Jigsaw Homes — Silk Mill Demolition, Congleton

Davenshaw Mill was built prior to 1875 and extended and added to a number of times over the years. The mill, which was run by the Hogg family for over 100 years, sits in a meander alongside 'Dane-In-Shaw Brook' — originally water-powered from the weir that still stands there today.

Congleton Engineering Developments Ltd operated on the site from 1973 to 2017, but by the time we were commissioned, the buildings had sadly become an empty derelict shell — badly decayed, structurally unsound, and at risk of extreme flooding events. The only viable option was demolition, significant flood defence works, and redevelopment. The challenge was taken up by Jigsaw Homes, who commissioned the construction of a detached block of 21 two and three-storey apartments on the cleared site.

The Project

Our demolition services were commissioned as part of the groundworks package. We commenced works in March 2021. This was a tight site alongside the extremely busy A54 Buxton Road — great care was required throughout to ensure the safe access and egress for HGVs, plant and equipment without impacting the public highway.

The works involved:

• Full asbestos removal under licence from all structures
• Demolition of all the mill buildings and ancillary structures
• Breaking-out and removal of all ground floor slabs, basements and foundations
• On-site crushing and recycling of all hard arisings
• Production of over 3,000 tonnes of 6F2 aggregate for river flood defence backfilling

Recycling & Sustainability

Beyond the 3,000 tonnes of aggregate produced on site, other waste streams included nearly 60 tonnes of timber, 7 tonnes of general non-hazardous mixed demolition waste, 12 tonnes of asbestos, and 153 tonnes of recycled metal products — light iron and structural steelwork. Overall, 99% of all materials generated by the demolition were recycled and reused — adding significantly to the overall sustainability credentials of the redevelopment.