Historic mill on the market for £100,000

ONE OF the foremost survivors of Yorkshire’s woollen age is for sale for just £100,000.

Grade II-listed Old Lane Mills in Halifax is to be auctioned by agents Savills this week after years of decay and dereliction.

It is a far cry from its beginnings in the 1820s, when worsted entrepreneur James Akroyd built one of the largest complexes in the district in a steam-powered building said to be fireproof.

It was the first to have stone floors to support the new looms he imported and even had a branch of a penny bank inside.

It later passed into the Rawson banking family, whose clients included the Listers of Shibden Hall and who appear in the BBC period drama Gentleman Jack .Itwas known as Rawson’s Mill during their tenure.

It was a dyeworks for a period before a fire in 1905 when it was occupied by Allen North & Company. Historic England now cite it as the oldest and largest surviving example of a multi-storey – it has six floors – steam-powered, iron-framed textile mill in Halifax. The mill, which is privately owned, has been derelict and empty for decades, and the adjoining boilerhouse and chimney, which are also listed, are also in poor condition.

Two property development companies are believed to have owned the mill in recent years and although planning permission was obtained for conversion into 56 apartments, work never began. Consent granted in 2013, has since lapsed.

Savills say it has potential for residential, commercial/office use or for conversion into a care home. The auction takes place on June 14.