Bradford Industrial Museum

Bradford Industrial Museum

Bradford Industrial Museum from a quarter-mile away, showing size
Established	1974
Location	Moorside Mills, Moorside Road, Eccleshill, Bradford BD2 3HP
Type	Industrial museum, Mill museum, Textile museum,
Public transit access	Bus and train: Bradford Interchange
Website	Bradford Industrial Museum

Bradford Industrial Museum, established 1974 in Moorside Mills, Eccleshill, Bradford, United Kingdom, specializes in relics of local industry, especially printing and textile machinery, kept in working condition for regular demonstrations to the public. There is a Horse Emporium in the old canteen block plus a shop in the mill, and entry is free of charge.

In Yorkshire, a mill is a textile factory. The original mill was built by John Moore in 1875 for worsted spinning. In 1919 the clock tower was built as a war memorial to those lost in World War I, and two floors were added. The mill was later sold to W & J Whitehead, who ran the ring spinning machine which is still in the spinning gallery. In 1970 Bradford Council bought the mill and it opened as a museum on 14 December 1974.

Museum entrance on Moorside Road.

Moorside Mill and parking.

The World War I memorial clock tower.

Rotating loading derrick.

Here is machinery from the 19th century Industrial Revolution, including waterwheels, steam engines, oil engines and gas engines; plus an engineer's workshop display. There is a demonstration of the working machines several times a week (steam on Wednesdays only): contact the Museum for current demonstration times. The millstone is from Castlefields corn mill near Bingley; it is a bedstone carved from local millstone grit. A spindle passes through this and a similar upper runner stone; the grain enters via the spindle hole and is ground by the scissor-action of the grooves when the runner stone rotates against the bedstone. The grain is forced out at the outer edges as flour, then flows into a sack. The prime exhibit, a uniflow steam engine rescued from Linton mill and known as the Linton engine, was one of the last Bradford-made steam engines. There is a display explaining the history of steam power.