Four Factories, Turton Street

Turton Street looking towards the junction of Topp Way with the St Peter’s Way extension.  By the end of the first decade of the 19^th century the Four Factories – Round Hill Mills – were on the right. Short rows of terraced housing were on the left, one of which included the Four Factories pub.

The Four Factories was situated on Turton Street and was opened as a pub around 1808.

It took it name from the ‘Four Factories’ of Faulkner’s, Dillon and Hart, Thomas Dixon and Roger Holland that were built on or around Turton Street between 1797 and 1802. Holland’s eventually bought the other three factories and the complex was renamed Round Hill Mills. [1]

The Bolton brewery of John Halliwell & Son of the Alexandra Brewery, Mount Street, Bolton owned the Four Factories pub at the end of the 19^th century. [2]  Mount Street was situated in the Haliwell area, close to Mere Hall, and was less than a mile away from the Four Factories. John Halliwell began brewing there in 1856 but the firm closed in December 1910 when it was taken over by Magee, Marshall and Co.

The Four Factories closed in 1935. Magee’s decided that the pub’s full licence would be put to better use at the Alexandra Hotel, ironically the former Halliwell brewery tap – the closest pub to the brewery. However, it was an ill-conceived plan as the Alexandra closed only a few months later.

Round Hill Mills later became part of the Peel Mills complex which continued until it closed as cotton mills in 1960. Part of the complex became part of Bolton Gate Company’s warehouse. A retail park now stands  on the site.

[1] St Mark’swebsite. David  Dunne. Retrieved 10 May 2014.

[2] Pubs Of Bolton, by Gordon Readyhough. Published by Neil Richardson (2000).