Bancroft Shed

Bancroft Shed stands on the edge of Barnoldswick in the Pennine hills, midway between Burnley and Skipton. The weaving shed was built in 1914 for James Nutter & Sons Limited and opened in 1920, making it the last steam-driven weaving shed constructed in Britain. It was also the last to close when it shut on 22 December 1978. The engine house, chimneys and boilers remain preserved as a working steam museum. The mill was designed by W M Atkins of Colne but construction was delayed by the Great War. When completed, it housed 1,200 looms in a single-storey shed set into the hillside with north-facing roof lights. The shed is worth the journey for its rare surviving steam engine, a William Roberts cross compound 600hp engine installed in 1920. The engine still runs regularly from steam generated by donated wood. The Lancashire boiler and a supplementary Cornish boiler from the 1940s are also preserved. The chimney was repaired and banded by Fred Dibnah in 1997. During the Second World War the mill continued weaving under Board of Trade control while many competitors closed. In 1935, 450 people worked there running 1,152 looms for 50 hours a week. Visitors find the engine house open to the public and the William Roberts engine in regular operation. The large Lancashire boiler is kept full of water from the roof gutters and feeds the condenser under the engine. The two-storey warehouse and weaving shed were demolished after closure, but the boiler room and engine house survive. The site includes a 120-foot chimney to the west and a filled-in lodge to the south. The engine’s high-pressure cylinder is named ‘James’ and the low-pressure cylinder ‘Mary Jane’, reflecting the traditional naming of parts.