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Shame this mill is soooooooo abused it would have housed a well nice engine in the old engine house.....
Built 1907 by the Hartford Mill (Oldham)Co Ltd. Extended 1920 and 1924. Closed 1959 and used by Littlewoods as a mail order warehouse until 1992. Architect was F W Dixon, there were 120,000 spindles and power was provided by a very impressive 1500 hp Urmson & Thompson engine.
history on the engine builders
John Urmson and John E Thompson started business in 1865 in Hathershaw, Oldham. While Urmson was a trained engineer who had worked at Woolstenhulmes & Rye, Thompson is thought to have contributed capital. Thompson died in 1882, and Urmson with his sons John and Andrew continued the business. On the sons' death in 1888 the firm was incorporated, and continued until 1933.[1]
The firm operated out of the Hathershaw Foundry. Initially millwrights, in the 1870s they started making stationary steam engines as well. From 1904 they made a series of large mill engines. The largest was a 2000ihp engine for Ace Mill Co. Ltd., Chadderton in 1914. This was erected in 1919.
The later engines were large. Arthur Roberts reported that Hartford Mill was powered by a 1800 hp twin-tandem compound engine by Urmson and Thompson, built in 1907. It was steamed at 160 psi at 68 rpm. It had a 5 ft stroke driving a 24 ft flywheel. The transmission method was a rope drive using 40 ropes. The engine was reputed to be the only twin-tandem that Urmson & Thompson built. It had two 30" diameter HP (high-pressure) cylinders at the rear, and two 60" LP (low-pressure) cylinders in front. There were Corliss valves on all cylinders. The air pumps were driven from each crosshead. There was a Whitehead governor. The engine cost £5400 and the three boilers cost £1900.
Mills driven by Urmson & Thompson engines
Urmson & Thompson produced mill engines in the boom years of the 1870s, and millwrighted (ie produced the bevelled gear shafts) for mills such as Nile Mill, Chadderton. The period 1904–1914 was productive, when they created engines rating a total of 14,300 ihp for nine Oldham mills:[1]
Parkfield Mill, Oldham – 1874
Hollinwood Mill, Failsworth – 1874
Honeywell Mill, Oldham – 1874
Copster Mill – 1904
Hartford Mill, Werneth – 1907
Gorse Mill, Chadderton – 1908
Ace Mill, Chadderton – 1914 (aka Gorse No.2 Mill)
Falcon Mill, Chadderton – 1915
time for the pic's
to get into the boiler house go through the small crawl hole leading into the chimney connector tunnel (left to chimney and right to the boiler house)
Engine house and rope race area...
looking to the rope race area where a drive shaft came through the wall the bottom half of this cup bearing is still intact, shame the rest has been removed
within the lower floor
wish i could find more history on this place........
Built 1907 by the Hartford Mill (Oldham)Co Ltd. Extended 1920 and 1924. Closed 1959 and used by Littlewoods as a mail order warehouse until 1992. Architect was F W Dixon, there were 120,000 spindles and power was provided by a very impressive 1500 hp Urmson & Thompson engine.
history on the engine builders
John Urmson and John E Thompson started business in 1865 in Hathershaw, Oldham. While Urmson was a trained engineer who had worked at Woolstenhulmes & Rye, Thompson is thought to have contributed capital. Thompson died in 1882, and Urmson with his sons John and Andrew continued the business. On the sons' death in 1888 the firm was incorporated, and continued until 1933.[1]
The firm operated out of the Hathershaw Foundry. Initially millwrights, in the 1870s they started making stationary steam engines as well. From 1904 they made a series of large mill engines. The largest was a 2000ihp engine for Ace Mill Co. Ltd., Chadderton in 1914. This was erected in 1919.
The later engines were large. Arthur Roberts reported that Hartford Mill was powered by a 1800 hp twin-tandem compound engine by Urmson and Thompson, built in 1907. It was steamed at 160 psi at 68 rpm. It had a 5 ft stroke driving a 24 ft flywheel. The transmission method was a rope drive using 40 ropes. The engine was reputed to be the only twin-tandem that Urmson & Thompson built. It had two 30" diameter HP (high-pressure) cylinders at the rear, and two 60" LP (low-pressure) cylinders in front. There were Corliss valves on all cylinders. The air pumps were driven from each crosshead. There was a Whitehead governor. The engine cost £5400 and the three boilers cost £1900.
Mills driven by Urmson & Thompson engines
Urmson & Thompson produced mill engines in the boom years of the 1870s, and millwrighted (ie produced the bevelled gear shafts) for mills such as Nile Mill, Chadderton. The period 1904–1914 was productive, when they created engines rating a total of 14,300 ihp for nine Oldham mills:[1]
Parkfield Mill, Oldham – 1874
Hollinwood Mill, Failsworth – 1874
Honeywell Mill, Oldham – 1874
Copster Mill – 1904
Hartford Mill, Werneth – 1907
Gorse Mill, Chadderton – 1908
Ace Mill, Chadderton – 1914 (aka Gorse No.2 Mill)
Falcon Mill, Chadderton – 1915
time for the pic's
to get into the boiler house go through the small crawl hole leading into the chimney connector tunnel (left to chimney and right to the boiler house)
Engine house and rope race area...
looking to the rope race area where a drive shaft came through the wall the bottom half of this cup bearing is still intact, shame the rest has been removed
within the lower floor
wish i could find more history on this place........
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