Crescent Mill Agricultural Centre
“First Mills... Then the bottomless wound of the railway station That bled this valley to death.” - Ted Hughes, Remains of Elmet (1979)
The dual eonomy of agriculture and industry has been prevailant in Todmorden’s historical fabric in the joint enterprise of farming and weaving, as industrial advancements scarred the landscape with the canal and rail cleaving the land in two. In the disconnect, the landscape has since faced centuries of neglect whilst mills post-war are either derelict or demolished. Contextually, the site is an ambodiment of the relationship between the three stages of Todmorden’s industrial evolution that shaped the face of the whole town. First the mill, second the canal, third the rail; the scars that shaped the valley.
The agriculture centre, partnered with the separate rural campus, seeks to utilise cross-principle education in the sectors of land maintainance, farming and climate emergency, connecting existing innitiatives in the town to foster a collaborative effort at revitalising land and industry.
The form and materiality of the complex reflects both the evolving landscape and the deterioration of the mill, with oxidised copper displaying a visibly aging facade, echoing the palimpsest weathered into the masonry. The windows looking out from the school forms a direct eyeline to the top of the railway retaining wall and the woods and fields above the town , reminding the students of the importance of their work to preserve the integrity of the landscape.
