Black Pits Cotton Mill, Norden, Rochdale, Greater Manchester

Sadly there is nothing left of the Black Pits cotton-spinning and manufacturing mill at Coal Bank Fold beside the Naden Brook at Norden (SD 85685 14273), near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, apart from its very tall chimney, which was fully restored in 2016, especially the very top which had to be renewed. It has been a local landmark for over a hundred years, and, has large white lettering on the side that says BLACK PITS. The mill buildings were demolished and the site levelled, and now trees grow where once a thriving industrial building used to stand.

The chimney (the above photo is from 2012) is located behind a modern housing estate where the Dexine rubber works was to be found. I seem to remember there was a company called Ebonite, who had a works there in the 1970s, though I could be wrong about that. There was also Clapgate Colliery here, but, that has long since disappeared. Cotton manufacturing began at Black Pits in the 1840s and by the 1870s it had become a thriving place of employment for the people of Norden and Rochdale - at the very time when 'Cotton was King' and the Industrial Revolution was in full swing.

Grace's Guid has the following: "Blackpits Cotton Spinning and Manufacturing Co Limited; 15,670 spindles, 1811/361, twist; 474 looms, fustians; Manchester warehouse-14A, New Brown street."

The Black Pits mill, unlike many others in this area, survived well in to the late 20th century - the building was still there in the 1990s, but, it had probably closed by the late 1940s or early 1950s? However, the mill at Coal Bank had closed by the beginning of the 20th century; Crimble mill, Bamford, was still in operational use upto 1970, whereas Bamford Woolen Mill, War Office Road, Bamford, was demolished in 1982 to make way for modern housing.

References & Related Websites:-

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Blackpits_Cotton_Spinning_and_Manufacturing_Co

https://rays57-aroundbamford.blogspot.com/2012/04/around-ashworth-valley.html

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-a-z.html

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/local-historian-uncovers-19th-century-rochdale-mining-disaster/

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