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- Murrays' Mills are listed
Grade II* as buildings of special architectural
or historic interest, which puts them in the
top 6% of listed buildings in England. They
are located within the Ancoats Conservation
Area (also known as Ancoats Urban Village),
and are within an area short listed for designation
by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
- The Industrial Revolution shaped
the modern world. Britain led that revolution,
and Manchester can claim to be its first industrial
city.
- The biggest and most lucrative
industry during this period was textiles,
specifically cotton manufacture, and that
industry was centred in Manchester.
- Ancoats was the first suburb
to combine industry and housing, and in 1798
George and Adam Murray completed the first
phase of what is now Manchester's and the
world's oldest surviving steam-powered urban
cotton mill.
- The Murrays' Mills complex
was constructed in one continuous phase from
1798 - 1806
- The Murrays' Mills complex
comprised two separate cotton spinning mills
- the extended Old Mill, now known as Old/Decker
Mill, and New Mill - connected by two warehouse,
preparation and office ranges, to form a large
single development grouped around a central
quadrangle.
- Within the quadrangle were
two engine houses, each housing a Boulton
and Watt steam engine and associated boiler
houses.
- Also in the quadrangle was
large canal basin, linked to the adjacent
Rochdale Canal by a tunnel. This was the route
in for coal and raw cotton, and the route
out for spun cotton.
- Pedestrian and vehicular access
was through an arched opening in the west
face of the quadrangle - the Great Gate. Each
day over a thousand operatives would arrive
before 7.00am - late arrivals were locked
out and lost a day's wages.
- All the buildings that formed
part of the 1806 complex remain today, except
for the four-storey Bengal Street warehouse
wing, which was demolished following a fire
in the mid 1990s. The canal basin, which had
infilled in the early years of the 20th century,
has been re-excavated as part of the restoration
project.
- When completed, Murrays' Mills
were a marvel. Visitors came from the rest
of Britain, Europe and America to see these
vast buildings, housing powered machinery,
illuminated by gas light and operated by 1,300
men, women and children. At a time when Napoleon
sought one future for Europe, Murrays' Mills
showed the way the modern world was really
going.
- Within 10 years of completion,
the Mills were radically re-structured to
take larger and more efficient spinning frames.
The buildings had originally been constructed
to carry light loads and efforts were regularly
made to increase carrying capacity as machinery
became bigger and heavier.
- Murrays' Mills remained in
use for cotton spinning until the late 1950's
- an amazing 160 years - following which they
were used for a variety of light industrial
uses, most of them still related to textiles.
- As the commercial value of
Murrays' Mills reduced, so did any regular
maintenance. The buildings, weak to begin
with, were subjected to water penetration,
timber decay, and failing masonry.
- Ancoats BPT's fundraising campaign
began with an initial, but unsuccessful, bid
to the Heritage Lottery Fund for Townscape
Heritage Initiative funding in 1998. A second
application was made in 1999, which eventually
led to a confirmation of funding of over £7m
in 2003. This was quickly followed by an award
of over £4.5m from the Northwest Regional
Development Agency, which enabled work to
start on site in September 2004.
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Total project cost: £11.9m
Heritage Lottery Fund: £7.2m
Northwest Regional Development
Agency: £4.7m
In addition ABPT has received
considerable support from English Heritage,
the Architectural Heritage Fund and numerous
charitable trusts.
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- External and internal structural
repairs - column strengthening and straightening,
beams repairs, supplementary floor joists,
repairs to roof trusses etc).
- Foundation strengthening -
some of the old mill foundations were less
then 6 inches deep!
- Brickwork repairs, re-pointing
where necessary, and light, non-abrasive cleaning.
- Re-roofing in new Welsh slate,
(random widths, diminishing courses).
- Reinstatement of lost elements,
particularly two storeys of former office/
warehouse accommodation along Murray Street,
and the roof of the New Mill Engine House.
(The lost Bengal Street wing, forming the
fourth side of the original courtyard, will
be rebuilt in a contemporary manner by the
acquiring developer.)
- Provision of new windows to
a small-pane design, metal-framed, double-glazed
and with a high acoustic performance (fitted
to external elevations only; the developer
plans to use a more contemporary window design
for courtyard-facing apertures in the moan
mill buildings)
- Excavation and reinstatement
of the canal basin in the internal courtyard,
which was originally linked to the Rochdale
Canal by a tunnel.
- A competitive tendering exercise
was undertaken in Spring 2004 for the selection
of the main contractor. Wates Construction
were appointed on a traditional JCT contract,
having submitted a tender price within ABPT's
funding budget.
- Construction commenced on 27
September 2004
- The contractor is working to
a practical completion date in June 2006 (90
weeks after project commencement)
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- We have repaired/replaced over
9,000m2 of floorboarding
- We have inserted over 18,000m
(18km) of new timber joists
- 89 tonnes of steel reinforcement
have been incorporated into the foundations
- All the buildings have received
new Welsh slate roofs - 2,400m2 of new slate
roofing
- The repairs have required over
160,000 new handmade bricks
- Almost 17,000 m2 of masonry
has been cleaned
- The buildings include almost
800 new windows, containing over 24,000 glazed
units
- The buildings were fully scaffolded,
using over 23,000m (£23km) of scaffold
board
- During the contract, the contractor
has filled over 400 skips
- Around 1,500m3 of spoil has
been excavated from the canal basin
- Wates estimate that with 80
to 100 men on site each day, the project has
involved over 32,000 man days of labour
Client:
Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (Director;
Kate Dickson)
Architect: Building Design
Partnership, Manchester (Design team leader:
Ken Moth)
Structural Engineers: Building
Design Partnership, Manchester
Quantity Surveyors: Appleyard
& Trew, Altrincham, Manchester
Project Managers: GTMS,
Manchester
Services consultants: Faber
Maunsell
Archaeologists: Oxford
Archaeology North
Fit-out developer: Burrell
Inpartnership Ltd
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- 'Skills, Schools & Stories'
is an integrated programme of activities designed
to provide opportunities for people of all
ages to get involved in the restoration of
Murrays' Mills and the regeneration of Ancoats.
- Skills: A series of
open days has enabled groups of 14 to 19 year
olds to witness and practise construction
skills, especially the specialist conservation
techniques being employed in the Murrays'
restoration project. A construction careers
fair is to take place at Murrays' Mills on
06 June.
- Schools: A teachers'
resource pack has been distributed free of
charge to all Manchester primary schools.
The CD rom will enable Key Stage 2 pupils
to learn more about the heritage of their
local area, with cross-curricular activities
to complement the national curriculum in arts,
humanities and ICT subjects. Around 300 primary
school have enjoyed site visits and school-based
workshops.
- Stories: A group of
volunteers have undergone training sessions
in interviewing techniques and photograph
scanning so that the oral histories and memorabilia
of former residents and workers of Ancoats
can be recorded. Entitled 'Ancoats - All Work
and No Play?' this project aims to build on
the great sense of community in Ancoats and
to rekindle that community spirit through
intergenerational activities and celebrations.
So far over 25 recordings have been made.
The project will culminate in an exhibition
and publication.
- www.skillsschoolsandstories.org.uk:
In due course a website will be established
to reflect each of the three areas highlighted
above. Schools will work with web designers
to place their text and pictures on site;
and sound clips and photographs of both current
and former Ancoats residents will be available.
- Conclusion: We have
worked with Primary Phase Consultants and
the MEWAM web designers from the Manchester
Education Partnership, and with a number of
community groups to develop this project.
The result is an ambitious programme of activities
and events with the potential to engage many
local residents and schools children, with
regeneration agencies and local service providers.
ABPT has attracted new volunteers through
the programme and encouraged participants
to undertake basic skills and other training
on the back of fun activities.
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- In 2004 a competitive process
was undertaken for the selection of a fit-out
developer for the repaired Murrays' Mills,
following an advertisement in the Official
Journal of the European Union and widespread
UK publicity.
- The competition was managed
by the Ancoats Urban Village Company on behalf
of the Northwest Development Regional Agency,
which owns the freehold of the Murrays' site.
Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust and the
Heritage Lottery Fund were closely involved
in the selection process, because of their
investment in the site.
- The selected 'preferred developer'
is a consortium comprising Inpartnership Ltd
and the Burrell Company, both from Edinburgh.
The highly acclaimed practice of Richard Murphy
Architects has been appointed by the developer
to design the conversion proposals
- The competition brief called
for a comprehensive conversion scheme, plus
reinstatement of the lost fourth side of the
Mill courtyard in a contemporary idiom. It
set high aspirations for the site, advocating
a wide range of end uses including some public
access.
- Burrell Inpartnership's proposals
include 130 apartments in the two main mill
buildings along with live/work units, commercial
office space and a boutique hotel in the new
Bengal Street building
- The developer has now secured
listed building consent for his works to the
two main mills and engine houses and hopes
to take possession of the Mill complex shortly,
in order to start conversion work late in
2006.
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Key purpose: 'to preserve for
the benefit of the townspeople of the City of
Manchester and of the nation at large, whatever
of the historical, architectural and constructional
heritage that may exist in and around the Ancoats
area of Manchester in the form of buildings
of particular beauty or historical, architectural
or constructional interest.'
(Extract from our Articles of Association and
Memorandum of Agreement 1995)
- Ancoats Buildings Preservation
Trust (ABPT) was established as a Company
Limited by Guarantee (Number 3139324) in 1995
and as a Registered Charity (Number 1052163)
in 1996.
- Its constitution is based on
the model Memorandum of Agreement & Articles
of Association developed by the Architectural
Heritage Fund. (i.e. ABPT can operate as a
developer, often of last resort, by acquiring
historic properties for repair and refurbishment
for which no commercial developer can find
an economically viable, sympathetic solution
and for which there is no other hope for the
building's rescue and retention).
- On account of its charitable
status as a Building Preservation Trust, the
ABPT can attract grant funding and 'soft'
loans for capital projects from a number of
sources. At present it receives funding and
project management fees for its office operations
and staff from the Northwest Regional Development
Agency, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the
Architectural Heritage Fund. In past years,
supporters have included the Esmee Fairbairn
Foundation, The Pilgrim Trust, Lloyds TSB
and the Bernard Sunley Charitable Trust.
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- Ancoats is often referred to
as 'the World's first industrial suburb' an
edge-of-town industrial estate with associated
housing, community facilities (churches, pubs
and charitable refuges) and related businesses
(glass, cotton and clothing manufacturers).
- The development of Ancoats
was the result of two phenomena associated
with the economic and industrial expansion
of Manchester in the late 18th century. The
first was the increased demand for housing
arising from the rapidly growing population
of the town. The second was the need for suitable
sites for the new breed of textile mills that
could take advantage of emerging technologies:
the development of steam-driven textile machinery.
- The housing expansion began
at the corner of Great Ancoats Street and
Oldham Road, on land owned by the Leigh family.
Building speculation then drove the further
expansion, north-eastwards with plots of land
within a gridiron pattern of streets being
sold to the buildings or terraced and back-to-back
housing.
- The mill development came from
the marriage of steam power technology and
greatly improved spinning machines. The mills
were built along the line of the proposed
Rochdale Canal, the two developments obviously
of mutual benefit to their separate developers.
- In 1851 the population of Ancoats
was 13,000 and there were serious concerns
about overcrowding and poor housing conditions.
- Ancoats contains some very
early examples of slum clearance: Victoria
Square, a block of deck-access flats around
an open courtyard, was opened in 1894 and
accommodated 848 people in 237 double tenements
and 48 single. The terraced properties on
George Leigh Street were amongst the first
built by the Manchester Corporation following
the Act that required councils to provide
accommodation with separate bedrooms for girls,
boys and parents, and 'Sanitary Street' was
named after the committee that instructed
its construction, with the provision of privies
for every house. (All these properties remain
to this day - and all now have internal bathrooms!)
- The Methodists were very active
in Ancoats at the end of the 19th century
- they ran both a men's workhouse and women's
night shelter (with coffee tavern). There
were tens of pubs, however, of which only
five buildings remain and only two of these
are still open.
- The fifty-acre site has been
designated as an Urban Village and in 1999
was included on the UK Government's tentative
list of potential World Heritage Sites (along
with Worsley in Salford, Castlefield and the
canal networks that link them). A nomination
for WHS inscription is to be submitted to
UNESCO in 2008
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- Cotton spinning ceased in Manchester
and other textile related uses were found
for the mills: clothes manufacture, machinery
repairs and warehouses for imported goods'
rag trade.
- The 1960s witnessed further
decline as, during the mass clearance of the
area's terraced homes, the population was
re-housed in the north and east of the city.
The mills, attracting decreasing rents, fell
into disrepair.
- Newspaper printing, one of
Ancoats' 20th Century industries, fell victim
to changes in technology, with the Daily Express
ceasing to be published from its famous black
glass building in 1989.
- The closure of Express Printers
was also the start of Ancoats' renewal, as
the impact of low investment and increasing
unemployment became recognised.
- In 1989, part of Ancoats was
designated a Conservation Area and 13 buildings
listed, 7 of them at Grade 2*, putting
them in the top 6% of listed buildings in
the UK. Subsequently, a number of regeneration
agencies were established including the Ancoats
Urban Village Company. The aim is to rebuild
Ancoats as a place where 5,000 people will
live, work and relax, either in regenerated
historic buildings or new properties of the
highest quality.
- In the late 1990s English Heritage's
Conservation Area Partnership scheme aimed
to 'stop the rot' providing funding to preserve
key buildings with temporary roof coverings,
window boards and the clearance of flammable
materials. Gradually, new public realm works
are improving street surfaces, lighting and
signage, as well as introducing public art.
- In 2002 the North West Development
Agency implemented a Compulsory Purchase Order
Scheme to halt speculative property purchase
in the area, helping to attract highly regarded
developers to create exciting mixed-use schemes.
- Over £14m of Heritage
Lottery Fund and government regeneration grants
has been secured by ABPT to facilitate the
repair and regeneration of the area's most
important listed buildings.
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Please contact us if you would
like a print quality copy of any of the images
below, either by phone: 0161 278 1755 or by
email: abpt@ancoatsbpt.co.uk
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