Tyldesley Mills
Barnfield Mills was a complex of six mills on either side of Union Street H P Barton and Caleb Wright built the first Barnfield Mill with 20,000 spindles on the west side of Union Street on a field known as Barnfield in 1851. By 1866 Wright had new partners, Peter and Charles Eckersley, and they built the second mill. In 1870 Caleb Wright and Company had a third spinning mill. Three more mills were built and the company employed 800 workers. Barnfield No 6 was built on the site of Resolution Mill in 1894. After Wright's death, the company was acquired by the Fine Spinners and Doublers Association and subsequently by Courtaulds. Barnfield No 6 was built in brick with large rectangular windows and was six storeys high with a water tower with a dome at its south east corner. Its ornamental single-storey office block fronting onto Shuttle Street. When built, No 6 Mill used the latest developments, it had concrete floors and was built to house self-acting mules, though it used the engine house from the old mill which powered the machines via a rope race. Ring spinning machinery was installed in the 20th century.
Hindsford Mill - Thomas Kirkpatrick, November, 1881
Kirkpatrick, like Caleb Wright, was once apprentice to Messrs. J. and G. Jones of New Mills, Tyldesley. He was born in 1806, and has so prospered that in 1845 he was able to buy Hindsford Mill near to Shakerley Brook. He lived for a time at the Walmesleys in Bedford, but later purchased Meanleys as a residence, and in
1864 acquired another mill at Hindley Green. Kirkpatrick was a Liberal; he sat on the township councils of Tyldesley and Bedford and was for twelve years chairman of the Leigh Board of Guardians. At his death he left four sons, Edward, Henry, James, and John, and a daughter, Annie, who had married Caleb Wright. He died November 19, 1881. Though the Kirkpatricks never operated on the same extensive scale as their rival contemporaries in the cotton trade, they were a constant force for good in the neighbourhood and made their influence widely felt throughout two long generations.
Hindsford Cotton Mill was situated in Tyldesley by the Hindsford Brook on Little Factory Street. It was owned by Thomas Kirkpatrick and Sons and in 1891 had 19,120 spindles.
Hope Cotton Mill
A mill on James Street was built by Joseph Wilson in 1836. It was later acquired by Thomas Clegg who extended it and raised it by a storey. In 1853 it was known as Hope Mill. In 1883 the spinning and doubling mill, manager's house, cottages in Clegg Street, Blenheim Street, James Street, Charles Street, Cross Street, Elliott Street and Factory Street were offered at auction. Its machinery was made by Dobson & Barlow, Platt Brothers, Howarth and Cryer and included 21 pairs of self-acting mules, 20 ring and 64 flyer doubling frames. Water to fill its lodges was obtained from wells on the premises. Seven years later, building materials and machinery for part of the mill were offered at auction. The machinery included a horizontal high-pressure steam engine with a 28-inch cylinder by J & E Wood of Bolton, a low-pressure beam engine with a 43-inch cylinder, electrical apparatus by Siemens Brothers of London and shafting by Mather & Platt. The spinning mill with 40,000 spindles was owned by Robert J. Clegg in 1891
Parr Bridge Mill
A weaving shed by the Honksford Brook in Mosley Common was built in 1859. It had several owners; Richard Farnworth in 1865 and John Jackson in 1869. Jones & Company who had a warehouse in Fountain Street Manchester owned it in 1872 and William Porritt in 1876. In 1879 Samuel Middleton had 150 looms there and an office in New Brown Street Manchester. Subsequent owners were the Forsyth Brothers and, after being disused for some time, in 1920 it was acquired by Robert Farnworth of Bolton. In its later years it made rayon fabric.
Resolution Mill
Thomas Kearsley built Resolution Mill in 1823 at a cost of £5,000 and added to it by 1826 so that the mills took the shape of a letter L. It was located east of Union Street between Shuttle Street and Ellesmere Street. In 1838 Resolution Mills were the highest rated and most important in the town. By 1853 the mills were in the control of James Bayley and James Knott and Caleb Wright acquired them in the 1880s. They were destroyed by fire on 26 September 1891
Tyldesley Mill
Tyldesley Mill or Tyldesley New Mill was an early cotton spinning mill built for John Jones and Richard Jenning Jones on Castle Street and Factory Street. James Burton was a partner in 1838 and took charge when the Jones brothers left to open a silk mill in Bedford. Caleb Wright worked at the mill before starting his own venture. The site was used for the Majestic Cinema and after that Tyldesley Pool/Pelican Centre.