The Parish of Westhoughton in the County of -- Lancashire --

From the Westhoughton Journal 1967.

A resident of Sheepscombe, near Stroud, Glos., recently sent some photographs of the old Corn Mill in Mill Lane, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton. The photographs were taken in the 1920's., and this old Corn Mill is believed to be the oldest factory building in Westhoughton.

In her letter, Miss F A Partington tells us that her great grandfather James Haddock was the miller when the building was used as a corn mill in the last century.

Her Grandmother's cousins were Alice Makant and Margaret Haddock who endowed Daisy Hill Church, and her father Joseph Partington represented Westhoughton South Ward on the Board of Guardians.

The history of the building, once known as Westhoughton Mill, dates back about 200 years, although there are suggestions that a mill may have existed there since the Norman Conquest.

Originally built as a corn mill, complete with a water wheel and mill pond, the building later became a bleach works, and then a cotton waste factory. Since the war it has been used for pickle manufacture.

The Mill Pond and the surrounding area was at one time a local beauty spot. The water was filled with king carp, roach and trout - and the mill owners had trouble with mid-night poachers.

But when the Eatock Pit closed, more than 30 years ago (1930's) the water became polluted and many fish were killed. The end of the pond came in 1951 when it was filled in by bulldozers. Many fish were rescued by being scooped out of the water with buckets.

Many relics of the old corn mill were 'dug up' by Harold Fairhurst, an archaeology enthusiast. He bought the mill and the mill house in 1930, eight years after Albert Bannister's cotton waste concern had gone out of business.

During his residence at the mill house (Vale House) he brought to light the original grinding wheels, and remains of the water wheel that kept the old corn mill in production.

His enthusiasm for old mills was such that he bought another at Scorton, near Lancaster.