Mills at Nuttall
The following are references I have found but I haven’t fully researched the Nuttall Mills as Brenda Richards has done a lot of research regarding Nuttall.
1824 [Baines] Robert Earnshaw - cotton manufacturer Nuttall Lane.
1861 Trade Directory [Drake] James Hardman & Son, Nuttall Lane - cotton spinners & manufacturers.
1861 Trade Directory [Drake] William Grant & Brothers, Nuttall Mills - cotton spinners & manufacturers
1871 Trade Directory [Worrall] William Stead, Nuttall Mills - cotton manufacturers
1871 Trade Directory [Worrall] James Harman & Son, Nuttall Lane - cotton spinners & manufacturers.
1876 Valuation List PUB 8/25 TLE Bury Archives Weaving Shed at Nuttall empty - owners William Grant & Brothers.
1909 Trade Directory[ Kelly] - Nuttall Manufacturing Co.
1910 Valuation List Nuttall Manufacturing Co - Weaving Shed -site owned by
J.Grant Lawson Gross estimated rental value £290.
1924 Trade Directory[ Kelly] - Nuttall Manufacturing Co (1911) Ltd - cotton manufacturers, Nuttall Mill, Nuttall.
From a letter from Joe Hitchon to an RHS member dated 1990 in which he lists some mills and their owners, he says that Nuttall Mill was run by Harold Geldard. Although he doesn’t give any dates for when Geldard was there he is talking about mid 1900s or so.
Kitty McCarthy also makes reference to a Harold Geldard at Nuttall Mill.
The Geldard family operated at another mill in Ramsbottom: Christopher Geldard & Co - manufacturers of cotton goods were at Rose Mill, Irwell Street in 1888 [1888Trade Directory (Slater). It was run by John Geldard & Squire Geldard who were brothers. John Geldard lived at Wellfield House, Nuttall Lane and Squire Geldard lived at 183 Bolton Street, Barwood Mount.
In 1871 (Census) Christopher Geldard age 51, a cotton manufacturer born in Bradford and his wife Jane age 56 born in Clitheroe lived at Chatterton House.
Christopher & Jane’s children were: [from Family Search web site] All born in Clitheroe
Mary Jane born 1851
John Thomas born 1844 married Emily Dyson in 1869 at Chorlton
James Read Geldard born 1848 died 1851
Squire Geldard born 1842 married 1878 at Chorlton but wife’s name unknown.
In 1881John Geldard age 37, a manufacturer of cotton born Clitheroe and his family lived at Brookfield, Tottington Lower End. Harold Geldard was his son and was born in Manchester in about 1874. In 1924 Harold Geldard lived at 192 Peel Brow [1924 Kelly’s Trade Directory]
Brief history of the mills in Nuttall
Outline of latest research information compiled by Brenda Richards, Ramsbottom Heritage Society February 8th 2009
Comments by BR
- There were 3 or more mills at one time or another – difficult to distinguish between them as they all are described as Nuttall Mills and often under same ownership and it not yet known if one was built on the same site as another.
2 BR has fuller information on file.
- Considerably more research to be done- eg checks of Poor Rate Assessments
- Note some information is based on people’s recorded memories/knowledge and not otherwise sourced.
- 1627/8 ‘fulling mill lying or being in Nuttall’
Names: Henry Nuttall and Charles Nuttall
( court rolls of Manor of Tottington Easter 1628)
- 1791 Nuttall cotton mills
Rev. Richard Formby who had inherited the Nuttall Estate via marriage to Ann Lonsdale, a descendant of the De Notoghs put an advert in the Manchester Mercury offering to let a ‘fine stream of water…..together with any quantity of land’ for industrial use.
(Manchester Mercury – 13th September 1791)
1792 A 21 year lease of land from Nuttall Hall to Shipperbottom Estate was taken by Richard Alsop, merchant, of Ordsall.
‘On January 6th 1794, Richard Alsop Snr, James and John Alsop, James Diggle and Richard Alsop Jnr., Manchester cotton merchants and manufacturers, insured a new five-storeyed mill at Nuttall (a mile below Ramsbottom for £800 and its millwright’s work for £200.
A second Sun fire office policy of March 21st 1795, is for the same amounts, which suggests that is late ‘Arkwright’ may have spun little or even remained empty during its first years.
(Chris Aspin Water Spinners pub 2003 by Helmshore Local History Society)
(Alsop’s mill was probably the mill nearest Nuttall Bridge-BR)
The Alsops made muslin and dimities.
(per dictionary – dimity is ‘ a sheer, crisp cotton fabric with raised woven stripes or checks, used chiefly for curtains and dresses’)
1795 A ‘factory building’, a joiner’s shop’ and ‘smithy’ in addition to three ‘dwelling houses’ occupied by James ELTON, Joseph CROWTHER and Joseph WEBSTER, all with a total rateable value of £85.0s.0d and occupied by Alsop and Co.
A note indicated that there were several other cottages then under construction, but these were not valued
In November 1809, Richard ALSOP, John ALSOP and Richard ALSOP Jnr., insured the factory with the Sun for $1,5000, millwright’s work for £300 and the machinery for £700. Additional policies with the Royal Exchange and Phoenix fire offices covered the machines for an extra £2000.
(Chris Aspin Water Spinners pub 2003 by Helmshore Local History Society)
‘In 1811 ‘Crompton recorded that it contained 5,656 spindles
but this does not tell us much about its condition under the Grants, first because this was a period of depression which coincided with the death of Alsop and second because, as William Grant wrote later, after purchasing the mill (1812) they “ordered the manager to get new machinery of the first rate construction and greatly extended the building”
(A letter quoted of 1839 by HUME ELLIOT, The Country and Church of the Cheeryble Brothers. Selkirk 1893 pp 42-3 quoted by S. Hamilton p.54)
‘In 1812 the brothers bought a spinning mill ‘to feed’ the Old Ground Mill. The Mill in Nuttall owned by the ALSOPS, was in an isolated spot, workers cottages huddled together near their source of employment. When the GRANTs bought it the workers were in a sorry state. Alsops had been doing badly- this was war-time and many a bankruptcy of collapse was caused by insecurity of the raw cotton supplies. Especially after the outbreak of war with America in 1812 and by the earlier crippling of export markets by the continental system.
The workers had been on permanent short time and were in a pitiable state. The GRANTS gave them each a new outfit and rebuilt and extended the mill’
(W.Hume Elliott The Country and Church of the Cheeryble Brothers 1893 p.42 quoting letter by William Grant 1839)
The Mill at Nuttall, bought by Messrs Grant in 1812, was, we believe, run for a while by Mr Robert Wild of Nuttall who came from Rochdale in the latter part of last century. He married a daughter of Mr Barcroft of Nuttall Hall farm, where he afterwards resided. He was the father of John and Thomas Wild…… gives descendants’
((W.Hume Elliott, The Country and Church of the Cheeryble Brothers 1893 p.43)
3.? Second Mill.
In 1799 and 1800 advertisements referred to a mill “about to be erected, on a fall of
water nearly 19 feet, upon the River Irwell near Nuttall Hall”.
Hume Elliot mentioned a Robert Wild who was believed to have run the other mill between Alsop’s death and its purchase by the Grants and it is possible that Wild owned this second mill.
- ?Third Mill
It also appears that the Grants built a third mill (factory) for on 3rd September 1814. Thomas Barcroft recorded that he had
‘agreed with John and Charles Grant to get and lead stons [aid] for a factory 30 yards long and 12 wide at 1/6 £0.075] pr. Yard to be paid 3d[£0.01] pr. foot for windows tops bottoms and doorstons likewise for a cottage at same prise [sic].
(Account book of Thomas Barcroft of Nuttall Village, 1804-1822. lent by R.R.Carmyllie- quoted by S.Hamilton p.54)
5 .General information relating to all these cotton mills
‘During its p(b?)almy days Nuttall had at least three mills and the stone blocks which housed the water wheels can still be located in the undergrowth’
(Fred Campbell, Nuttall was a village, Aug 1972- at Ramsbottom Library cuttings
(Vol 20 OH 8)
In 1825 The Grants employed ‘upwards of one thousand industrious individuals’ presumably at the two mills and the printworks and including domestic weavers (J. Corry The History of Lancashire, II London 1825, p 658 quoted by S .Hamilton p55)
1833 Irwell Reservoir Scheme
Nuttall Cotton Mills – Grant & Brothers
Fall 27 ft 11 ins One water wheel 15 ft wide, 28 ft 31/2 ins diam
Their manager affirms that in 7 years they have only lost 7½ days from being short of water.
(Peter EWART and T. ASHWORTH’s Observation upon the Mills, power and Waterfalls - Survey of 76 mills and other works)
‘….The mill……Its power came from what was said to be the biggest water wheel in Europe, before steam became the normal driving power….So big was the water wheel and when it was sold for scrap, the dealer had to break it up by blasting’
(1988 Fred Campbell news cutting A65.7 Bury Library)
1841 Census information - William Grant, Manager, Nuttall
(this refers to Nuttall Mills owned by his cousins William Grant & Bros)
1842 Tottington Lower End Tithe Map shows two mill sites. One site is near to Gollinrod Bridge and one is further down the river towards Nuttall Bridge. The one near Gollinrod Bridge is described as ‘weaving sheds and spinning mills – owned by William Grant & Bros’
The one near Nuttall Bridge is not numbered or described in the schedule which possibly means it was out of use.
There is a picture of this mill in ruins in Hume Elliott’s Country and Church of the Cheeryble Brothers published 1893 (p.48).
Hume Elliott also says Nuttall was a thriving village for fifty years or more after it came into the hands of the Grants which meant it was thriving till 1862 or more.
1860 Drake Trade Directory mentions William Grant& Bros, Nuttall Mills (cotton spinners and manufacturers) so maybe one or two mills closed between 1860-1862 or more.
The mill near Nuttall Bridge is the one depicted in the famous early 1900 photo in a derelict state.
1905 ‘One mill was burnt out, and never rebuilt; its fire scared shell remains with gaping windows; all the other mills are closed and have been long silent’
(1905 article in Ramsbottom Observer 1905 describing a walk led by William Hume Elliot around Ramsbottom for member of the Manchester Branch of the Dickenson Fellowship)
‘In its heyday, during the time of the Grants, it had three factories and many houses. Two of the factories were burnt down and never rebuilt. The photograph, taken at the turn of the century, shows the ruins of one of the mills. The people on the photograph most probably all worked at the surviving mill, the gates of which can be seen on the right’.
(Ken Beetson’s first book
Kitty McCarthy (born c1900), remembered Nuttall Mill working and ‘a manager called Mr. H Geldard and also a Mr Bent White who lived near the Liberal Club’. She adds ‘Later on a Mr. Fielding and his daughter came. However money was lost in the mills’. She talks of a mill opposite Robins shop which would be the mill near Gollinrod Bridge
She also talks of a three storeyed building near the shop ‘but she never knew anyone living in it’
She also says ‘Nuttall Cotton Mill was destroyed by fire in 1910
(Kitty McCarthy, Memories of Nuttall Village 1992)
All mills were derelict by 1942
(Mary Read, Memories on tape Aug 06)
The Villagers who remained were mainly employed in a mill in Summerseat, and a Chemical factory in Nuttall but after this closed in 1952 the villagers left. I believe the council condemned houses around 1952 and they were demolished
1988
Stone chimney at Nuttall Village to be pulled down. Once part of a thriving mill owned by the famous Grant family, the chimney has deteriorated over the years. Several large stones have fallen from its peak and it has been described as potentially dangerous’
(1988 Fred Campbell news cutting A65.7 Bury Library)
Mills at Nuttall - additions by Kath Haddock
1809 Tottington Lower End Poor Rate Assessment. [From Bren Richards May 2009)
Richard Alsop & Co: 1 Nuttall Hall Factory £42.10.0/£10.12.6.
1 Nuttall Hall & 10 cottages £9.0.0/£2.5.0
1 Nuttall Hall & 11 cottages £6.0.0./£1.10.0
1 Nuttall Hall 3 cottages £3.15.0./£0.18.9
1 Nuttall Hall, 3 cottages £1.17.6/£0.9.4 ½
Chorley Gorton & Co 234 Nuttalls Tenement & Factory £14.0.0/£3.10.0
234 Factory (new addition) £11.17.6/£o.14.4 ½
234 Factory, 4 houses & collars £4.10.0/£1.2.6
234 Smiths Shop £1.0.0/£0.5.0
234 Barn £1.0.0/£0.5.0
John Gorton 234 Nuttalls new loom shop, part £8.15.0/£2.3.9
1824 [Baines] Robert Earnshaw - cotton manufacturer Nuttall Lane.
1861 Trade Directory [Drake] James Hardman & Son, Nuttall Lane - cotton spinners & manufacturers.
1861 Trade Directory [Drake] William Grant & Brothers, Nuttall Mills - cotton spinners & manufacturers
1864 Bury Union Valuation List for the Township of Tottington Lower End 1864
- PUB8/22 [Bury Archives].
- Nuttall Mills - owner/occupiers - Wm Grant & Bros
Mill 5 ¼ storeys 5364 sq yds
New part of Mill 3 storeys 594 sq yds
Grinding Room 1 storey 40 sq yds
Gangway 1 storey 12 sq yds
Gate House 1 storey 23 sq yds
Office & Warehouse 3 ½ storeys 1421 sq yds
Smithy 1 storey 66 sq yds
Part of Mill 4 ½ storeys 1782 sq yds
Weaving Shed 1 storey 2750 sq yds
Cylinder Room 1 storey 259 sq yds
Lime & Store Sheds 1 storey 76 sq yds
Size House 1 storey 47 sq yds
Boiler House 1 storey 206 sq yds
Chimney
Engine Power
Water Power
Weigh House
Gross Estimated Rental £1269
- Nuttall Lane - owners/occupiers J.R, & S. Hardman
Mill 3 storeys 651 sq yds
? of engine house 1 storey 11 sq yds
Shed 1 storey 492 sq yds
Add. To Shed 1 storey 180 sq yds
Engine Power
Chimney
Gross Estimated Rental £157.5.0
- Nuttall Lane - owners/occupiers Law/ce Stead Bros
Weaving Shed 1 storey 2440 sq yds
Outhouses 1 storey 19 sq yds
Engine House 1 storey 22 sq yds
Stable 2 storeys 85 sq yds
Gig House 1 storey 18 sq yds
Engine Power
Chimney
Gross Estimated Rental £175.0.0.
1871 Trade Directory [Worrall] William Stead, Nuttall Mills - cotton manufacturers
1871 Trade Directory [Worrall] James Hardman & Son, Nuttall Lane - cotton spinners & manufacturers.
1876 Valuation List PUB 8/25 TLE Bury Archives Weaving Shed at Nuttall empty - owners William Grant & Brothers.
1909 Trade Directory[ Kelly] - Nuttall Manufacturing Co.
1910 Valuation List Nuttall Manufacturing Co - Weaving Shed -site owned by
J.Grant Lawson Gross estimated rental value £290.
1924 Trade Directory[ Kelly] - Nuttall Manufacturing Co (1911) Ltd - cotton manufacturers, Nuttall Mill, Nuttall.
From a letter from Joe Hitchon to an RHS member dated 1990 in which he lists some mills and their owners, he says that Nuttall Mill was run by Harold Geldard. Although he doesn’t give any dates for when Geldard was there he is talking about mid 1900s or so.
The Geldard family operated at another mill in Ramsbottom: Christopher Geldard & Co - manufacturers of cotton goods were at Rose Mill, Irwell Street in 1888 [1888Trade Directory (Slater). It was run by John Geldard & Squire Geldard who were brothers. John Geldard lived at Wellfield House, Nuttall Lane and Squire Geldard lived at 183 Bolton Street, Barwood Mount.
In 1871 (Census) Christopher Geldard age 51, a cotton manufacturer born in Bradford and his wife Jane age 56 born in Clitheroe lived at Chatterton House.
Christopher & Jane’s children were: [from Family Search web site] All born in Clitheroe
Mary Jane born 1851
John Thomas born 1844 married Emily Dyson in 1869 at Chorlton
James Read Geldard born 1848 died 1851
Squire Geldard born 1842 married 1878 at Chorlton but wife’s name unknown.
In 1881John Geldard age 37, a manufacturer of cotton born Clitheroe and his family lived at Brookfield, Tottington Lower End. Harold Geldard was his son and was born in Manchester in about 1874. In 1924 Harold Geldard lived at 192 Peel Brow [1924 Kelly’s Trade Directory]
July 1967 - 175ft chimney demolished Nuttall Lane. 450 tons of stone. [Newspaper article found in RHS Archive at Ramsbottom Civic Hall March 2009]