In the shadow of the wrecking ball... a beautiful church, school and historic mill which survived "an earthquake"

A Victorian spinning mill once used to hold prisoners of war and a church designed by the same architect who created Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery are in danger of demolition. The buildings have been added to an at risk register created by SAVE Britain's Heritage group.

Oakwood Mill in Stalybridge is nestled in overgrown trees on the edge of a village with a splendid backdrop of hillside. The neglected Moss Side Unitarian Free Church and School is in Old Trafford.

Both face the wrecking ball unless action is taken soon to protect them. SAVE aim to persuade local authorities to join them in securing a new future for the buildings.

The mill, is in Grenville Street on the outskirts of the village of Millbrook between Stalybridge and Mossley and four miles from Ashton-under-Lyne.

SAVE says despite being a Grade II listed building and within a conservation area "the building is currently in a sorry state." It dates from 1856 and was built as a four-storey specialised spinning mill for the Staley Mill Company.

Built with millstone grit, it also had a Welsh slate roof. In the centre of the site is a clocktower with the date 1857 on its front. An engine house, which contains white glazed bricks inside, that was constructed in 1908. A large chimney stack still stands on the site.

In 1937, the company sold off most of the machinery for £13,000, and it stood vacant for some time, until the Second World War, when it was used to hold Italian prisoners. Cotton spinning ceased in 1961 and the mill was put to use for a while by Dukinfield Bleaching Co., a bleaching and dyeing company. The mill was given its listed status in November 1991.

SAVE says : "As of 2022, the mill is severely dilapidated, after suffering major damage in