Folly Hall Mill, Huddersfield, a Grade 2 listed building dating from 1844, is not only significant architecturally - one of a remaining small number of neo-classical spinning mills - but also features prominently in the industrial heritage of Huddersfield.
The mill was in use for nearly 150 years until its closure in 1987. The Jay Tee Group purchased the Mill in 2007, and engaged the in-house resources of the group to sympathetically redevelop the Mill into a building that combines architectural heritage with all the modern facilities you would expect in 21st Century.
1828
The smaller remaining building, 'The Warehouse', was built about 1828.
1844
About 1844, Joseph Kaye, Huddersfield's master builder, constructed the larger of the two buildings now remaining on the site. An earlier mill had burnt down and the new building was designed to be fireproof, with stone floors and sliding metal doors leading to the staircases.
The Fireproof
Originally the floors of The Fireproof were rented out to a variety of traders, but by the early twentieth century it was taken over entirely by Joseph Lumb & Co. for worsted spinning. By the 1930s, the Lumb's site covered a huge area and was largely self-sufficient in gas and electricity.
The astonishing cast iron roof structure in the Fireproof is reminiscent of those in Victorian railway stations. In the latter days of Lumb's, the roof space was used for storage of all kinds of bric-a-brac.
Modern Times
Following a severe decline in the British textile industry in the mid-1970s, Lumb's finally closed in 1980. ATC Dyers, an offshoot of Lumb's and a part of the Allied Textile consortium, remained on the site until 1987.
The site was largely demolished in 1994. 'The Fireproof' has been designated a Grade II listed building.
JayTee Construction Ltd. began redevelopment work in 2008 on 'The Warehouse' and the 'The Fireproof' mill. As JayTee began to redevelop the mill site, it seemed appropriate that the history of the mill should be simultaneously brought to light. Despite the mill's international reputation and its contribution to Huddersfield's cultural and industrial heritage, at the time there was very little information generally available about it. Huddersfield Civic Society engaged Northern Legacy Community Interest Company document the history and to contact the ex-workers, interview them, and find out what life was like at the mill.