N–S. Both the maps show a chimney on the west side of the site and an engine house butting on to the end of the narrower mill. On the 1906/7 OS map the site is named 'Cotton Mill (Waste)', and on the 1932 OS map as 'Kershaw Mills (Poultry Food)'. The western broader mill building is still shown on the 1966 OS map and is named as Engineering Works; the eastern part of the site is shown occupied by a building named as a tennis court which partly lies over the backfilled canal. The western mill has since been demolished. The north-west corner of this building, angled to follow the line of Caroline Street, survives as a stone boundary wall c.2m high, showing at least two phases of build or repair.

5791.1.0 The Hen-Cote (site of) Cotton Mill SJ 9606 9852 A cotton spinning mill, in use from c.1800 until c.1819. Mill now demolished. This factory was located between the southern ends of Chapel Street and Shepley Street at Rassbottom and stood quite close to the river. Details relating to the 'Hen-cote' are few and far between, but it is known to have comprised a cellar and three or four other floors, and was used as a hat factory after becoming disused as a cotton mill. This may well have been the 'factory' belonging to James Hall listed in the land tax returns from 1800 until about 1819, and as James Hall is listed as a cotton spinner in directories of that period he appears to have occupied it also, before moving on to King Street Mill. The Hen-cote seems to have existed prior to 1800 and may originally have been a water-powered mill. The building had been demolished and the site built over by 1845.

11224.1.0 Caroline Street Methodist Chapel (site of)

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

SJ 9610 9844 First purpose-built Wesleyan chapel in Staybridge. Built in 1815, enlarged in 1827 and rebuilt in 1872. The OS 60" maps of 1850, and 1891/2 show the chapel set within a burial ground. These maps also show that the chapel as rebuilt in 1872 was larger than its predecessor, the front elevation of which lay further back from Caroline Street. Chapel was demolished, site now used as a car park. The chapel ground was used for burials, but the present survey has not established how many burials there are, and whether or not they have been removed. This issue would need to be addressed should any proposed development involve groundworks on this site. A Wesleyan chapel and burial ground was noted on the site of Caroline Street on the OS map of 1852. The earliest date from the chapel grounds burial records was July 1823. The chapel was visible on aerial photographs from the 1960s. Site now developed. The chapel was a rectangular building with a frontage aligned with Caroline Street. The burial ground occupied a rectangular enclosure at the rear of the building.

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11225.1.0 Tame Foundry (site of)

Foundry SJ 9623 9849 The foundry site lies at the eastern end of the Castle Street Mill. The rear buildings have been demolished, but the street frontage remains. The Tame Foundry range is one of a small number of buildings associated with the metalworking and engineering industry that still survive in the town. Established c.1848 by William Millburn as 'Tame Foundry' (Iron and Brass) as shown on the 1850 OS map. It shows the site as arranged around a courtyard, with a boiler house on the west side. Entrance from Castle Street through a side passageway. On the 1891-2 OS map the northern half of the yard has been infilled. The northern block has been demolished, although evidence of its broad gable can be seen in the wall of the adjoining Castle Street Mills. The Castle Street range is 2 storeys, brick-built with a slate roof. The westernmost two bays (defined by windows) are slightly lower than the others but are bonded into the adjoining bay without a break. Each of the western bays has a window on each floor and a gable stack. To the right of these bays is a vehicle entrance and a smaller pedestrian entrance. To the right are 4 bays, defined by a window on each floor and a stack in the pitch of the roof above the wall of the pedestrian entrance. The right-hand eastern gable of this range has 2 windows on each floor. Adjoining the rear of the east, gable side is a single-storey brick-built block in derelict condition. The remaining buildings at the site appear to have been demolished by 2006.

5792.1.0 Garside’s Mill (site of) Textile Mill SJ 9609 9868 A cotton spinning mill, in use c.1798 until 1826. This small mill was built by Neddy Hall about 1798 and probably stood close to the 'Soot-poke' [a mill of 1776, located at the end of Wood Street]. It is unlikely that Hall worked the mill himself and in 1803, shortly after his death, it was in the ownership of Samuel Garside, who was a cotton spinner at Stalybridge as early as 1794. Garside initially worked the mill with John Brierley, but the latter left the partnership when he erected a new factory on Queen Street soon afterwards. In 1803 Garside's mill contained 4,000 spindles; in 1811 he was running it with 3,600 and within three years thereafter he was leasing it to Joshua Platt. Garside died about 1826 and Platt left about the same time, so Garside's executors advertised the mill to be let. It was described as a small mill capable of containing twelve mules with all necessary preparation and powered by a new 8hp engine 'well supplied with water'. However, there is no indication that the mill was used in the cotton industry after 1826 and it was probably demolished in the 1840s to make way for the new railway.

5793.1.0 Water Street Mill (site of)

Textile Mill SJ 9614 9855 A cotton spinning mill, in use from 1797 until c.1870s. This factory, built on an irregular plot with frontages on both Water Street and the River Tame, was erected by John Orrell, cotton manufacturer, in 1797. Typical of its kind, it was probably the first purpose-built, steam-powered, mule-spinning mill to be built at Stalybridge and represented a substantial investment. The motive power was supplied by a Boulton and Watt steam engine of 10hp which was ordered in January 1797 and was the first of that make to be installed in a Stalybridge or Ashton mill. John Orrell died in January 1800.

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In 1803 part of the building was occupied by his son Thomas, the remainder being let to various tenants. With 13,000 spindles, Water Street Mill was at that time the second largest concern in the district. By 1825 the firm was known as Thomas Orrell, Sons and Co, Benjamin Kirk having being taken into partnership along with Orrell's sons. The Birley family, prominent Manchester mill-owners with whom Kirk was connected, soon became predominant at Water Street and the Orrells ended up owing them more than twice the value of their standing assets. In 1833 the occupiers were given as Birley and Kirk and three years later Benjamin Kirk was the owner of the mill. The firm of Benjamin Kirk and sons was still in occupation in 1848 but by 1851 Samuel Walmsley had taken over. At about this time Water Street Mill comprised mainly a 5-storey spinning block 16 windows in length fronting Water Street, with the boiler house and engine room at the rear by the river. In 1861 the Water Street Mill Co was in operation, becoming a limited company by 1867 – the earliest 'successful' joint-stock company in the Stalybridge industry. After the early 1870s, however, Water Street Mill appears to have been disused and by 1896 it had been demolished.

5798.1.0 King Street Mill (site of)

Cotton Mill SJ 9624 9865 A cotton spinning mill, in use from c.1800 until the 1870s. Now demolished. Situated at King Street, Rassbottom, near to the site of the steps which were later built leading up to Wakefield Road, this factory was erected in or shortly before 1800 by James Mellor, who was a 'warp and fustian manufacturer' in 1794 and a 'cotton manufacturer' three years later. In about 1802 the factory was doubled in size and in consequence the engine house was then in the middle of the building, dividing it into two more-or-less equal parts. The occupiers in 1803 were Joseph Slater and James Mellor, the latter probably the original mill and the former the new addition. Slater seems to have left by 1811, but Mellor remained in occupation until at least 1818. By 1825, although James Mellor was still the owner, it appears that part of the premises was occupied by Alfred Mellor and the remainder by James Hall. By 1832 Hall had become the sole occupier, and remained so until he was succeeded by his sons Albert and Joseph about mid-century. It was probably under the proprietorship of Albert and Joseph in the 1850s that the 3-storey building on the opposite side of King Street was erected; this survived long after the main mill was demolished. The Hall family worked this mill along with Higher Mill at Souracre until the early 1870s, after which time it ceased to be used in the cotton industry. Most of the buildings were demolished some time before 1896.

Place

3583.1.0 Stalybridge Village Core

Settlement, Building

SJ 9630 9859 Burdett shows the settlement as a linear spread south of Ridge Hill, crossing the River Tame. The OS clearly shows development along Rassbottom Street and crossing the river Tame then continuing along Stocks Lane. Also, the canal, railway and many mills (1894 OS map). Place name first documented in 1272 and means "clearing where staves are".

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archaeological desk-based assessment reportplandocs.tameside.gov.uk/anitepublicdocs/00229300.pdf ·...

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