Description:Built in 1925, this fine building was demolished with the rest of Wardle & Davenport's huge Belle Vue Mill in the 1970s.
The silk manufacturing firm of Wardle & Davenport began in 1867 as a partnership between Henry Wardle of Leek, innkeeper and photographer, and George Davenport of Leek, silk throwster. It became a public company in 1899. The company pioneered the manufacture of artificial silk stockings. At its peak, the company employed up to 2500 people but struggled in the 1960s, finally going into receivership in 1970.