Developer reveals plan to convert derelict Yorkshire mill with Gentleman Jack connection into 58 apartments

Grade II-listed Old Lane Mills was sold at auction with a guide price of just £100,000 last summer after years of uncertainty over its future.

Built in 1825 by worsted entrepreneur James Akroyd, the steam-powered building was one of the largest mills in the town, the first to have stone floors to support looms and even had its own bank branch inside.

It later passed to the Rawson family, who were prominent in Georgian Halifax and ran a bank with clients including the Listers of Shibden Hall. Both families featured in the BBC period drama Gentleman Jack.

It was a dyeworks for a period before a fire in 1905 when it was occupied by Allen North & Company. Historic England now cite it as the oldest and largest surviving example of a multi-storey (it has six floors) steam-powered, iron-framed textile mill in Halifax.

Yet it has been derelict and unoccupied for decades, as has the listed boilerhouse, and both buildings are in poor condition. Several previous development schemes were never carried out and planning permission eventually lapsed.

The new owners have revealed plans for 58 apartments within the mill and two houses inside the boilerhouse. An open day will be held this Thursday at Dean Clough Mills and members of the public can view and comment on the proposals, which include information on site access routes.

The developers described the site, a mile north of Halifax town centre in the steep wooded valley of the Ovenden Brook, as an ‘eyesore’ that has been used as a dumping ground. There is damage to the buildings from fire and vandalism.

The scheme includes 45 parking spaces and 12 cycle spaces.

The open day on Thursday February 23 is from 9am-12pm in the Wolff Olins Room. It is organised by the developers’ commissioned architects, Bingley-based MADP.

If granted planning consent by Calderdale Council, the flats are likely to be sought-after, as the area is enjoying a property boom thanks to its exposure in TV series such as Happy Valley.