Havelock Mills

The mill was a large silk mill and early spinning mill. It was granted Grade II listed building status but was demolished in 1992. The site is now occupied by the Evershed Building. Demolition of the Grade II listed building was controversial but went ahead after protests and a public inquiry. Before demolition, the developer agreed to a programme of structural tests on the building frame sponsored by English Heritage and the Department of Trade and Industry. The designer of the frame is anonymous, but it is in the style of the Manchester engineer William Fairbairn. After demolition Joe Marsh and Tom Swaile of UMIST arranged for part of the iron frame to be re-erected on the UMIST campus.…

Havelock Mills were two interlinked L-shaped multi-storey mills. They were notable in that the mill built in 1820 was a silk-mill and the second, built in 1840 was a fire-proof cotton mill. The silk mill was of six storeys over a basement and had 18 bays facing Great Bridgewater Street (Nos 72 and 74). The windows had raised sills and wedge lintels. Three bays were blind. The doorways were round-headed with rusticated long-and-short surrounds. The 20-bay west range had segmental-headed windows with raised sills, and loading doors on most floors, the octagonal chimney was in the south-west corner. The rear of the main range had a garderobe turret (privy tower) to the right and a…