46 Halifax Road Todmorden. OL14 5QG T: 01706 813214 J. David Storah Arch. Tech. Cert. E: [email protected] Richard A. Storah Dip. Arch. MA Cons (York) RIBA SCA AABC IHBC W: www.storah.com Conservation Management Plan Queen Street Mill, Burnley Our Ref: 12-044 February 2013 (Revised March 2014) RIBA Chartered Practice Architect Accredited in Royal Institute of British Architects Building Conservation Conservation Management Plan: Site Contents Introduction Commissioning and authorship About conservation planning. Aims, use and review Publication Section 1 − Understanding the heritage Section 2 − Statement of significance Section 3 – Risks and opportunities (Discussion draft - not included) Section 4 – Policies (Discussion draft - not included) Bibliography and Information Sources Appendix 1 Statutory Designations and Descriptions Scheduled Monument Listed Building Conservation Area Storah Architecture Contents: p. 1 of 1 February 2013 Our Ref: 12-044 (Revised March 2014) CMP Section 1: Conservation Statement: Queen Street Mill, Burnley 1 BACKGROUND TO THE CONSERVATION STATEMENT 1.1 Introduction Storah Architecture has been commissioned by Lancashire County Council to prepare a Conservation Management Plan for Queen Street Mill Textile Museum. The first stage in this plan will be a Conservation Statement presented as a discussion document to assess the significance of the building, its setting and its contents. Stakeholders who have an interest in the site will be then be able to comment on the document and help inform the management process. This statement has been prepared by CE Mace MA (Bldgs Archae.) and Richard Storah BA (Hons) Dip. Arch, MA Cons. RIBA SCA AABC IHBC 1.2 Queen Street Mill - A Summary Queen Street Mill Queen Street Mill is a steam‐powered weaving shed located in the mill village of Harle Syke above the town of Burnley, Lancashire. Today, with its sister museum at Helmshore, Haslingden it forms part of the Museum of Lancashire Textiles Industry. The Mill is quite unique as it still contains its own working steam engine which powers original looms by intact drive systems. The mill was built and run by a village co‐operative and continued to operate until 1982. Recognised for its historic importance the site was bought by Burnley Borough Council, and when faced with later financial uncertainty taken over by Lancashire County Council. Set beside its mill lodge on the edge of open countryside the complex typifies the Lancashire Cotton Industry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The site contains a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Queen Street Mill Engine, which is currently being rescheduled under English Heritage’s revision of the National Heritage List, List ID 1005085. The scheduled site consists of the engine and its house and boiler house and the flue and chimney. The buildings are listed, grade 1. The site is within the Harle Syke Conservation Area. 1.3 Location The mill is located in Harle Syke a former mill village on the outskirts of Burnley, Lancashire. Part of the village including the setting of the mill is designated a Conservation Area. 1.4 Ownership The mill has been owned by Lancashire County Council Museum Service since 1997. 1.5 Purpose and scope of the statement The conservation statement is intended to provide an understanding of the historical development of the school and its site. It examines and evaluates the significance of the building. It is intended to be the first stage of a Conservation Management Plan which when completed will form a single, comprehensive document that can be used to: Consider the scope for change in relation to significance; Provide clear guidelines for the testing and evaluation of new development proposals or for materials changes to the site; Help prepare long-term conservation programmes for the site; Make day-to-day decisions with regard to maintenance and repair. Storah Architecture Section 1. p. 1 of 33 February 2013 Job Ref: 12-044 Rev: March 2014 CMP Section 1: Conservation Statement: Queen Street Mill, Burnley 1.6 Limitations This report outlines the significance of the building and is not designed to be a full historical account or comprehensive description. Appropriate sources have been consulted to inform an understanding of the Building but Storah Architecture recognise that further primary sources and literature are available. Management issues such as fire safety, Building Regulations and access and the condition of spaces and finishes are outside the scope of this conservation statement. It should also be noted that the listed building description (attached as an appendix) is compiled to identify the building and is not a thorough record of the Building’s features. 1.7 Updating the conservation statement The conservation statement should not be considered as being static; updating and amendment may be required as circumstances change. This document should therefore be considered as part of an on going exercise, to be updated at intervals of not more than five years, or whenever changing circumstances demand. 1.8 Acknowledgements Storah Architecture are grateful for the assistance and advice given by the staff at Lancashire County Council Museum Service and at Queen Street Mill. Thanks are also due to staff at Lancashire Records Office and Burnley Library. 2 UNDERSTANDING 2.1 Context 2.1.1 Setting - Harle Syke Until the mid‐nineteenth century the Harle Syke area was a quiet Pennine hamlet in the sprawling Briercliffe with Extwistle Township which developed through handloom weaving and stone quarrying on a modest scale. The next 50 years would see the village develop into an important textile centre with the introduction of mechanised weaving. By the time of the early twentieth century it had developed a grid‐iron layout of workers’ housing amongst the mill buildings, so typical of the Cotton Industry which had transformed the area. Such is the historic and architectural setting of Queen Street Mill that the townscape is designated a Conservation Area. When first designated in 1977 it was stated the area included “the main elements of a typical Lancashire textile town at the turn of the century, all in remarkably authentic condition”. One interesting note to make about the village is the spirit of ‘co‐operation’ amongst the textile workers in Harle Syke. Beginning in January 1856 with the registering of the Haggate Joint Stcok Commercial Company the village was to spawn a whole series of co‐operative manufacturing concerns founded by working people. Probably initially founded to provide work for themselves by handloom weavers facing unemployment, these companies evolved until eventually there were five such concerns accounting for over half the looms in the Briercliffe area. Fig 1. Historic Ordnance Survey map of Harle Syke Storah Architecture Section 1. p. 2 of 33 February 2013 Job Ref: 12-044 Rev: March 2014 CMP Section 1: Conservation Statement: Queen Street Mill, Burnley 2.1.2 Lancashire Cotton Industry Of the many cotton weaving mills that once existed in Lancashire Queen Street Mill is the only one left that is steam powered and has its original machinery intact. The fact that the engine and its boilers are conserved in working order and driving original machinery in situ means the power unit is of exceptional significance. This is reflected in its designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It could be that the mill is unique in the world as the only remaining example of a nineteenth century steam‐powered textile factory. The machinery is deemed to be of national Importance as outlined below. Designated collection As well as machinery from the end of working at the site the Museum is now home to an important textile machinery collection, both these factors affect the significance of the site. The historic collections cared for by the Lancashire County Museum Service are a ‘Designated collection’ as defined by the Arts Council’s Designation Scheme. Designation Scheme The Designation Scheme identifies the pre-eminent collections of national and international importance held in England’s non-national museums, libraries and archives, based on their quality and significance. These inspiring collections represent a vital part of our cultural and artistic heritage. As English Heritage’s Conservation Principles suggests “Historically-associated objects can make a major contribution to the significance of a place, and association with the place can add heritage value to those objects.” The Museum itself adds to the site’s significance when a place “has been created around accumulated collections…the relationship between the objects… and the place is fundamental to the significance of the place” (English Heritage 2008, 38). 2.1.3 Development The Queen Street Manufacturing Company was established in 1894. That year work began on the stone building that was to house the enterprise. The main frontage was three‐storey with attic and included process areas, warehouse and office space. The single‐storey 40,000 square foot weaving shed was built with a north‐light roof on cast‐iron columns forming 19 valley bottoms. The shed was constructed in two phases. The first section was erected in 1895. When finances allowed the shed was extended along its Harrison Street frontage in 1901. It was powered by a horizontal tandem compound engine, Prudence, by Roberts of Nelson housed in an engine house to the south east corner. Driving a 14’ flywheel the engine originally produced 350 horsepower. Adjacent was the boiler house which originally housed an 8’ 6” Lancashire boiler, with an economiser, by Tinker, Shenton and Co. of Hyde. Coal would be obtained from the nearby Bank Hall colliery. The mill lodge was constructed to the south of the site to provide water and the chimney built in red brick. A stone and brick stable block was erected to house the mill’s four horses. The 36” wide ‘grey cloth’ produced by the mill would need to be taken down into Burnley or elsewhere for finishing.