The Mawdsley's Factory Buildings

Mawdsley's at Dursley expanded considerably during its 93 year lifetime. Originally it was centred around the old Rivers Mill building which existed well before the factory was acquired by Mr. Mawdsley in 1907. Significant expansion occurred in 1952/53 when the new component shop was built to accommodate construction of generators and motors and further development happened in 1957 when the armature shop was rebuilt and a new building constructed to house the pattern shop, stores and boiler house.

The next big phase of growth occurred in 1971 with the construction of a brand new office block to replace the old Rivers Mill building which was demolished. One of the last buildings to be put up on the site was the acoustic test house in the mid 1970's.

The site went into a period of decline from the 1980's until final closure in 2000 after which all of the buildings were rapidly removed to make way for the Cotswold View housing development.

	Picture Gallery (Click on picture for larger view)

			Aerial view of the Mawdsley's site Taken after construction of the component and assembly shop this view still shows the old Rivers Mill building (centre right) which was used as offices prior to the building of the new office block in 1971. In the top left of the picture can be seen the buildings of Dursley Secondary Modern School, now Dursley C of E Primary. (c1957 - courtesy Richard Mellerup)

			Construction of the new Component Shop Construction of the new component and assembly shops begins as the site is levelled and marked out. In the distance the houses of School Road can be seen. (October 6th 1952 - courtesy Richard Mellerup)

			The framework goes up Taken from the same vantage point as the previous shot, this one shows the metal framework of the new component shop building. (February 23rd 1953 - courtesy Richard Mellerup)

			Mawdsley's Component Shop As can be seen here the component shop added a considerable assembly area to the existing facilities. (c1957 - courtesy Richard Mellerup)

			Mawdsley's Component Shop swansong Viewed from the roof of the office block the component shop can be seen here in its final years. (c1999 - copyright Graham Steele)

			Mawdsley's Office Block This view shows the new office block constructed in 1971 to replace the old Rivers Mill building. The offices were used to accommodate commercial and technical staff. (c1999 - copyright Graham Steele)

			Acoustic Test House and Component Shop To the right of the picture can be seen the rear of the acoustic test house used for vibration testing of parts intended for the Navy. In the background again, the component shop building can be seen. (c1999 - copyright Graham Steele)

			Mawdsley's mill pond The mill pond on the Mawdsley's site dates from its prior use as a fulling and paper mill and was formed when the Caswell Stream was dammed. It it still present in 2003, being incorporated into the new housing development. (c1999 - copyright Graham Steele)