Kirk Mill
Kirk Mills Delivery of Wood
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 Location within the Borough of Ribble Valley
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| Cotton | |
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| Alternative names | Berry's furniture mill Chipping chair works |
| Arkwright-type mill | |
| Architectural style | Stone built three storey |
| Structural system | Stone |
| Coordinates | 53°53′12″N 2°34′43″W / 53.8868°N 2.5785°W |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1785 |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Water Power | |
| Diameter / width of water wheel | 32 ft / 5 ft |
| Doublers | 1 |
| Other Equipment | Throstles |
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Listed Building – Grade II
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| Official name | Kirk Mill and its associated mill ponds retaining walls, outflow and stone-built leat |
| Designated | 13 May 2011 |
| Reference no. | 1401593 |
Kirk Mill is an early example of an Arkwright-type cotton mill and a grade II listed building in Chipping, Lancashire, in Ribble Valley, to the north of Preston, Lancashire, England. It was built in the 1780s on the site of a corn mill dating from at least 1544. The mill continued spinning cotton using water frames and then throstles until 1886, when it was sold and became HJ Berry's chairmaking factory. It was powered by a 32 ft waterwheel which continued in use, generating electricity until the 1940s.
Chipping really thrived during the Industrial Revolution when there were seven mills located along Chipping Brook. The last survivor was Kirk Mill, the chair making factory of HJ Berry, but in 2010 the company went into administration, the factory closed, and on 7 March 2011 the works were bought by SCPi Bowland Ltd
Kirk Mill, its 1-acre mill pond behind an embankment, the mill masters mansion Kirk House, the mill manager's house Grove Cottage and the 1823 workhouse are clustered together on the Chipping Brook, a few hundred yards from Chipping Church.
The original corn mill built on this site was operating in 1544. On the 2 February 1785, Richard Dilworth passed the corn mill to Richard Salisbury of Chipping a cotton manufacturer and William Barrow a merchant of Lancaster, the new mill was functioning by July. On 15 April 1788 the site was offered for sale, and in the advertisement details of its size and equipment were given. Grove House was built in the 1790s. It was sold again in 1802, and by then it also housed a 336 spindle mule and an outbuilding suitable for 3 further mules. Mules were more suitable to spinning the softer weft, while water frames of throstles produced a harder twist more suitable for the warp or sewing cotton. An adjoined house that was described as a residence for a genteel family, a further cottage was used as an apprentice house. It is probable that alterations that lengthened the mill were made then. In 1823 Grove Row was constructed as a workhouse, it closed in 1838 and was converted into 5 cottages. One of these cottages served as a shop until 1949. In 1881 the census shows that 10 men, 7 boys and 24 women were employed in the mill.
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