288 History of the 



A brief reference to what was once the most important mill in 

 the district may interest some readers, and will not be out of place 

 in the present work. 



In the year 1798, Hareholme Mill was built by William Dockray 

 and Co., a quaker firm, on land leased to them by Thos. 

 Edmondson, of Mytholmroyd. The first hands employed in the 

 mill were chiefly brought from Lancaster ; and, at the beginning 

 of the century, nearly all the families residing at Hareholme were 

 natives of the county town. The mill was intended • for and was 

 used in the manufacture of Worsted — -the material of the warp of 

 the woollen goods made in the district. It was not only the first 

 of its size in Rossendale, but it was also one of the first important 

 mills for many miles around. The structure was justly considered 

 to possess much architectural beauty, and its position in the bosom 

 of the valley, especially before the turnpike road was formed, gave 

 it quite a picturesque appearance. The chimney is altogether a 

 curiosity in its way, with its broad base continued nearly one-third 

 of its height, from whence it quickly tapers to the summit, the 

 whole strongly resembling a champagne bottle, and was obviously 

 built at a time when experience in the erection of such structures 

 was required to give confidence to the builder in the stability of 

 his work. Its top, whether from accident or design, exactly 

 resembles the broad brimmed hat of a Quaker. The Ram which 

 surmounts the belfry, typical of the woollen manufacture, was 

 executed by an ingenious workman named John Nuttall, and has 

 often been admired for its truthful resemblance to the original, {e) 

 The first tenants were men of enterprising character ; their yarn 

 was much esteemed for its excellent quality, and agents (basketeers, 

 as they were called, through carrying the goods in baskets slung as 



(e) An architect from a neighbouring town, criticising it freely, and trying 

 to display his superior taste, expressed the opinion that the model of the Ram 

 as designed was all very well done excepting the horns. Whereupon Nuttall 

 naively replied, that whatever the merits of the body of the animal, the 

 horns were just as God had made them. As a matter of fact they were an 

 actual pair of Ram's horns that he had used. 



