Phoenix Rising: Historic England Awards £625,000 to Repair Derelict Wakefield Mill
Historic England has given £625,000 to help breathe new life into a derelict former textile mill in Wakefield.
Phoenix Mill forms part of the Rutland Mills complex, which is being transformed into Tileyard North, a creative industries hub housing state-of-the-art recording studios, creative workspaces and events venues.
Listed at Grade II, Phoenix Mill is the oldest building on the site, dating from around 1800. Constructed using stone, it is thought to have originally started life as a corn warehouse. It would have been one of several grain stores that lined the banks of the Calder and Hebble navigation, a waterway used to transport corn into the industrial heartland of northern England.
In the mid-19th century, the building was extended and converted into the Phoenix Corn Mill before eventually becoming a textile mill and incorporated into the Rutland Mills complex, which was built in the 1870s.
Following the decline of the British textiles industry in the late 20th century, Rutland Mills closed down and lay largely empty until City and Provincial Properties bought the site and began its regeneration.
Historic England’s £625,000 grant will fund work to the outside of the building, including new windows and roof, drainage and wall repairs. This will secure the building’s structure, enabling its future redevelopment as part of Tileyard North.
After lying derelict for many years, it’s wonderful to see that Phoenix Mill is now rising from the ashes and will soon be given new life as an integral part of the fantastic Tileyard North.
I applaud the bold vision of City and Provincial Properties, who have rescued an important part of Wakefield’s industrial heritage and reshaped it into an engine of the city’s future prosperity.
