Ponden Mill history
Ponden Mill was the first textile mill built in Stanbury and one of the first in the region. It was built by the Heaton family of Ponden Hall who had various business interests including about 40 worsted spinners working in their homes locally.
After 1787 the price of worsted fell dramatically and the Heatons felt that switching to the Cotton industry made financial sense, hence the mill, that then was developed to include a steam powered engine.
On September 2nd of 1824 Patrick Bronte (father of the Bronte Sisters) was waiting for his children to come home, they were late. He was looking out the window when he heard an explosion. The peat bog above Ponden Mill had spontaneously exploded, leaving a crater 1200 feet wide and sending a 7 foot high wave of water, peat, and stones cascading down the valley. The Bronte children were discovered hiding in a porch and the bridge at Ponden Mill was washed away. The story goes that children and other workers at the mill took refuge in the upper floors.
Foreign competitors, a decline in the market, and a string of mergers eventually lead to Ponden Mill being sold in 1973. Barry Brookfield bought the mill and started selling linens from the site. Eventually he added a café in the Mill that became extremely successful and popular. People would come by the coachload and visit on their way to or from Haworth. He built the Ponden Mill Brand into almost 250 shops nationwide.
Eventually the market shifted, several mergers were done but in 2008 the Ponden Empire finally closed.
Within a week of it closing Ponden Mill was vandalised completely. The roof and floor were stolen along with all of the wiring. The internal destruction was extreme and the building was left derelict for years.
Eventually after many years, our Richard and Barbara got involved and rescued the derelict mill and have lovingly been converting, fixing and repairing the site since.
