Wigan Mill

Lancashire was famous for its mills. Now, the very few that haven't been demolished are either rotting or have been converted into fancy apartments. Rylands Mill is one of the unlucky decaying mills.

History - In 1819, Rylands & Sons were established in Wigan, manufacturing ginghams, calicoes and linens. The company quickly grew and by 1823 had opened a warehouse in Manchester, which was followed by a dye and bleaching works in Wigan. Valuable seams of coal were afterwards discovered under these properties, which proved a great source of wealth to the Rylands family.

                                 Old photographs from http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/



From 1847, John Rylands became the sole proprietor of the company after the death of his father and retirement of his brothers. Rylands Mill was built in 1866 and by 1873 the company had become the largest textile manufacturing concern in Britain. Rylands Mill was an important employer for the local population until the demise of the textile industry took its toll nationwide. When the mill closed, it was taken over by a mail order company. In 1985 it became an annexe to Wigan Technical College and was known as the Pagefield Building until its closure in 2007.  Its biggest claim to fame was the fact that the mill was the most expensive around at the time it was built.

The mill is predictably thoroughly trashed. It has a rather fabulous chimney.

There is plenty of evidence of the building's time as a college building. This part of the building must have been quite a feature before it was trashed and set on fire.

Inside the building are the usual supporting columns, debris and peeling paint.

It's quite a large site. Lots of evidence of fire damage in many areas. Pretty much roof-less in many places.

I do like a bit of peeling paint! There's plenty of it here.

I wonder what the future holds for Rylands Mill?

I think this graffiti sums it all up in one word . . . I'm not hopeful that any of it will survive. I do hope that at the very least the wonderful chimney is preserved for posterity. Our proud British heritage and history that developers and councils seem to care nothing for. Sad . . .

Billinge Hospital

Billinge Hospital was originally founded in 1837 as a Wigan Poor Law hospital and workhouse. In later years the hospital offered the following facilities:

• Beacon Day Hospital - Assessment and Day Care for the elderly mentally ill.
• Children & Learning Disabilities
• Clinical/Counselling Psychology Department for Adults

In June 2004, the maternity hospital was closed and maternity facilities were transferred to other units at hospitals in surrounding districts.
In March 2007, demolition work on the maternity hospital building commenced. There is now only one building standing. The land is for sale and the rest of the land seems to have new houses built on it.
 
For some reason, the Sat Nav was having a "funny do" and it took forever to find the place, having been on a wild goose chase around Wigan!
 

 
The building has been completely trashed. The ground floor windows have been boarded up, so it is quite dark inside. The upper windows have been smashed. This one remaining building was used for the care of the elderly mentally ill/ geriatrics.
 
 
 

 

                        It would have been quite a commanding building in its hey day.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

The entrance wasn't particularly welcoming . . .

 

 

The corridors were dark, littered with broken wood, bits of fallen ceiling and other debris.

 

 

 
                                        Nature was trying to regain control, and winning . . .
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We braved climbing one of the staircases, being mindful that the upstairs floors were patchy.

 

 

 

 

 

 
There were some rather nice large windows on the first floor. This part of the building looked like an extension, possibly built in the 1960s, judging by the architectural style.

 

 

 

 

 
The second floor had the only half-decent street art in the place. The rest was rather childish graffiti.

 

By this point we had seen everything worth seeing.

 

 
Back outside, this was the 1960s extension. That bottom doorway has tons of concrete and rubbish spilling out of it.

 

 

           Further round the outside and we are back to the original brick building.

 

 

Despite being a trashed shell of a building, it had a few good features and I'm glad that we got to see it before it's flattened and turned into another a housing estate or block of apartments.