Masson Mills Working Textile Museum
WORKING TEXTILE MUSEUM
Open Mon – Sat 10am-4pm,
Sun 11am-4pm.
The museum is open from the first week in January until 30th November inclusive. Closed Easter Sunday and throughout December (Please note that during January inclement weather may affect opening times).
MACHINERY DEMONSTRATIONS
Mon - Sat 11am and 2pm in the Weaving Shed (Sun 12 noon and 2pm)
(times subject to availability)
MUSUEM VISITOR INFORMATION
You can now choose one of three ways to enjoy a visit to Sir Richard Arkwright’s Masson Mills Working Textile Museum.
Lots of further information on the museum exhibits is available either online or by using our free Masson Museum WiFi to access our smartphone QR codes throughout the museum during your visit.
- Option 1. “Just turn up - No need to book” – our flexible self-guiding option.
Visit at your own pace: Adult £3.00, Child (5-16) £2.00, Family (2 Ads + up to 3 Children) £6.50, Concessions £2.50.
(There is no guide fee for Option 1).
Daily machinery demonstration times as above. - Option 2. A fully guided tour of the museum with a Masson Mills guide
(approx.55 mins) - including the Engine House, short film and bespoke machinery demonstration times: Pre-booked Groups and Schools £2.50 per person, plus a guide fee of £10.
(Accompanying teachers and group leaders free). - Option 3. “A Morning (or afternoon) with the Mill Owner”
: An exciting and unique opportunity to spend a morning or an afternoon in the company of the Mill Owner, who will personally guide you around areas of the mills not normally open to the public, including the Engine House, the Turbine House and the Research Library and Archive Room. Includes tea, coffee, biscuits and lots of original stories!
(1½ to 2 hours to suit): £7.50 per person.
All prices include VAT
Parking, coach parking and disabled access available
Contact Us for booking enquiries, or
telephone +44 (0)1629 581001
Masson Mills Weaving Shed
Masson Mills Bobbin Room
Masson Mills house a fascinating collection of authentic historic textile machinery dating from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. In 2010 the collection was described as “possibly the UK’s finest collection of working textile machines” and includes machinery originally from Masson Mills, along with a large collection of other items and artefacts from textile mills all over Britain.
What Was It Like To Work In An 18th Century Cotton Mill?
Visitors to the museum can experience the genuine atmosphere of a working 18th century cotton mill in the original 1783 Masson Mill – the sights, the smells and the sounds are authentic and evocative. At Masson Mills there is a palpable sense of the continuity of enterprise. After “clocking in” with their entrance tickets, visitors “step back in time” on entering the old mill. Here they can see and appreciate Sir Richard Arkwright’s Legacy of over 200 years of industrial history.
The collection includes, amongst many other items:
- The original 1785 bell which called the employees to work
- Cotton doubling machines - some original to Masson Mills
- Some of the oldest working looms in the world - still producing cloth
- Pirn winders
- Cotton “Mules”
- “The Devil”
- Carding engines
- Overseer’s office
- Mechanics' shop in the ground floor of the Masson Gassing Mill
- The largest bobbin collection in the world
- Turbine House
- Weir and Riverbank
- Boilers and Boiler House
- Mill chimney
- Steam Engine
Tell me 
ore about visiting Masson Mills Working Textile Museum
Masson Mills Doubling Room