Report - Bailey's Factory/Mill, Ilkeston - June 2020

raisinwing · Jun 16, 2020

Visited with @MotionlessMike on a tour of what Derbyshire has to offer

A bit of history courtesy of Heritage England:

Lace and hosiery factory, now plastics factory. Possibly 1830s, and 1855. Red brick with gritstone dressings and quoins.

Hipped tile roof. Four storeys. South elevation of 5-3-5 bays, the centre three advanced, with quoins and a dentilled pediment.

Central rusticated round arched doorway with key block and double doors. To the right are two glazing bar sashes under stone lintels, a doorway and three more glazing bar sashes. To the left are six glazing bar sashes. The first floor has twelve glazing bar sashes under stone lintels and a doorway in the fourth opening from the left. Continuous sill band. Thirteen similar glazing bar sashes above and thirteen smaller casements and fixed lights above again. The rear elevation is of thirteen bays, with glazing bar sashes under stone lintels and a continuous first floor sill band. Three storey range attached to west with four bay elevation to road, said to date from the 1830s. The 1855 factory was built for Bailey, Sons & Co, lace and hosiery manufacturers.

In later years it was used by a company called Norton Plastics who made injection moulded plastic products, there's plenty of leftovers from there time including a wall of sample products (mainly parts for BOC gas cylinders) and loads of raw pellets strewn across the floors. This is a fairly standard mill affair, obviously constructed for the textile industries which have long since departed, after that it seems that the different floors were used by various occupants with the top floors being the most "original" looking. The older front range is in a much worse condition than the large 1855 section, various floors having completely given way.

I've definitely visited better mills but this was certainly a decent enough one and was a good hour spent on what was a highly successful morning out. Nice find by Mike, and a sign that there is plenty on offer in the Derby area.