This film is part of Free

Employees Leaving Storey's Moor Lane Mill, Lancaster (1902)

Workers at a Lancaster linoleum factory leave and the gate is firmly shut behind them.

Non-Fiction 1902 2 mins Silent

Overview

Wearing flat caps and overcoats (the men) or woollen shawls and boaters (the women), these mill workers are accompanied by several lively children. One girl sticks her tongue out at the camera, while a boy whittles a piece of wood. A young man stands on the left holding some kind of cleaning equipment, but he vanishes after a jump-cut, presumably caused by a momentary jam in the camera.

The building seen here has been through many hands. Originally built as a steam-powered cotton-spinning mill by Samuel Greg & Co. in the 1820s, it passed to Storey Bros. in 1861. Storeys ceased trading in 1982, and the Grade II-listed building fell derelict for a few years. After a restoration by Lancaster City Council it became the headquarters of sportswear manufacturers Reebok UK Ltd in August 1990 before being taken over by the NHS in 2008.