'Works' (1)

The Rock Valley Works is located to the north-east of Mansfield Town centre, within the valley of the River Maun. Industrial use of the site is believed to have begun with the development of a water-powered mill used for the production of mustard in the late 18th or early 19th century. Sanderson's 'Map of the Country Twenty Miles Round Mansfield' of 1835 shows a mill straddling the river on the Rock Mill site, and by 1840, other industrial processes, including a colour mill, a ropewalk, a tannery and wood-turning and saw mills were established around the site. The development of the mustard business saw the expansion of the mill site, and the introduction of steam-powered processes by the Barringer and Brown Company, which included the manufacture of tin containers for the mustard products. This aspect of the company's business became its principal activity, and following a serious fire in 1873, the rebuilding and further enlargement of the site took place, providing the opportunity for the expansion of the tinware business.

In the mid 19th century, a bleach works had been established to the south-west of Rock Mill. This was subsequently acquired by the company, and became the focal point for tinware manufacture. This had become so successful by 1895 that a separate company - Barringer, Wallis and Manners - was established in the former bleach works. The 1899 Ordnance Survey map shows the site divided into two separate sections, with 'Rock Valley Mill ( mustard)' at the north end and 'Rock Valley Tin Works' to the south. Over the next thirty years, the bleach works site was intensively developed, with a succession of additional and replacement buildings being added throughout the site. In 1909, a substantial three-storey block was built to the north of the bleach works, and by 1912, two more three-storey buildings had been erected to the south end of the site. By 1914, a further three-storey building had been completed which linked the bleach works frontage to the southern additions. In 1919, a further phase of development began with the construction of the four-storey Tower Block, designed by Mansfield architects, Cook, Howard and Lane. The building, with its prominent landmark clock tower, was completed in 1927, and provided spacious production floors and a machine-tool room, which considerably enhanced the company's production capacity.

The mustard business was sold to Coleman's of Norwich in 1919, and in 1939 Barringer Wallis and Manners was incorporated into the Metal Box Company. It now forms part of Crown Speciality Packing. The west wing of the original mustard mill complex was demolished in 1953. The Rock Valley Mill site was recently sold to Walkers Transport of Mansfield.

The Rock Valley Works is an extensive multi-phase industrial complex which occupies a curved section of the Maun Valley near the centre of Mansfield. The earliest phase of development is represented at the north-east end of the site by the surviving parts of a late 18th or early 19th century stone-built water mill, and the most significant 20th century period of expansion by the steel-framed Tower Block of 1927 at the southern end of the site. Between these two areas are a series of mid-late 19th and 20th century buildings, most of which were purpose-built for the tinware manufacturing business. The site includes a former mid 19th century bleaching mill, later adapted to form the core of the tinware enterprise, and then further remodelled to house office, boardroom and showroom facilities. The significant surviving buildings are located on the eastern side of the access road through the site, with late 20th century steel-framed sheds located to the west side. These latter buildings have been demolished.

The surviving part of the former mustard mill straddles the watercourse, which passes beneath the mill, exiting on the north side via two shallow-arched openings. The mill is of two storeys above this basement level, and has a late 19th century extension at its west end, facing Bath Lane. It has a double pile roof with a slate covering, and parallel series of truncated Queen-post roof trusses supported at first-floor level by an arcade of plain iron columns which carry an arcade plate below a valley gutter. The first floor is supported by a grid of 20th century steel beams and columns. There are numerous blocked openings and introduced openings to the north and south walls, and a more regular pattern of windows to the extension at the west end. There was no visible evidence of, or access to, the watercourse below the building. To the west of this building is a mid-late 19th century, four-bay stone building, originally two-storied but raised to three-storey height in brick. It has a hipped roof with a pantile covering, and together with a later, 20th century, two-storey brick extension to the south, enclosed a narrow yard. It is entered from the south via a tall, stone archway, constructed to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1914.

At the east side of the former mustard mill, and extending south-westwards, is a connected series of 20th century brick buildings with metal roof trusses and open-plan interiors. The northernmost and central sections have north-light roofs, at the south end of which is lattice girder above an open entrance bay. This is connected to parallel pitched roof brick buildings, formerly part of the bleach works, sited to the rear of the three-storey New Block of 1909, a metal-framed nine-bay building with terracotta dressings and shallow brick pilasters defining the structural bays. The interior of the building now appears much altered, and latterly housed dining and recreational facilities on the upper floor. This building leads on to the former bleach works complex, comprised of a two-storey frontage and four parallel lower wings to the rear. The roofs are slate covered and incorporate prominent ridge ventilators. To the rear of these wings is an attached range aligned parallel to the frontage building. This has truncated Queen-post roof trusses with secondary posts and collar beams which may have originally carried a longitudinal ridge louvre. Within the frontage building to the former bleach works were the site offices and visitor reception areas. The entrance area was tiled and panelled, and led to office and showroom areas, including rooms with fireplaces and surrounds, decorative ceiling and frieze ornamentation, and leaded glazing. Many of these fixtures have now been removed.

At the southern end of the site is a series of early 20th century buildings some of which have undergone further enlargement. The northernmost of these is a plainly-detailed four bay, flat-roofed building of three storeys above a basement. Further south are a pair of three, three-bay brick buildings each with channelled pilasters and an open pediment to the central bay. These were originally designed with tall multi-pane windows to each floor, but the north build was subsequently remodelled to incorporate a third floor, with the consequential alteration of the principal elevation. The interiors of these buildings could not be inspected as asbestos removal was taking place at the time of the site visit.

At the southern end of the site is the Tower Block erected in stages between 1919 and 1927. This is a steel-framed, brick-clad factory building of four storeys with a prominent domed clock tower at the head of a staircase bay to its principal, seven-bay east elevation. It is otherwise of functional pier and panel form, with wide, multi-pane metal-framed windows lighting the spacious workshop floors within. The interiors are open plan with widely-spaced concrete piers supporting substantial floor beams.

No parts of the site are presently designated, the nearest listed building being Stanton's Mill to the north-east of Rock Valley Mill, a late 18th or early 19th century water-powered textile factory, now listed at Grade II.

Rock Valley Works, Rock Valley, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire is not recommended for designation for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural Interest: None of the buildings which make up the complex are of such architectural distinction as to merit designation. They display few features by which their industrial functions can be identified, nor are notable in terms of their design or structural characteristics.

* Historic Interest: The industrial history of the site, and the processes represented there, are reflective of industrial development in river valley sites throughout England in the 19th centruy, and, whilst they are locally important, there is no evidence that they significantly influenced industrial development elsewhere in England.

* Innovation: There is no evidence to suggest that the buildings on the site, or the processes they housed, were in any way innovative in terms of their period, or their building or process type.

* Alteration: The earliest surviving buildings on the site - the former mustard mill and former bleach works - have both been significantly altered. They retain little of the processes they once housed or of their original sources of power. The machinery associated with the processes historically represented on the site has all been removed, including power generation plant. (2)

Historic England, 2021, National Record of Historic Environment (Digital archive). SNT5271.

<1> OS, 1958, 25" in 1958 (Map). SNT6409.

<2> Bob Hawkins, 2010, English Heritage Listing File (Unpublished document). SNT6459.