Historic England: 'Urgent need' to save West Yorkshire's mills

Drummond Mill on Lumb Lane, Manningham is owned by Huddersfield firm SKA Textiles

A fire which destroyed a Bradford mill has "underlined the urgency" of working to preserve West Yorkshire's mills, Historic England has said.

The Grade II-listed Drummond Mill on Lumb Lane in Manningham was ravaged by a fire which started in the basement on Thursday.

The building has now been partially demolished to prevent further collapse.

Historic England said West Yorkshire's mills are "important landmarks which need to be cherished".

The organisation, which preserves and lists historic buildings, is currently part-way through a review into West Yorkshire's mills to establish best practice for future redevelopments.

Fire crews damping down the day after. At the height of the blaze on 28 January, more than 100 fire fighters were in attendance at Drummond Mill

Spokesperson Deborah Wall said: "The community is deeply affected and emotional about the loss of this historic building.

"It just shows how important these landmarks are to people and why the work to find ways to capture the stories of these places and to cherish them is so important."

Last month, property consultants Cushman and Wakefield began work with architects and Historic England to examine ways in which West Yorkshire's vacant textile mills could be brought back into use.

Drummond Mill before the fire. The factory opened in 1861 and was once at the heart of the textile trade, famous for its suit material. It was listed in 1979

Trevor Mitchell, Historic England's planning director for Yorkshire, said: "West Yorkshire's textile mills are iconic buildings that people care deeply about.

"Some have been brilliantly and creatively converted into places to work, live or socialise.

"We are working to understand how these successful conversions have been achieved and try to find solutions for those mills that need a new purpose to become great landmarks in our region again."

Successful redevelopments include Tower Works and Marshalls in Leeds, Sunny Bank Mills in Pudsey, Lister Mills in Bradford, Salts Mill in Saltaire, Red Brick Mill in Batley, and Dean Clough in Halifax.

Yorkshire has 172 listed textile mills.

Ms Wall said the future of Drummond Mill was "totally uncertain" until Bradford Council and the fire service had determined the full extent of the damage.

Salts Mill, which has one of the world's biggest collections of David Hockney works, was converted into shops, cafes, restaurants and an art gallery in the 1980s

Dalton Mills is a Grade II*-listed complex in Keighley, Bradford, and is on Historic England's at-risk register

Bradford Council said plans were submitted several years ago for 160 apartments, business space, restaurants, a health club and new homes at Drummond Mill

The textile mill closed in 2002, unable to compete with cheaper foreign operations

West Yorkshire Fire Service said Lumb Lane would reopen to traffic on Wednesday