Malta Mill, Middleton

Malta
Cotton

Location within Greater Manchester
Spinning (mule twist mill)
Location	Chadderton
Serving canal	Rochdale Canal
Serving railway	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Further ownership	Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930s)
Coordinates	53°32′53″N 2°10′09″W / 53.5481°N 2.1692°W / 53.5481; -2.1692
Construction
Completed	1904
Power
Date	1904
Engine maker	Buckley & Taylor
Decommissioned	1963
Engine type	vertical triple expansion engine
Valve Gear	Corliss valves on all cylinders
rpm	72rpm
Flywheel diameter	22ft
Transmission type	rope
No. of ropes	32
Boiler configuration
Boilers	Twin Lancashire, coal fired
Pressure	160psi
Equipment
Mule Frames	twist
References
^[1]

Malta Mill, Middleton is a former cotton spinning mill in the Mills Hill area of Chadderton, Greater Manchester. It lies alongside the Rochdale Canal. It was built in 1904 as a new mule mill, by F. W. Dixon The engine stopped in 1963. The building still stands.

Prior to 1933 boundary changes the mill lay within Middleton.

History

Historically a part of Lancashire, Middleton took its name from being situated in the centre of several circumjacent settlements. In 1770, Middleton was a village of 20 houses; during the 18th and 19th centuries it grew into a thiving and populous seat of textile manufacture, so much so that Middleton was granted borough status in 1886.

During the Middle Ages, Middleton was a centre of domestic flannel and woollen cloth production. Industrial scale textile manufacture was introduced to Middleton as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Middleton became a centre for silk production in the 18th century, which developed into a cotton spinning industry by the mid 19th-century and which continued through to the mid-20th century.^[2] Rochdale rose to prominence during the 19th century as a major mill town and centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the first ever industrialised towns.^[3] The Rochdale Canal—one of the major navigable broad canals of the United Kingdom—was a highway of commerce during this time used for the haulage of cotton, wool, coal to and from the area.^[3] In 1882, Rochdale the home of industrial co-operatives, embraced the joint stock limited company and new mills were financed and built.^[4] Its ownership model was slightly different from that of Oldham, and more shares remained in the hands of the operatives. The Rochdale Limiteds were some of the first to adopt ring spinning.

Malta Mill was one of a cluster of mills built in 1904–05.

The industry peaked in 1912 when it produced 8 billion yards of cloth. The Great War of 1914–18 halted the supply of raw cotton, and the British government encouraged its colonies to build mills to spin and weave cotton. The war over, Lancashire never regained its markets. The independent mills were struggling. The Bank of England set up the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 to attempt to rationalise and save the industry.^[5] Malta Mill, Middleton was one of 104 mills bought by the LCC, and one of the 53 mills that survived through to 1950.

Malta Mill still stands in 2010 and is used by many businesses; including for document storage and as a bonded warehouse.

Architecture

Power

Driven by a 1200 hp vertical triple expansion engine by Buckley & Taylor, 1904. It had a 22 ft flywheel, 32 ropes operating at 72rpm. Its cylinders, 20"HP, 32"IP, 52"LP, had a 4 ft stroke. It was steamed at 160psi. 72rpm. 22 ft flywheel, 32 ropes. Corliss valves on all cylinders. The air pump was driven from LP crosshead. It had an eight bearing crankshaft. ^[6]

Equipment

110,160 mule spindles in 1915.

Usage

Owners

Lancashire Cotton Corporation (1930s–1964)
Courtaulds (1964–

Lancashire cotton

Architects	Stott Sidney Stott (later Sir Philip) Edward Potts Potts, Pickup & Dixon F.W. Dixon & Son Bradshaw Gass & Hope

Engine makers	Daniel Adamson Ashton Frost Ashworth & Parker Bateman & Sherratt Boulton & Watt Browett, Lindley & Co Buckley & Taylor Carels Frères Earnshaw & Holt Fairbairn W & J Galloway & Sons Benjamin Goodfellow Hick, Hargreaves & Co Benjamin Hick and Sons John Musgrave & Sons J & W McNaught Petrie of Rochdale William Roberts & Co of Nelson George Saxon Scott & Hodgson Urmson & Thompson Yates of Blackburn Yates & Thom Willans & Robinson J & E Wood Woolstenhulmes & Rye

Machinery makers	Brooks & Doxey Butterworth & Dickinson Curtis, Parr & Walton Dobson & Barlow John Hetherington & Sons Joseph Hibbert John Pilling and Sons Harling & Todd Howard & Bullough Geo. Hattersley Asa Lees Mather & Platt Parr, Curtis & Madely British Northrop Loom Co Pemberton & Co Platt Brothers Taylor, Lang & Co Textile Machinery Makers Tweedales & Smalley T. Wildman & Sons

Ancillary firms	Oldham Limiteds Fine Spinners and Doublers Lancashire Cotton Corporation Combined Egyptian Mills Ltd Courtaulds Bagley & Wright

Industrial processes	Textile manufacturing Cotton-spinning machinery Dref Friction Spinning Dandy loom Magnetic ring spinning Open end spinning Ring spinning Spinning frame Spinning jenny Spinning mule Steaming Water frame Roberts Loom Lancashire Loom

Associations	Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen's Association Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union Amalgamated Weavers' Association Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union General Union of Loom Overlookers Northern Textile and Allied Workers' Union National Union of Textile and Allied Workers United Textile Factory Workers' Association

Employment practices	More looms Kissing the shuttle Mule spinners' cancer Piece-rate list

Lists of mills	LCC mills Bolton Bury Cheshire Derbyshire Lancashire Manchester Oldham (borough) Preston Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Wigan Yorkshire

Museums	Bancroft Shed Helmshore Mills Queen Street Mill Weavers' Triangle Quarry Bank Mill, Styal

Lancashire Cotton Corporation

Bury	Pilot Mill, Bury Wilton Mill, Radcliffe

Bolton	Ainsworth Mill, Breightmet Bolton Union Mill, Bolton Century Mill, Farnworth

Lancashire	Coppull Mill Imperial Mill, Blackburn Mavis Mill

Manchester and Salford	Brunswick Mill, Ancoats May Mill, Pemberton Monton Mill, Eccles

Oldham	Ace Mill, Hollinwood Blackridings Mill, Oldham Dawn Mill, Shaw Fox Mill, Hollinwood Hawk Mill, Shaw Heron Mill, Hollinwood Junction Mill, Middleton Junction Kent Mill, Chadderton Laurel Mill, Middleton Junction Magnet Mill, Chadderton Majestic Mill, Waterhead Manor Mill, Chadderton Newby Mill, Shaw Orme Mill, Waterhead Regent Mill, Failsworth Royd Mill, Oldham Royton Ring Mill, Royton Rutland Mill, Shaw Textile Mill, Chadderton Trent Mill, Shaw

Rochdale	Arkwright Mill, Rochdale Harp Mill, Castleton Malta Mill, Middleton Mars Mill, Castleton

Stockport	Elder Mill, Romiley Kingston Mill, Stockport Palmer Mills, Stockport Vernon Mill, Stockport Welkin Mill, Lower Bredbury

Tameside	Atlas Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Cedar Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Rock Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Saxon Mill, Droylsden Stalybridge Mill, Stalybridge Texas Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Tudor Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne Waterside Mill, Ashton-under-Lyne

Wigan	Empress Mill, Ince May Mill, Pemberton Trencherfield Mill

West Yorkshire	Foxsons Mill, Staincliffe Mons Mill, Todmorden

References

↑ LCC 1951
↑ Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (N.D.), p. 29.
1 2 McNeil, R.; Nevell, M. (2000), A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Greater Manchester, Association for Industrial Archaeology, ISBN 0-9528930-3-7
↑ Williams & Farnie 1992, p. 44
↑ Dunkerley 2009
↑ Roberts 1921

Bibliography

Dunkerley, Philip (2009). "Dunkerley-Tuson Family Website, The Regent Cotton Mill, Failsworth". Retrieved 9 January 2009.
LCC (1951). The mills and organisation of the Lancashire Cotton Corporation Limited. Blackfriars House, Manchester: Lancashire Cotton Corporation Limited.
Roberts, A S (1921), "Arthur Robert's Engine List", Arthur Roberts Black Book. (One guy from Barlick-Book Transcription), retrieved 11 January 2009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Textile mills in Rochdale.

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