Thwaite Mills Watermill Thwaite Lane, Stourton, Leeds LS10 1RP
Website: www.leeds.gov.uk/thwaiteMills
Tel. 0113 276 2887
Fax. 0113 277 6737
Thwaite Mill Museum is a fully restored working water-powered mill located in tranquil surroundings just two miles outside of Leeds city-centre. The mill is one of the last remaining examples of a water-powered mill in Britain.
Visits to the mill buildings are tour-led and are booked in advance of arrival. The tour includes a demonstration of water powered engineering machines and an optional video presentation.
Visit Thwaite Mills!
Visits to Thwaite Mills are tour led. Please call 0113 2762887 for availability. Tours available:
Saturday and Sunday 1pm – 5pm, last tour 3.15pm
Tuesday – Friday 10am – 5pm (during Leeds LEA school holidays), last tour 3.15pm.
Last admission to Thwaite House, 3.30pm
Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays.
Admission price:
£3 adults, £1.50 concessions, £1 children (accompanied by an adult), under 5s free.
Events for 2008
Tours of Thwaite Mills Every Saturday and Sunday, 1:15pm, 2:15pm and 3:15pm
Enjoy a tour of the watermill. Please ring in advance on 0113 276 2887.
A history of the Mills
Situated in Stourton on the southern edge of Leeds, and flanked by the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation, Thwaite Mills is an excellent example of a water-powered factory site. Starting its life as a fulling mill, it later became a wood, oil, and corn-grinding mill. More recently it was a stone-crushing mill, and now after extensive restoration, the mill has re-opened as a working museum of over 300 years of industry.
In 1641....
A fulling mill was built at Thwaite. Little is known about this mill, except that is consisted of 8 fulling stocks and 4 waterwheels. The process of fulling is one of the final stages in the manufacture of woollen cloth, being carried out after the wool had been spun and woven into cloth. Large water-powered hammers (fulling stocks) pounded the woven fabric in fuller’s earth and urine in order to matt the fibres together.
Rebuilding the mills, 1823-25
By the 1820s, the Aire and Calder Navigation Co had purchased the Mills at Thwaite and had decided to rebuild the whole site.
Thomas Hewes, a well known mill-wright of the day, was asked to construct two new large waterwheels and also to advise on the rebuilding of the mill itself.
The rebuilding took two years to complete, and the work came to a total cost of £15,876. When finished, the new site consisted of a 2-storey mill building with attic, an engineers’ workshop, warehouse, stables, dwelling house and a row of workers’ cottages. These are the buildings that can be seen today, with the exception of the workers’ cottages which were demolished in 1968.
Seed, Wood and Corn
When the mills re-opened in 1825, the lease was taken on by W and E Joy of Leeds, seed crushers and oil refiners. They specialised in rape oil which they sold both for lubricating and for lighting. It has been claimed that the lubricating oil for Stephenson’s Rocket was produced at Thwaite Mills by the Joys.
For a short time, exotic woods imported from South America were also crushed here. The crushed wood would have been used to produce colour in dyes for the local textile industry. Corn was also ground at the mills, but this was never a major activity.
T. Horn, Paris White and Whiting Manufacturer
The Horns came to Thwaite Mills in 1872. They already had mills nearby at Oulton, Castleford and Ferrybridge, and were well established in the business of grinding flint and china stone and producing whiting. The mills at Thwaite were adapted to suit these purposes.
The flint and china stone were ground for use in glazes for the local pottery industry. Whiting, which is ground chalk, was manufactured for whitewash, putty, polish, pharmaceuticals, and even food products. They also crushed barytes which is used in paint.
The Horns worked Thwaite Mills as a water-powered mill up until 1975. By this time, their main line of business was putty manufacture. In 1976, disaster struck. The weir collapsed in a flood. The waterwheels could no longer work, and the Horns were forced to call it a day.
A new future.....
Thwaite Mills Society, a registered charity, was formed in 1978 to restore and preserve this unique site as an industrial museum. The dedicated work of a few enthusiasts was just the beginning of what was to become a major restoration project. Much of the work completed was funded by West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council. Thwaite Mills is now run by Leeds City Council and has a new future as a working museum.
Thwaite House
This fine Georgian house was built in 1823 on the foundations of a much earlier house. It is now a Grade 2 listed building. Thwaite House has always been the mill managers’ house. The workers would have lived at Dandy Row, a row of terraced cottages further down the island, or in nearby Stourton or Hunslet.
Several generations of the Horn family have lived here since 1872, but by the 1950’s the house had become virtually derelict and was used only for office work. Thwaite House has now been restored to its former glory, and is used for displays and exhibitions.
The Canalside
Thwaite House overlooks the Aire and Calder Navigation. Whilst water from the river provided power for the waterwheels, the Navigation provided a convenient method of transport. Most of the materials used at Thwaite were delivered by sailing barges on the Navigation. After 1930 motorised barges with diesel engines started to replace the sailing barges. These of course were not dependent upon winds or tides.
The steam crane on the wharf is a Scotch Derrick made by Butter Bros. of Glasgow. It was installed in 1947 and has a 3 ton load. The crane was used to unload the barges. It would take several hours to unload a barge delivering a cargo of 100 tons of chalk.
In about 1920, a light rail track was laid to take materials from the wharf to the mill in trucks. Before this, horses and carts were used to transport the stone around the site. The warehouse was used for storing the finished product - sacks of whiting or tins of putty.
Next to the warehouse was the orchard and the pathway leading down to Dandy Row. Although Dandy Row has long since been demolished, it is still pleasant to follow that path down the island and to observe the abundance of wild flowers, butterflies and birds. Thwaite Mills, totally surrounded by industry and only 2 miles from Leeds City Centre, has become a haven for wildlife.
Inside the mill
Between 1872 and 1975, several different stone-crushing processes were carried out in the mill. It is the machinery from these industries that survives today. When a process was abandoned, the old machinery was not always removed. It was adapted to be used in a new process, or more often, simply left as it was.
The waterwheels
Two large waterwheels are situated in the very heart of the mill. Turned by water from the River Aire, they powered machinery throughout the site. The power is transferred from the waterwheels to the machines by shafts, gear wheels, pulleys and belts.
The two waterwheels designed and built by Thomas Hewes are low breast-shot wheels. The frame of each is made from iron, and the wooden buckets are elm. Both waterwheels have a diameter of 18ft (5.6m). The larger of the two wheels is 14ft 6ins (4.26m) wide, and the smaller is 8ft 9ins (2.67m) wide. Both wheels turn at a maximum speed of 12 rpm. The calculated power of the larger wheel is approximately 34 hp.
Grinding flint, china stone and barytes
Flint from the beaches of the south coast, china stone from Cornwall, and barytes from the Yorkshire Dales were processed separately but in virtually the same way. Flint was slightly different because before being crushed it had to be calcined, or burned, to make it more brittle.
The grinding process started with the stone being put through a jaw crusher to reduce the size of the lumps. The material was then taken up to the first floor of the mill in wooden tubs called corves, and loaded into a large grinding tub. The material was ground in water for a whole day and then let out into a brick tank on the floor below. From there is was pumped into a "wash tub" where it was diluted. The liquid was then run off into storage tanks called arks.
Crushing chalk
In the early days, chalk was crushed in water by a process called water-levigation. Chalk boulders were crushed into small pieces in a jaw crusher and then carried by a bucket elevator into the edge-runner mill where the grinding was done in water by two large granite stones with cast iron tyres. After this, the chalk slurry was allowed to flow through a series of deep pits. The largest particles of chalk would sink to the bottom of each pit, so that a finer grade of whiting (ground chalk) was deposited in each successive pit. The whiting was then dried in the drying shed across the yard or on the drying benches and racks on the top floor of the mill.
In the 1930s, the Raymond mill was installed to increase the amount of whiting produced. This was a dry-grinding process. The Raymond mill is a large and relatively complex piece of machinery. It stands on the ground floor and reaches to the rafters of the roof. The waterwheels could not produce enough power to drive the Raymond mill and so the Marshall 120 horsepower semi-diesel engine was installed.
Making putty
Putty production started here in the 1920s. It proved successful and during World War II production could not keep up with the demand for putty to reglaze the blitzed areas of London. Putty is made from whiting and linseed oil. About 8 cwt of whiting and 1 cwt of oil were loaded into the putty mills, where they were mixed together for about two hours. The putty was then let out through a hole in the base of the pan, falling straight down to the packing room below.
The engineers’ workshop
The engineers’ workshop contained all the necessary equipment and facilities to repair the wheels and machinery on site. All types of metal and wood work were undertaken ranging from really heavy work, such as renewing the bearings on the axles of the waterwheels to making screws and nails. Some of the corves, carts and wagons used on the site were made and repaired here. Nearly all the machinery in the workshop was driven by power taken from the waterwheels.
Access:
2 miles south of Leeds city centre off the A61. Half a mile from junction 43 off the M1
Public transport: Thwaite Mills is located on a well serviced bus route. Please contact Metroline for up to date travel information on (0113) 245 7676 or see the Metro Journey Planner link on the right hand side of this page.
Wheelchairs:
Limited access to most areas. Toilet facilities.
Opening times:
Every weekend and bank holiday: 1pm - 5pm
During Leeds school holidays: 10am - 5pm Tuesday to Friday (closed Mondays)
During term time we are open to bookings from schools only:
telephone 0113 276 2887
mobile 07891 270670
Admission price:
£3 adults, £1.50 concessions, £1 children (accompanied by an adult), under 5s free. LeedsCard: 20% discount.
Facilities:
Gift shop, picnic areas, free parking and disabled parking close to shop area.
Group visits:
Groups visits are very welcome, although it is advisable to contact the museum in advance. All groups of ten or more people are charged the concessionary rates. Leeds schools are admitted to all sites at no cost. Pre-booked visits can be arranged to the sites during closed periods.
Mailing List
For further information on Thwaite Mills Museums and Leeds Museums and Galleries join our mailing list by emailing your name and address to museumsmailinglist@leeds.gov.uk or write to: Leeds Museums and Galleries, Marketing Department, Leeds City Council, Merrion House, FREEPOST NAT19236, Leeds, LS2 8AL.