Barkerend Mills
Bradford, England
January 2020
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HISTORY
Barkerend Mills is complex of former steam-powered worsted-spinning mills which began construction in 1815 by the Garnetts family, who owned much of the surrounding land. The Garnetts kept adding more buildings to the complex and the featured mill was built in 1870. It was the only building on the sight built to be
fireproof, which proved very useful as the building has been the victim an arson attacks in 2007, 2009 and 2019. It is a rare example of a rope driven mill. A single engine would drive the machinery on all the floors connected by ropes. The diagonal section on the building is the rope shaft.
The last owners of Barkerend Mills were the Mollett family and their company Samuel Cockroft & Co. Ltd in 1999. The Molletts married into the Cockroft family in the 1920s. Samuel Cockroft started a textile business in halifax in 1852 and as the business grew it needed a bigger premises, so they moved to Bradford in 1896 and rented this mill from The Barkerend Company, and bit by bit they bought all of the mills. The mills were in use over the next 100 years, and achieved Grade II listed status in 1983.
In 1994, the body of a pregnant woman, Angela Jenkinson, was found behind the mill. She had been murdered by her former partner, Detective Constable Vincent Hand of the West Yorkshire Police, who later committed suicide whilst on bail before being convicted.
In 1999, barkerend Mill was still producing textile yarns on the bottom four floors, but were running at a loss and sadly, the company shut down. 170 tons of machines were removed from the building and many went to the scrap yard. In 2000, the mills were sold to a company that owns several gardening centers around the country, one of which is Pet and Garden World in Armley, Leeds.
Plans were in place to turn the former mill complex into apartments, but had to be pulled after a huge fire ripped through the building in 2007. On that occasion some 50 firefighters were on hand to tackle the fire. As of 2020, the five story former mill stands derilict, and all that now live there are protected bats and the down-and-outs of Bradford.
EXPLORE
Pretty easy explore. Every floor is pretty much the same so not much to report. People clearly frequent here alot so didn't fancy sticking around too long on my own. Hopefully one day this building can be put back to use. Time will tell!
Thanks for looking.
Bradford, England
January 2020
-
HISTORY
Barkerend Mills is complex of former steam-powered worsted-spinning mills which began construction in 1815 by the Garnetts family, who owned much of the surrounding land. The Garnetts kept adding more buildings to the complex and the featured mill was built in 1870. It was the only building on the sight built to be
fireproof, which proved very useful as the building has been the victim an arson attacks in 2007, 2009 and 2019. It is a rare example of a rope driven mill. A single engine would drive the machinery on all the floors connected by ropes. The diagonal section on the building is the rope shaft.
The last owners of Barkerend Mills were the Mollett family and their company Samuel Cockroft & Co. Ltd in 1999. The Molletts married into the Cockroft family in the 1920s. Samuel Cockroft started a textile business in halifax in 1852 and as the business grew it needed a bigger premises, so they moved to Bradford in 1896 and rented this mill from The Barkerend Company, and bit by bit they bought all of the mills. The mills were in use over the next 100 years, and achieved Grade II listed status in 1983.
In 1994, the body of a pregnant woman, Angela Jenkinson, was found behind the mill. She had been murdered by her former partner, Detective Constable Vincent Hand of the West Yorkshire Police, who later committed suicide whilst on bail before being convicted.
In 1999, barkerend Mill was still producing textile yarns on the bottom four floors, but were running at a loss and sadly, the company shut down. 170 tons of machines were removed from the building and many went to the scrap yard. In 2000, the mills were sold to a company that owns several gardening centers around the country, one of which is Pet and Garden World in Armley, Leeds.
Plans were in place to turn the former mill complex into apartments, but had to be pulled after a huge fire ripped through the building in 2007. On that occasion some 50 firefighters were on hand to tackle the fire. As of 2020, the five story former mill stands derilict, and all that now live there are protected bats and the down-and-outs of Bradford.
EXPLORE
Pretty easy explore. Every floor is pretty much the same so not much to report. People clearly frequent here alot so didn't fancy sticking around too long on my own. Hopefully one day this building can be put back to use. Time will tell!
Thanks for looking.
