William Gray & Sons - Newton Carpet Works - Ayr
This amazing site lurks in a busy industrial and residential area of town. It opened in the 1800's and was one of the major British carpet manufacturers, and probably the biggest in Scotland. The factory closed in 1974 with the decline of woven carpet manufacture and has mostly been deteriorating since. Some parts of the site have been adapted for use as industrial retail units and garages, but the main factory floor and office block has remained empty for decades and is in a very derelict state.
Access is pretty straight forward but since the factory is surrounded by active retail units, houses and a busy road, it is best approached after hours. Note that there are cars parked in front of the office building as well as a caravan, so best to keep the noise down! The buildings are in a dangerous state with all the old favourites - fire damage, rot, dodgy floors, unstable ceilings and roofs, asbestos, and other debris strewn everywhere. I would strongly recommend wearing a good pair of boots for exploration and a hard hat would be a sensible precaution, especially if exploring in rain or strong winds, since bits fall off the factory roofs. A torch is also necessary for some parts. Beware of the office building - all apart from the ground floor are wooden and very unsafe, although the staircase and landings are all concrete.
There is a part to the rear of the site that has obviously been used in recent years as some kind of household fittings retail unit, and it still contains mock bathroom setups etc. It is not falling down as much as the rest of the site but it is still a mess and has been vandalised. It is suspected that it is occasionally accessed since things do move around there, appear, disappear etc. Perhaps someone is using it as some kind of "unofficial" storage.
None of the original factory equipment remains, everything has been stripped. However, little bits and pieces can be found amongst the debris on the floor and a great deal of fun can be had trying to guess what things are!
Anyway - the pictures:
The office block, visible from the street outside.
Hehehe...
Factory floor
The broken roof, with ventilator chimneys
This part of the factory has a small jungle growing in it!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4735563252_0cb299d844_b.jpg
The roof is much better here. Note the old forman's office.
Doors through to the office building and other factory floors
Toilet cublicles - there are many like this dotted around the site
Through to the next factory floor...
A very rusty gantry
Underneath gantry. Probably best not to walk on this!
Another foreman's office / houf
And inside...
Looking through the roof towards the back of the brick office building.
A couple of fallen ventilator chimneys
Another factory floor shot
The office building lift. We couldn't see the lift carriage but it might be lurking somewhere upstairs.
Looking from office building foyer into the overgrown factory floor. We reckon this was the main entrance.
Ground floor of the office building. It is mostly concrete but some sections are wooden - possibly where internal rooms once existed, or possibly areas for displaying carpets on wood.
Light switch board
Up the stairs we go...
First floor, also boarded up. Note the very rotten and missing floorboards!
Second floor - no window boards this time.
Top floor - very bright with the large window along one side. This would probably have been a very pleasant place to work in with all that natural light.
Looking out of a small, floor-level window at the top of the stairs
Looking out over the roofs of a factory floor and some of the retail units
Through to yet another factory floor. This one has been more recently used.
Stripped electric panel with old style meter (cover held on with tape!). The pikeys have been in and stripped all of the wiring out.
The same floor, other direction
Inside the abandoned retail unit, off the factory floor
The dates on paperwork indicates that this has only been empty for a few years. Quite a mess has been made in that time!
This amazing site lurks in a busy industrial and residential area of town. It opened in the 1800's and was one of the major British carpet manufacturers, and probably the biggest in Scotland. The factory closed in 1974 with the decline of woven carpet manufacture and has mostly been deteriorating since. Some parts of the site have been adapted for use as industrial retail units and garages, but the main factory floor and office block has remained empty for decades and is in a very derelict state.
Access is pretty straight forward but since the factory is surrounded by active retail units, houses and a busy road, it is best approached after hours. Note that there are cars parked in front of the office building as well as a caravan, so best to keep the noise down! The buildings are in a dangerous state with all the old favourites - fire damage, rot, dodgy floors, unstable ceilings and roofs, asbestos, and other debris strewn everywhere. I would strongly recommend wearing a good pair of boots for exploration and a hard hat would be a sensible precaution, especially if exploring in rain or strong winds, since bits fall off the factory roofs. A torch is also necessary for some parts. Beware of the office building - all apart from the ground floor are wooden and very unsafe, although the staircase and landings are all concrete.
There is a part to the rear of the site that has obviously been used in recent years as some kind of household fittings retail unit, and it still contains mock bathroom setups etc. It is not falling down as much as the rest of the site but it is still a mess and has been vandalised. It is suspected that it is occasionally accessed since things do move around there, appear, disappear etc. Perhaps someone is using it as some kind of "unofficial" storage.
None of the original factory equipment remains, everything has been stripped. However, little bits and pieces can be found amongst the debris on the floor and a great deal of fun can be had trying to guess what things are!
Anyway - the pictures:
The office block, visible from the street outside.
Hehehe...
Factory floor
The broken roof, with ventilator chimneys
This part of the factory has a small jungle growing in it!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4735563252_0cb299d844_b.jpg
The roof is much better here. Note the old forman's office.
Doors through to the office building and other factory floors
Toilet cublicles - there are many like this dotted around the site
Through to the next factory floor...
A very rusty gantry
Underneath gantry. Probably best not to walk on this!
Another foreman's office / houf
And inside...
Looking through the roof towards the back of the brick office building.
A couple of fallen ventilator chimneys
Another factory floor shot
The office building lift. We couldn't see the lift carriage but it might be lurking somewhere upstairs.
Looking from office building foyer into the overgrown factory floor. We reckon this was the main entrance.
Ground floor of the office building. It is mostly concrete but some sections are wooden - possibly where internal rooms once existed, or possibly areas for displaying carpets on wood.
Light switch board
Up the stairs we go...
First floor, also boarded up. Note the very rotten and missing floorboards!
Second floor - no window boards this time.
Top floor - very bright with the large window along one side. This would probably have been a very pleasant place to work in with all that natural light.
Looking out of a small, floor-level window at the top of the stairs
Looking out over the roofs of a factory floor and some of the retail units
Through to yet another factory floor. This one has been more recently used.
Stripped electric panel with old style meter (cover held on with tape!). The pikeys have been in and stripped all of the wiring out.
The same floor, other direction
Inside the abandoned retail unit, off the factory floor
The dates on paperwork indicates that this has only been empty for a few years. Quite a mess has been made in that time!
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