Sunny Bank Mills
Sunny Bank Mills is a former textile mill, which specialised in worsted cloth, set in 10 acres of land located on Town Street, Farsley, Leeds, England. Since 2010, it has been developed as a business and artistic community, with an exhibitions gallery selling fine art by local artists; a textile and local history archive; shops, cafés, artist studios; as well as outdoor spaces. It is run by the Gaunt family who took ownership in 1943. The archive was awarded Archive Community Accreditation by West Yorkshire Archive Service in January 2021. History In 1820, a group of local clothiers set up a co-operative venture in Farsley to share the cost of rent. They built a woollen scribbling and fulling mill, known as The Farsley Club Mill. By 1839, the mill was known as Sunny Bank Mills and run by the firm of Roberts, Ross & Co. In 1842, the mill was one of several local mills shut down temporarily by rioters. In 1881, the mill was sold to Edwin Woodhouse for £9,540, comprising two mills, weaving sheds, outbuildings, several houses, three reservoirs and land. Woodhouse had worked his way up as an apprentice to a woollen manufacturer, and later a travelling salesman, starting his own business in Huddersfield and then moving to Leeds in 1871; after purchasing Sunny Bank Mills he set up a limited company E. Woodhouse and Co. Woodhouse introduced fine worsted cloth manufacture and very quickly established the factory as a high-quality producer. By 1900, it was one of the biggest textile manufacturers in Leeds, producing fine cloth recognised globally for its quality. Woodhouse also became a town councillor and Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1905. In 1912, a large mill building was constructed. It was later used as a location for British TV series Heartbeat and Emmerdale. In November 1943, Derek Alfred Gaunt, younger son of William Clifford Gaunt, acquired the Ordinary shares of E. Woodhouse and Co. and took over Sunny Bank with controlling interest. William Gaunt had become a multi-millionaire but had lost a lot of money in the Great Depression. A holding company was formed to look after the shares surrendered by William and by 1943 there was enough money to settle William's debts and allow Derek to acquire Sunny Bank. After WWII, the family moved into supplying high-quality cloth to the Middle East. In 2008, the Gaunt family sold the textile business but kept the mill buildings. Cousins William and John Gaunt formed Edwin Woodhouse to run the mill. The family then began an extensive restoration project which involved providing premises for a range of businesses - numbering over 70 and employing over 350 people, in 2020. Ten historic looms were sourced from Dewsbury, and became eight working looms available for use by the general public. The 1912 mill building was restored and a new light roof was installed. In 2017, a not-for-profit company was set up to safeguard the textile archive, overseeing the management, restoration, conservation and promotion of the archive. In