This Mill was originally built as a woollen mill by Mr. Bottomley around 1780. Bottomley’s Mill stood on a 500 acre estate and employed several hundred workers.
Robert Fletcher & Son (Greenfield) came into operation in 1921, and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from then until it shut in July 2001.
Some of the workers lived in the row of stone cottages at the back of the mill, in fact some of the old workers still live there today.
When the mill got into trouble in the late 90's a new owner was sought. Eventually a businessman bought the company along with the factory buildings and the "Forty Row" the cottages at the back.
The workers at the factory, many who had worked their entire lives at the mill breathed a sigh of releif, but it was to be short-lived. The "businessman" vanished, along with the companies money - what little it had left - and also the pension fund.
The factory was closed on very short notice when it was clear what had happened. The ex-employees still don't have a pension.

Visited 26-02-2009