In September 2003, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (ABPT) to undertake a comprehensive programme of Conservation-Based Research and Analysis (CoBRA) at the Murrays' Mills, Ancoats, Manchester (centred on SJ 8508 9865). This programme of archaeological work included research, analysis, survey and targeted excavation of the mills complex, and was required to inform decisions regarding the repair, alterations, management and long-term sustainability of the buildings. The Murrays' Mills complex was established in 1798, and was amongst the first wave of urban cotton-spinning mills in the world to have been purpose built to utilise steam power. The complex incorporates two parallel multi-storey mill buildings, with a former office wing connecting them at right angles. A fourth wing, demolished during the 1990s as a result of a devastating fire, originally enclosed a rectangular courtyard, which, uniquely, contained a canal basin, together with engine and boiler houses and other ancillary structures. The first component of the complex to have been built represents the earliest remaining steam-powered cotton mill in Manchester, and the only surviving cotton mill of an 18th century date. By 1806, the other main components of the site had been erected, forming a quadrangle around an enclosed yard that contained a private canal basin. The site lies within the Ancoats Conservation Area, and the buildings comprising the Murrays' Mills complex are designated as Grade II* listed, reflecting their national, and probable international, importance.
Wild et al. (Sat,) studied this question.