Weaving

Weaving remained as a traditionally domestic activity long after spinning moved to a mill setting. Kay's flying shuttle introduced around 1733 greatly increased the speed of hand looms and no doubt influenced the rapid growth of the textile industry.

The western part of West Yorkshire with its tradition of woollen weaving contains hundreds of examples of domestic loomshops dating from between 1770 and 1850. Identified by their long range of mullioned windows, these buildings are often found in groups or terraces which suggests either speculative building or manufacturers organising a domestic workforce providing them with both a living and working space.

Weavers cottages, Northowram

Weavers cottages, Queensbury

Non domestic loomshops were sometimes constructed. They are characteristically narrow well-lit buildings between 3 and 5 storeys high. A general width of between 5 and 6 m wide makes them easy to distinguish from spinning mills which are usually at least twice as deep. This example is tucked away behind the High Street in Queensbury.
Even though Cartwright's power loom introduced in 1791 brought weaving into the factory, the domestic hand weaving tradition survived until the to the mid 19th century by which time it was only used for specialist cloths.
Weaving Sheds

Weaving sheds at a large mill complex at Holmfield, Halifax.

These were developed to meet the needs of power loom weaving and were found to be more suitable than housing the looms in the same multi-storey buildings as the spinning operations. Placing the looms in a single storey building reduced the stresses caused by both the weight and operational vibrations. Cast iron beams and columns allowed the construction of the wide span top lit sheds. The north facing roof lights provided the good lighting needed for quality control and gave a large flexible space well suited to the installation of looms and power transmission.

Black Dyke Mills, Queensbury, an example of a combined mill complex with single storey weaving sheds in front of a multi-storey spinning mill.
Top lit weaving sheds at Bowling Dyke Mill, Halifax.
Weaving sheds do not survive as often as other textile buildings perhaps because they are less suitable for conversion to other uses. Sometimes there are clues to their existence, here behind Halifax railway station, marks on the stonework of the railway embankment show where a weaving shed once stood.

Weaving sheds at Oates Royd Mill in the Luddenden Valley.

Detail showing the now derelict roof.