HISTORY

36 Lime Street was built as a flax mill in 1848 on the site of an earlier corn mill, to the design of John Dobson for Plummer and Cooke, who previously owned the flax mill on the adjacent site which became Northumberland Lead Works.

Flax was used to make linen and sail cloth.

Originally steam powered with the adjacent freestanding, recently restored chimney which forms part of the original Dobson complex. Its use as a flax mill was short. In 1866 it was bought by Proctor and Sons and converted to a flour mill.

The building was extended in the mid 1870s when two brick warehouses were constructed – one for flour, the other for grain. The complex is shown on Ordnance Survey second edition as “Northumberland Mills”. Then taken over by Henry Leetham & Sons in 1900. A Miss Carr apparently lived in the garden house next to the big chimney and was employed by Leethams to test each batch of flour by baking small loaves of bread in her oven. The flour mill stood empty for many years until it was taken over by McPhersons Wine and Spirit Merchants in the 1920s, who stored bonded whiskey under the brand name of Cluny.

The red brick Annex which now houses a basement pottery and Cluny bar and music venue was acquired in 2006 with the top floor attic subsequently converted into offices aimed at the bourgeoning creative sector.