Z50_0754 - Gayle Mill
The Mill began life as a cotton mill driven by water power through a 22ft diameter water wheel.
With the advent of bigger and better mills & machinery, cotton production became uncompetitive and so the mill was converted in 1810 to flax which was used for sails and sacking. Industrial expansion on the west coast and the ending of the Napoleonic wars brought the flax industry to its knees so the mill was converted once again in the 1820s to wool production.
Wool ceased to be a profitable commodity by the 1840s and production ceased.
The Mill, as a precursor to all of the late C20th industrial conversions, became a domestic property and some of the early Victorian wallpaper can still be seen.
By 1860 the Mill was once again converted – this time for use as a sawmill. The sawmill functioned until 1988 when it closed as a business. (gaylemill.org)
Taken from Gayle bridge, High Abbotside beyond
Gayle, Wensleydale, The Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, UK
©SWJuk (2022)
All rights reserved
Z50_0754 - Gayle Mill
The Mill began life as a cotton mill driven by water power through a 22ft diameter water wheel.
With the advent of bigger and better mills & machinery, cotton production became uncompetitive and so the mill was converted in 1810 to flax which was used for sails and sacking. Industrial expansion on the west coast and the ending of the Napoleonic wars brought the flax industry to its knees so the mill was converted once again in the 1820s to wool production.
Wool ceased to be a profitable commodity by the 1840s and production ceased.
The Mill, as a precursor to all of the late C20th industrial conversions, became a domestic property and some of the early Victorian wallpaper can still be seen.
By 1860 the Mill was once again converted – this time for use as a sawmill. The sawmill functioned until 1988 when it closed as a business. (gaylemill.org)
Taken from Gayle bridge, High Abbotside beyond
Gayle, Wensleydale, The Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, UK
©SWJuk (2022)
All rights reserved