Listed Building record MDR23110 - Scholes House, Mill Cottage, off Old Coach Road, Tansley

Scholes House, Mill Cottage, off Old Coach Road, Tansley, built in 1797. A watching brief was carried out over groundworks relating to the excavation of a lift shaft in 2007, at a time when the building was derelict: '…confirmed the location of the water wheel through the discovery of an intact wheel pit and tailrace. Rotational scarring on the northwest and southeast walls of the wheel pit has given valuable information regarding the size of the wheel…now thought to be 12m suggesting the wheel would have reached somewhere between the current ground floor level and the second floor. The evidence of the water pipe… suggests it was a breastshot wheel with auxiliary machinery leading from the wheel pit to both sides of the mill…' (1) From the National Heritage List for England: 'SK 35 NW 7/171 II 2. Former cotton spinning mill (later used for the manufacture of red tape, and at time of inspection in April 1990 used for storage), with manager's house attached. Built 1797 for Samuel Unwin. Coursed gritstone rubble; Welsh Slate roof. Some later brick ancillary buildings. Plan: the wheel appears to have been set transversely partly within the mill building and contained within stone cross walls (which are not continued above ground level) with associated gear placed within low outshuts. Mill: 3 storeys, 16 window range almost identical to both sides, all windows under flat lintels with stone sills, and 30- pane cast iron window frames with small central opening. Left-hand stone end stack (for heating) with a tall brick end stack to right abutting the end wall (for engine house, dismantled, which replaced the water-powered system in later C19). Later skylight. Manager's house attached to left: 2½ storeys, 4 window range. Ground-floor with 2 tripartite sash windows and doorway (with rectangular overlight) in stone surrounds, the latter with panelled door. Larger entrance to right (opposed to rear) under elliptical arch. 1st floor with 4 widows, 2 tripartite, all with sashes. Upper half-storey with flat headed sash windows. Rear similar, but more of the sashes replaced. Interior: of mill, intact (except for machinery); power rise to all floors except attic. King post roof with angle struts. House, modest, with some contemporary features. Listing NGR: SK3183359925.' (2)