Built in the mid C19, Whiteley Mill was built to facilitate mechanised silk manufacture. FUNCTION: Its structure supported all aspects of turning raw silk into finished cloth. Typically, raw silk would come in on the ground floor in sacks, be sorted into skeins [a length of thread or yarn, loosely coiled and knotted] and moved to upper floors to be wound, spun, doubled (or twisted). Thrown and washed finally be laid to dry in the drying loft. BUILDING FABRIC: The building is built of red brick, with a grey slate roof, initially just one building over three floors with associated warehouses. There is no evidence or remains of original mill machinery or workings. However, the roof space of the original building has the winding mechanism intact and functioning for the roof windows. POWER: The lack of local water source would suggest that (akin to the vast majority of mechanised industry), Whiteley Mill ran on steam from a steam winding engine, probably located on the ground floor. WORKFORCE: Although it is unclear how many people worked at the Mill, it is likely to have been around 80 during the height of silk manufacture in the 1850s, but with this number reducing to around a dozen at the beginning of the C20. C20 EXPANSION: Sometime between 1919 and 1937, the mill was extended with a second building being built on the corner of Albert Street and Nottingham Road. RECENT USE: Recent education use saw various colleges use the Mill complex until May 2012. (1)

<1> Carlton Design Architecture Ltd, 2014, Whiteley Silk Mill, Stapleford – Heritage Impact Assessment by (Unpublished document). SNT5837.