Mills Transformed book publication

My name is Neil Horsley and I am fundraising to support the publication of ‘Mills Transformed” a book celebrating the restoration and repurposing of historic former textile mills by inspirational individuals.

Textile mills were the foundation of the industrial revolution and as much part of our national heritage as churches, cathedrals and country houses. They were responsible for place-making in northern towns and cities across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. In short, they were the backbone of wealth creation in this country in the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, sadly, many monumental mills are now empty, derelict and threatened with demolition.

I have visited over 30 mills across the north of England to document how mills can be transformed and given new life. The aim of the book, due to be published in late 2024, is to discuss the mill regeneration process and reach conclusions, drawing on the visited mill case studies, as to how more northern mills can be renovated and repurposed.

I am a qualified Town Planner with over 40 years’ experience in Urban Regeneration. My photographs were featured in an exhibition at the Holding Space Gallery in Saltaire in 2023 and in the Yorkshire Post weekend magazine. For this project I interviewed many of those who have been involved in the restoration and reuse of mills; owners, developers and users – and these will form the basis of case studies distributed throughout the book.

Mills Transformed will be a hardback book, of around 250 pages with at least 100 atmospheric photographs, produced to fine art standards. The book will be in large format to do justice to the subject matter and the photography. The intention is to include descriptions and histories of the mills, and of their future potential, and so will be more than just a typical ‘coffee table’ book.

The book will be published by John Hudson Publishing, with a foreword from Historic England. John, for many years, was responsible for publishing books while at English Heritage and Historic England and has experience with crowdfunded books – notably Place-Making; The art of Capability Brown by John Phibbs (Historic England, 2017) , and People’s Parks; The design and development of public parks in Britain, by Hazel Conway and Paul Rabbitts (John Hudson Publishing, 2023), both of which attracted contributions and advance subscriptions from many individuals and were critically acclaimed. The aim is to achieve the same with this book!

Those who contribute will be acknowledged as supporters within the book, and will have the opportunity to receive a copy signed by the author. They will know that by supporting this project they are helping to raise awareness and appreciation of our mills, their importance to our landscape, industrial heritage and social history and will be contributing to the movement aimed at saving and finding new uses for such historic mill buildings. All who contribute will be contacted individually by the publisher or the author and will be kept informed of progress.