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Ancoats Works / Hope Mills, Pollard
Street
Beyond the Bank of England
pub on Pollard Street, in Ancoats, there is a cluster of
industrial buildings. The building connected to
the pub is called the Ancoats Works. Observation
suggests that the building is still being used for
commercial purposes.
Beyond is a taller block
known as the Hope Mill.
Today a number of floors
of the mill are occupied by art studios. The
Manchester City Council web site says of them, "These
studios have already created a real buzz within the
east Manchester art scene and are clearly filling an
obvious need for quality studio space at an affordable
price. AWOL Studios is enabling local entrepreneurs to
turn their talent into a business which is great news,
particularly in this economic climate."
Hope Mill was
apparently one of the earliest industrial developments
beside the Ashton Canal, in Ancoats.
 In 1824 the owners were Joseph Clarke and Sons. The Clarks were still the owners in 1851, when the map below was drawn, although by now it was George Clark and Company, presumable one of Joseph's sons. Notice that Clark's had a gas works across Pollard Street.  Notice also that
further along the canal was Thomas Joynson's Silk
Mill. In the map below, also dated 1851, the
whole complex is called the Hope Mills.
 Below is my
version of a map drawn in 1928 and you can see
that the Hope Mills name is confined to the tall
building that was home to Thomas Hope's Publishing
company and a waterproof clothing factory.
The building known as Ancoats Works today was
called the Albert Cabinet Works and, judging by
the functions of the various rooms, it was a
furniture factory.
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