Union Mill Conservation Area

The draft appraisal of the Union Mill conservation area was the subject of consultation during September/October 2006 and was approved by Cabinet on 14 March 2007.

The appraisal document is available to download below along with a map showing the conservation area boundary. Click on the relevant PDF icons to download:

Union Mill conservation area appraisal

Map of Union Mill conservation area

History of Union Mill conservation area

The Union Mill conservation area is traversed by two canals dating back to the 18th century - the Birmingham Canal and the Wyrley and Essington Canal, which meet at Horseley Fields Junction.

Many mills and warehouses were built to take advantage of the canal side location.

By the 1850s the area also had two railway stations, operated by The Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway. That at High Level was redeveloped in the 1960s and is excluded from the conservation area.

Buildings associated with the great variety of industries that once operated in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries survive.  

A number of buildings have been lost since designation including the Union Mill itself following a fire in 1989, the former Midlands Railway Goods depot off Wednesfield Road, and Edmund Vaughan Stampings in Horseley Fields.

Although the Old Steam Mill and Low Level Station have been empty since designation the Albion Mill has recently been converted to apartments.