Fancy turning a Grade II-listed Victorian chimney into a “one-of-a-kind” home? Grand Designs fans get bidding: Bolton’s Barrow Bridge Chimney is for sale for £300,000 by modern method of auction, complete with full planning permission to transform it into an unusual house.
The 260-feet-tall (79m) local landmark stands proud above the treeline, visible from miles in the distance. It was built in 1863 as part of the Halliwell Bleach Works, a textile bleaching facility. As part of the Dean Mills complex, it helped to establish Bolton as a centre for cotton-spinning, bleaching and finishing.
Later, it was used by the Brytallium Foundry as an aluminium casting plant, before it was closed in the 1970s. It gained listed status in 1974 and today is the only surviving relic of the former bleach works.
Despite extensive repairs to the chimney in the early 1990s, the building now requires further investment to prevent deterioration, according to planning documents. This includes repairs to the top 15 feet of the chimney, as well as to the inside of the chimney stack.
Planning permission to turn the building into an unconventional treetop-level home was first granted in 2011, with excavation of part of the foundation beginning in 2014.
In 2024, the project gained a certificate of lawful development and is now waiting for the “visionary self-builder or boutique developer” to transform it into “a dramatic modern dwelling like no other”, according to listing agents Miller Metcalfe.
The approved plans are for a futuristic, octagonal residence which would be built around the chimney, birds nest-like, at around 18 metres off the ground. It would span some 3,939 square feet over two storeys, with four bedrooms.
Accessed via a private driveway, the entrance would be within the chimney itself, with a lift and spiral staircase leading up to the main, glazed walled residence.
On the first floor, plans show an open-plan lounge, dining area and kitchen with a double-height ceiling, as well as a main bedroom suite with an ensuite and extra mezzanine level. The house’s three further bedrooms would sit above, looking out over the trees.
There is also scope to introduce some more luxurious features within the chimney stack itself, like a gym, snug, games room, steam room or sauna, as well as a roof terrace.
The wraparound structure will be topped with solar panels, alongside a rainwater harvesting system to minimise water use.
“This is an incredibly rare opportunity for a developer or ambitious self-builder to create something truly iconic,” said Kelly Turtington, at Miller Metcalfe Land & New Homes.
“This project isn’t just about building a home — it’s about breathing new life into an important piece of Bolton’s industrial past and creating a landmark legacy for generations to come.”
Design consultants RT Design say that is difficult to estimate the cost of the proposals, given that it is “such a rare scheme”. The chimney itself, though, is for sale with a starting bid of £300,000, including planning permission and additional design concepts.
In recent years, some similar opportunities for Grand Designs-minded buyers have come to the market. Last year, for example, a water tower in Newbury was auctioned with planning permission to convert it into a three-bedroom home.
A nuclear bunker in Cumbria, meanwhile, was auctioned with potential to become a unique Airbnb or music studio, and a former gun tower off the Kent coast went under the hammer in 2023, waiting for an ambitious restoration.
“[Barrow Bridge Chimney] offers an extraordinary opportunity to reimagine history as a truly one-of-a-kind home,” say the agents. “This is your chance to own more than bricks and mortar — it’s a chance to live inside a landmark, to shape its story for future generations, and to call a piece of Bolton’s proud industrial heritage your own.”
