Candlewick Mill is the last example of a mill where water-powered and steam machinery were used together and survive intact!
It is also known as Grove Mill, Lumb Hole Mill and Lumhole Mill!
Kettleshulme was once a centre for the manufacture of candle-wick material, which provided wicks for miner’s lamps, until closure in 1937. However, it was built in 1797 as a water-powered cotton mill.
A 10 hp engine was installed in 1816, when Lumbhole Mill was being used for silk manufacture by George Brocklehurst. Later it converted to cotton and was known for the production of candlewick by the Sheldon family.
The cotton mill was purchased by Mr Sheldon following a fire in the 1820s. The company was originally called John Sheldon and Son, which was a partnership between John and John Thomas Sheldon; it dissolved in 1875.
The company was later known as Sheldon Brothers.
The mill still contains its overshot iron water wheel, 26ft in diameter. Water was carried from the adjacent lodge through a steel channel which can still be seen.
In 1840, the mill was equipped with a condensing beam engine supplied by Sherratts of Salford, as an auxiliary supply of power. A lean-to extension forms the boiler house which contains a Cornish boiler.
Originally lit by oil, the Sheldon Brothers subsequently manufactured their own gas for lighting before installing a water-powered electricity supply!
The buildings opposite included the manager’s house and offices. The upper part of the boilerhouse chimney has now been removed and the lantern above the stairwell has been lost.
It is now a Grade II* listed building.
E. C. Sheldon is mentioned on a sign above a door (as Trustee), as is J. S. Sheldon (1872). These could be the Brothers foring Sheldon Brothers, maybe John’s sons? In 1993, J A. Sheldon added their initials in a matching plaque to J.S. in 1872.
The area around Kettleshulme is popular with walkers. To the north are the Bowstones, an early Christian stone sculpture, and nearby Lyme Park. From the Bowstones, it is possible on a clear day to see up to thirty miles in all directions, including, to the west, the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, at one time the world’s largest radio telescope, to the north-west, the city of Manchester and its airport and to the east, the rest of the High Peak including Kinder Scout, the Derbyshire’s highest point, and Windgather Rocks.
Kettleshulme was the home of 19th-century record-breaker Amos Broadhurst, whose beard grew to a length of 7 ft!
Lumhole Road, Kettleshulme, Cheshire
Grid Ref: SJ 98820 80378
Candlewick Mill is the last example of a mill where water-powered and steam machinery were used together and survive intact!
It is also known as Grove Mill, Lumb Hole Mill and Lumhole Mill!
Kettleshulme was once a centre for the manufacture of candle-wick material, which provided wicks for miner’s lamps, until closure in 1937. However, it was built in 1797 as a water-powered cotton mill.
A 10 hp engine was installed in 1816, when Lumbhole Mill was being used for silk manufacture by George Brocklehurst. Later it converted to cotton and was known for the production of candlewick by the Sheldon family.
The cotton mill was purchased by Mr Sheldon following a fire in the 1820s. The company was originally called John Sheldon and Son, which was a partnership between John and John Thomas Sheldon; it dissolved in 1875.
The company was later known as Sheldon Brothers.
The mill still contains its overshot iron water wheel, 26ft in diameter. Water was carried from the adjacent lodge through a steel channel which can still be seen.
In 1840, the mill was equipped with a condensing beam engine supplied by Sherratts of Salford, as an auxiliary supply of power. A lean-to extension forms the boiler house which contains a Cornish boiler.
Originally lit by oil, the Sheldon Brothers subsequently manufactured their own gas for lighting before installing a water-powered electricity supply!
The buildings opposite included the manager’s house and offices. The upper part of the boilerhouse chimney has now been removed and the lantern above the stairwell has been lost.
It is now a Grade II* listed building.
E. C. Sheldon is mentioned on a sign above a door (as Trustee), as is J. S. Sheldon (1872). These could be the Brothers foring Sheldon Brothers, maybe John’s sons? In 1993, J A. Sheldon added their initials in a matching plaque to J.S. in 1872.
The area around Kettleshulme is popular with walkers. To the north are the Bowstones, an early Christian stone sculpture, and nearby Lyme Park. From the Bowstones, it is possible on a clear day to see up to thirty miles in all directions, including, to the west, the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, at one time the world’s largest radio telescope, to the north-west, the city of Manchester and its airport and to the east, the rest of the High Peak including Kinder Scout, the Derbyshire’s highest point, and Windgather Rocks.
Kettleshulme was the home of 19th-century record-breaker Amos Broadhurst, whose beard grew to a length of 7 ft!
Lumhole Road, Kettleshulme, Cheshire
Grid Ref: SJ 98820 80378