Inside abandoned Simpson Clough Paper Mill — and why urban exploration carries serious risks

An abandoned paper mill near Rochdale where machinery, equipment and remnants of its working life appear to have been left behind has been documented by urban explorers.

Footage titled 'We Found The ABANDONED Simpson Clough Paper Mill Hidden In Rochdale With Everything Left Behind!' takes viewers inside Simpson Clough Mill, offering a glimpse into an industrial site normally hidden from public view.

Watch the exploration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCnxD574cB8

The mill has a long industrial history. Local historical records describe Simpson Clough Mills as beginning as a fulling mill in the 1840s before being purchased by Cromptons in 1939, used for food storage during the Second World War and converted to paper manufacture after the war. The site later operated as Union Papertech and closed in January 2023.

The footage captures much of what has made so-called urban exploration, or urbex, enormously popular online. Instead of seeing industrial history restored and labelled inside a museum, viewers see workplaces in their abandoned state: machinery, offices, workshops and the gradual effects of time and nature.

For a borough whose identity was profoundly shaped by mills, manufacturing and the Industrial Revolution, sites such as Simpson Clough have an obvious historical fascination. They can provide a visual record of workplaces where generations of people spent their working lives.

But urban exploration has another side which should not be overlooked. Abandoned industrial buildings can be extremely dangerous. Water penetration, corrosion, structural deterioration and years without routine maintenance can leave floors, roofs and staircases unsafe. Broken glass, exposed metal, electrical hazards, contaminated water and hazardous materials can create further risks.

Someone injured deep inside a large former industrial complex may also be difficult for emergency services to locate and rescue.

The legal position is more complicated than saying that entering every abandoned building automatically amounts to a criminal offence. Ordinary trespass in England and Wales is generally a civil matter, but abandoned buildings and the land surrounding them still have owners. Entering private property without permission can amount to trespass, while damaging fences, doors or windows, taking property, or entering certain protected sites can raise separate criminal issues.

Rochdale Daily does not know whether the people responsible for the Simpson Clough footage had permission to enter the site and makes no allegation that any offence was committed.

The fascination with urbex is nevertheless understandable. There is something extraordinary about seeing a workplace after the workers have gone. Desks, machinery and ordinary objects can become accidental historical artefacts, and videos produced by explorers have created an informal online record of parts of Britain's disappearing industrial landscape.

The challenge is preserving that history without people putting themselves in danger or entering places unlawfully. Property owners can grant controlled access to photographers, historians and filmmakers, while heritage organisations can document industrial buildings before redevelopment or demolition.

That could be particularly valuable around Rochdale, Heywood and the surrounding valleys, where surviving industrial sites tell an important part of the borough's story.

Simpson Clough is another reminder that extraordinary pieces of local industrial history can sit quietly behind walls and fences long after their original purpose has disappeared. They are fascinating to see — but no photograph or video is worth serious injury to obtain.

Rochdale Daily does not encourage entry onto private, abandoned or restricted property without permission. Anyone wishing to document a disused site should seek the landowner's permission and follow appropriate safety requirements.