Tulketh Mill Balcarres Street Ashton-on-Ribble Preston

The Mill contained 127,400 Mule Spindles and 12,600 Ring Spindles, spinning Super Quality Egyptian Yarns The mill was completed in 1906 and extended (left end) in 1918. Five storeys. Concrete floors and steel beams on cast iron columns. Red brick with yellow brick banding.

Located in northwest Preston, Tulketh Mill is a late Edwardian cotton spinning mill that has retained its engine house, ornate water tower and tall chimney. This 104,000 sq m listed building was designed by Fred Dixon of Oldham and constructed for the Tulketh Spinning Company in 1905. The main five storey building is rectangular and flat roofed. It is constructed of almost six million machine made Accrington red bricks, with decorative bands of yellow bricks. The mill was built in 42 x 13 bays. This provides natural illumination via fenestration, in the manner of the later cotton spinning mills. Internally, the floors are supported from cast iron columns by steel beam, with concrete flooring for maximum fire protection. The six bay engine house is situated adjacent to the east wall, near the southeast corner of the main building. The last of the internal machinery was removed for scrap during the 1960s. Near the southwest corner of the main building there is single storey office, and an ornate seven‑storey water tower. The tower is surmounted by an octagonal high pitched slate roof with an octagonal dome and finial top. Formerly used by Tyco International as a warehouse, the mill was restored by Williams Tarr for £6m in 2007. It is now used as a mail order and catalogue distribution call centre, as well as housing a private company hotel for staff attending training courses.

Reference    Hartwell: Lancashire North page 534
Reference    "A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Lancashire" by Michael Nevell and David George. Association for Industrial Archaeology, Annual Conference, Preston, 2007
Reference    "The Industrial Archaeology of Lancashire" by Owen Ashmore. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969