| Building: | Dean Clough Mills |
| Location: | Halifax, West Yorkshire |
| Region: | Yorkshire and Humberside |
| Listed status: |
Visit the official Dean Clough Mill site, or the Global Ideas Bank page/questionnaire about Dean Clough Mills.
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Twentieth century travellers passing to or from Halifax across North Bridge by day or night cannot miss seeing the words &8220;Dean Clough&8221; in very large letters atop a very large mill! |
Dean Clough is a complex of multi-storied granite buildings in the centre of Halifax, it was built 1840-60 for carpet manufacturer Crossley. By 1860 it was the town's biggest employer. It covered 18 acres with 5,000 people. In the twentieth century the firm taken over by Carpets International. The scale of operations was steadily reduced and the mills were closed down in 1983.
Industrial Park; 200 firms include small businesses, major insurance companies and the local VAT office. Calderdale Business Information Centre; cafes/restaurants; art gallery; conference facilities; etc.
c.1,500.
The development is privately owned by Sir Ernest Hall who bought Dean Clough because he saw it as an opportunity to create an exciting working environment with supporting cultural, educational and leisure activities.
1.25 million square feet
Sir Ernest Hall used his own money to buy and develop Dean Clough. He wanted to be free to do things his way, to support tenants as he wished, and to develop the project at a speed that he thought appropriate. It would have been possible for him to apply for an urban development grant or a grant from the European Regional Development Fund, but this would have involved relatively long application times and commitment to a building timetable that would have removed some of his flexibility. He might have raised some private institutional finance, but the project had little security to offer, nor did it offer the rapid returns of normal property development.
Although grants were not applied for, a good relationship was developed with the local authority, to ensure that the scheme was supported from the outset.
Details of the amounts spent on the scheme are not available.
One major building demolished to open up congested core of site. No major interventions into other buildings. Works include mainly repainting, new electrics, plumbing, and insertion of partitioning to create workspaces.
Flexibility has been the keynote of the Dean Clough project. The buildings were large enough to provide a range of different types of space.
Sir Ernest Hall
Chairman
Dean Clough Industrial Park Ltd
Halifax
HX3 5AX