Mills of Summerseat
Welcome to this page of our site, here you can
read a little history of some of the mills of Summerseat, there were
five in all, Brooksbottoms Mill being the largest.
The first cotton mill to arrive in the
previously rural communities of Summerseat and
Brooksbottom was built around 1773, though the remaining
structure, Hoyle’s Mill (now converted into
flats) dates from 1873. Cottages were built by mill
owners for their workers and ‘Brick Houses’ (to the west of the railway)
are examples of these. Up to the first World War the village was a
self-contained community with power and water being supplied through the
mill companies.
The importance of the River Irwell to the evolution of the Borough has
been considerable. It became possible to apply water power to the new
machinery from the 1790's, which strongly reinforced the trend for
concentration of the textile industry in factories. The River Irwell and
its tributaries offered plentiful sites for water powered mills, which
were not widely replaced by steam in the area until the 1840's. A number
of local mills retained water power up until the early years of the
twentieth century, while Hoyles mill
at Brooksbottom, Summerseat used
hydroelectricity as a supplement to steam.
Peel and Yates were successful calico printers at Bury and Ramsbottom,
thousands of domestic weavers supplying them with cloth. By 1803 Peel
had five mills in the area, and a large number of the workers were young
children from the ages of 10 to 12 years old, the reason for this was
that the young children
had a natural ability to do something that
needs skill, and were also more nimble. Pauper children were apprenticed
by parish poor law authorities, and these children were brought from
places as far away as London to work in this area. The row of cottages
that used to be in Railway Street near the Lower Mill, as well as
cottages at Hall Street which were next to the Upper Mill were no doubt
built to house the large influx of these children to the village, these
cottages are no longer standing, although you can see a picture of the
ones that were on Railway Street in the photo gallery. These children
had to work 12 hour shifts in the mills, and as they went to work in the
morning the night shift children would then use their bed, the children
were kept by their master, Peel in this case, and he clothed and fed
them.
The day to day running of the Mills
in Summerseat was entrusted to Richard Hamer, who acted as
supervisor.
Now in 1812 Peel & Yates sold the
Mills to a consortium, namely - Edward Hamer Howarth, Richard Hamer,
Thomas Norris and William Hardman.
In 1824 Richard Hamer bought out
his partners interest in the Summerseat estate, for himself and his
son Daniel. The Hamer family owned much of the land in Summerseat,
and in 1836 Richard had Summerseat House built for him, this is in
Higher Summerseat, and is still in use today, although it is now a
special school. The 1841 census shows that Richards son Daniel was
living in Summerseat House.
Robin Road Mill (please see old drawing
lower down this page) was one of the five Summerseat spinning mills
that provided the yarn. Weaving was the last process of cotton
manufacture to be automated, the adoption of the power loom was the
cause of the riots that happened in the April of 1826.
At this time Richard Hamer was the owner of the Robin Road Mill in
Summerseat, which had 38 power looms destroyed by the rioters. Richard
estimated it as three hundred pounds worth. He was relieved to see there
was no other damage. Not a window was broken. He, his son, and his men,
started to clear the debris.
Richard Hamer and his son Daniel had run four such small factories in
Summerseat.
The Robin Road Mill no longer stands, but there are still some
nice cottages on Robin Road from those times.
(Photos of the cottages today can be seen in the Photo Gallery
1, and you can also see an old photo of Robin Road Mill in the
Photo Gallery 2)
Richard Hamer died in 1850 at Summerseat
House, his property was divided up between his three surviving
daughters - Betsy who was married to John Leigh (Acquired Robin Road
Mill), Ann married to William Hampson (Acquired Upper Mill, and
lived at Peel Hall) and Mary, who was married to John Robinson Kay
(the son of Thomas Kay) acquired the Mill at Wood Road, John
Robinson Kay also owned the Brooksbottom Mill. It was around this
time that the small hamlets of Summerseat started to become a
village.
Thomas Kay had bought Brooksbottom Mill
from Richard Hamer in 1829, Thomas bought it for his son John
Robinson Kay, at this time John was only 20 years old.
John Robinson Kay died in 1872, and
his ornately decorated tomb once stood in the old
Wesleyan Methodist Church (That he helped to build), until
the church was demolished in February 1978.
(Photo can be seen on the Rowlands graveyard photo gallery 1).
By 1880 the Upper Mills and Twist Mill had
closed and were no longer trading, and the Robin Road Mill went the
same way by 1888, and by 1892 at least one of the mills was in a
dangerous condition.
After John Robinson Kay had died,
Brooksbottoms Mill closed and was rebuilt using local sandstone from
the Fletcher Bank Quarry at Shuttleworth. The mill was now part of
the Joshua Hoyle and Sons family business. The new Brooksbottoms
mill started its engines up on the Christmas Eve of 1876.
Richard Hamer Hampson, who was a direct
descendant from the Richard Hamer family, (who were the owners of
the five mills in Summerseat in the early 1800's) owned the gas
works in the village which was next to the Twist Mill.
Now on looking at the 1891 Worrall's
Directory under Cotton Spinners, it showed Joshua Hoyle and Sons,
Brooksbottoms Mill, Summerseat, as having 61,560 spindles, and 1,082
looms.
At the beginning of the 1900's, there were
only two Mills trading in Summerseat, the larger one being
Brooksbottoms Mill, James Hoyle the son of Isaac Hoyle now managed
the Brooksbottoms Mill, his stepmother was - nee Mary Hamer Kay.
In the 1940's there were around 690
operatives working at Brooksbottoms Mill, Generations of the same
families were often found working at the mill, and by the late
1940's coaches were used to transport workers who did not live in
Summerseat, Hoyles provided their own coach to transport night
workers.
Brooksbottoms Mill, now had a surgery, rest
rooms, and a subsidised canteen. There was also a nursery for 50
children, transport was even supplied for the children, a school was
also set up for the children of school age, so that their mothers
could continue to work in the Mill during the school holidays. There
were works outings and also Christmas parties for the children.
Brooksbottoms Mill finally became part of the Illingworth-Morris
Group, and by 1969 there were only about 200 operatives working in
the mill, and sadly by the latter end of the 1970's the Mill ceased
trading, and the machinery was being dismantled and removed from the
mill.
| I would
like to thank Mr Richard Hamer, for supplying and giving
me permission to show you the following copy of the
original engraving together with the handwritten
description. |
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|
_small.JPG) |
|
Here is a copy of an engraving showing
the Mills of the late Richard & Daniel Hamer |
|
This inscription from one of Daniel's
granddaughter's was found on the back |
|
More information on the Hamer family can
be found on the 'About Summerseat' page of this site. |
Wood Road Mill was rebuilt in 1842, and in 1888 was owned by
James Ashworth. By the 1920's it was producing cotton blankets,
which were finished at the dye works, which was on the island in the
river Irwell, the dye works was also owned by James Ashworth.
Wood Road Mill is now a luxury home set in acres of grounds.
The dye works on the island is now partly demolished and is being
converted into apartments, I will be placing some photos on this
site in the coming months, of the works after it had closed,
and some of the finished buildings when the work has been done.
Here are a few Rules that had to be
observed by all the workers
in the Brooksbottoms Mill
All the Overlookers shall be on the
premises first and last.
For any Bobbins found on the floor - 1d for
each Bobbin.
For waste on the floor - 2d
For neglecting to oil machines at the
proper time - fined 2d
Any person hanging anything on the Gas
Pendants - fined 2d
The masters recommend that all workpeople
Wash themselves every morning, but they shall wash themselves at
least twice a week, Monday morning and Thursday morning, any found
not washed will be fined 3d for each offence.
Any person bringing dirty Bobbins would be
fined 1d for each Bobbin
Any person found away from their usual
place of work, except for necessary purposes, or Talking with anyone
out of their own alley, fined 2d for each offence.
Here is an entry from the
PIGOT'S 1828 DIRECTORY -
Hamer, Richd & Son Bury, Summerseat, cotton spinners
Richard Hamer who is the 3xGreat Grandson of the Richard Hamer
who had many interests in the village of Summerseat, made a short
visit to Summerseat at the end of April 2007.
It was great to meet him, and also a
pleasure to have been able to give him a tour of the village, he
even managed to see inside Summerseat House, Richard was really
grateful to the staff who had made this possible, Summerseat House
was the home of his 3xGreat Grandfather. Richard also enjoyed lunch
in the Hamer's Arms Public House and enjoyed chatting to the Landlord
& Landlady about the history of the area.
Richard lives in the USA, and was in Europe
on his holidays when he decided to make a short visit to see the
area that his ancestors came from. Richard does hope to make another
visit to the area in the future.
We have become very good friends.
Richard Hamer at Hamer Terrace, Summerseat.
You can read more about the Hamer family on the 'Mills of
Summerseat' and the 'About Summerseat' pages of this site. Richard
has supplied me with some lovely pictures and information, and has given me
permission to share these with you all on the Summerseat website,
and I am really grateful to him. I have also added a small family tree of Richard Hamer, who was
born in the mid 1700's.
I am sure that you will find it interesting.
Search over 500 million
names at
Genes Reunited.co.uk
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