1791-92 John Marshall built a six-storey water-powered mill using water drawn from the nearby Hol Beck to spin yarn. Marshall was able to create enough power to run 7,000 spindles employing 2,000 factory workers. Only a generation earlier, the making of hand-spun yarn had been a traditional Yorkshire cottage industry.
Marshall's Mill was part of a complex begun in 1791-92 by English industrial pioneer John Marshall. It was a six storey mill, drawing water from the nearby Hol Beck, with machines supplanting Yorkshire's previous cottage industry of hand driven spindles.
Later, together with the adjacent Egyptian-style Temple Mill, Leeds, the complex employed over 2,000 factory workers. When it was completed it was considered to be one of the largest factories in the world, with 7,000 steam-powered spindles.
See Marshall and Co