WharfeBank #1 Revived! Otley Mills
The cache, a camo-taped Bison tube, is hidden on top of the Wharfe bank adjacent to this old but recently refurbished mill.
To reach the cache location: enter the mill complex from Ilkley Rd @ N 53 54.159 W 1 42.439 and make your way across the large car park to any available parking space nearest to the cache location.
Wharfebank Mills has been the largest employment centre in Otley since the 18th Century. Known locally as Otley Mills (aka Ackroyd's Mill or Duncan's Mill), it is believed the first building to be erected on site was constructed in the 1730s by Jonas Bates, a glazed board maker. His products were used in the finishing process of cloth making.
He added a water mill during the first half of the century to drive the board pressing roller. The power to drive the mill for this was provided by river water fed from a weir upstream through sluice gates and a goit. Work on building the first large-scale mill started in the 1780s, and on completion in 1786 occupying an imposing position, at four storeys high and nearly 70ft long, it was one of the largest buildings in Otley.
This was the first recorded evidence of early industrialisation of the cloth and woollen trade in the town. The mill eventually continued in use for 200 years until it was destroyed by fire in 1982.
When it was built it was constructed to house the new Arkwright's cotton-spinning machinery (see here), so it was intended to be a state of the art industrial mill from the outset.
The original tenants of the building were Skipton cotton spinning partnership Peter Garforth and Samuel Sidgwick, whose fathers had founded the High Mill in Skipton.
However, their involvement in the Otley Mills was short lived and the new tenants introduced the manufacture of worsted yarn in 1810, as opposed to cotton. In 1815 the mills were bought by William Ackroydwho founded William Ackroyd & Company, which really marked the beginnings of Otley Mills proper. He ran the mill with a rod of iron by all accounts, until his death in 1865, having spent 50 years building up his business, and his personal wealth.
He expanded the enterprise with the building of the New Mill in 1831, doubling the worsted spinning capacity.They became the largest employer in the town, employing around 850 people at one point, including children.
The Duncan family became involved when Scotsman Thomas Duncan became a partner in 1834, and the mill enjoyed a boom between 1840-1860s. They subsequently took over in 1865, following Mr Ackroyd's death, and oversaw the construction, in 1889-90, of the new Pegholme building (closest to the cache location). This and the attached Engine House were at that time the largest constructions in Otley.
Various other mill buildings were added to the site on a piecemeal basis although always using the same stone, and similar architectural features, so that they eventually linked into one another.
The mills continued to produce worsted material from their spinning mills and steam powered weavinglooms and only ceased manufacture in 1983, when it became apparent that the industry was no longer viable. The 20th Century had brought a number of new challenges, including the advent of artificial fabrics and an increasing 'globalisation' of trade, and these ultimately led to the mill's demise.
Subsequently the buildings were converted to offices, and their continued commercial use was secured. The mills were sold to the current owners in late2016 who initiated sympathetic upgrading and redevelopment of the large site which continues.
The rich history of Otley Mills is detailed in local historian Alastair Laurence's 2015 book 'Otley Mills - a History'.
See here for a great drone video of the Wharfebank mills site/business centre.
