Kinderlee Mill, Chisworth was built in 1804 by the Harrison family, Benjamin Harrison. The mill was extended before 1878.
The sudden increase in employment opportunities resulted in a massive increase in the local population and in houses built for them. Local quarries, such as that at Combs, provided stone for
building and roofing.

 

The construction of mill buildings encouraged people to move into the area from other local villages and further afield. In 1821 there were 1,005 inhabitants in the parish and by 1851 the population had reached almost 3,000. In 1841 just under half the working population was employed in the cotton industry; just over 10% worked in quarries or the mines and just 3% worked on farms.
The hazardous nature of working life was reflected in accident reports in local newspapers. James Reece of Charlesworth was killed at the age of 13 by being caught in a mill shaft.

 

The Lee Vale Rope works, adjacant to the Fitzalan Mill was not built until 1900 and supplied rope all over industrial Lancashire and Cheshire and rope piecemen travelled to fit driving ropes to mill engines. The works fell into disuse after the Second World War and was demolished. Lee Vale Gardens estates now stands on the site.