Picture of the Week: John Crowther mill memories in the shadow of the moors (original) (raw)

THIS view shows the imposing John Crowther Mill in Marsden – a stark reminder of long gone textile glory days.

It’s empty now, but was once at the centre of the textile industry in the village and this image was taken by Examiner reader Nick Lawton.

And it has a special significance for the 39-year-old lorry driver from Linthwaite.

He said: “I did an apprenticeship in engineering there and several members of my family – mum, brother and grandparents – were employed there too. If you lived in Marsden you worked at Crowther’s mill.’’

According to the website www.marsdenhistory.co.uk , the Crowther family originated from Golcar.

Their father was a clothier born in 1820 and with wife Martha produced a large family of four sons and four daughters. The sons Joseph, William, Elon and John Edward all became very successful woollen cloth manufacturers and also had many other businesses.

John Edward Crowther, who was born in 1863, was to have a major impact on the village of Marsden until his death in 1931.

The Crowther brothers moved to Marsden in 1867 and set up Bank Bottom Mill which continued to expand in the early years and at one time was one of the largest cloth producing mills owned by one man – John Edward Crowther – in the world.

The floor space was 57,592 square yards, it had 43 sets of carding machines and 680 looms in production in the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

It closed in 2003 with the loss of 244 jobs.

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