Helmshore Mills

Wool and Cotton

The mills here at Helmshore are the finest surviving examples of working textile mills dating from the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

The story here starts in 1789 with the construction of the woollen fulling mill (Higher Mill) by the Turner family. This initially processed woollen cloth woven by handloom weavers in their homes. Later, the cloth came from Turners' own mills. These mills were constructed in the 1820s and comprised a spinning mill (Whitaker Mill) adjacent to Higher Mill, and a multi-storied weaving mill (Middle Mill - not part of the museum) further down the road.

On closure, Higher Mill was saved by the Higher Mill Trust who were founded to preserve this unique example of a fulling mill. The only two complete fulling mills still in existence are Higher Mill at Helmshore and one in the Kirka National Park in Croatia

Higher Mill processed woollen cloth until 1967. Until the 1950s it was solely water-powered.

On 20 Jan 1857 Whitaker Mil, the woollen spinning mill, was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and reopened in the late 1860s as a fine cotton spinning mill. This continued until the 1920s when it was reconfigured as a cotton condenser spinning mill which processed waste cotton from the surrounding industry. It finally closed in 1978 and became part of the museum.